Yeah but replacing it is going to be my last resort. The truck drives fine as is and I widen turns to avoid the hopping and all of the noises. I'm going to try to do the fluids to see if it helps at all and if not I'll probably just deal and keep driving the thing, haha. I don't plan on putting any money into it because I'm trying to save for a nicer car. The thing has treated me beautifully the past 4 years so I'm afraid if I start tinkering around with it things will break more often, that's just my luck, haha. For now I'll just keep driving it and keep up to date with fluid and oil changes. If the tc blows or the problems get worse then I'll consider changing it.

 

haha well alright then. Hopefully it'll hold out for ya.

 

It's been like this for about 4-6 months now. It's a jeep guy, things mint! haha

 

what are your selections for t case? 2 selections?

 

im not sure if you take front ds out issue will be present or not, and not sure if this could be possible issue but bad wheel berrings? or do you have u joints on your axle shafts that could be bad...

 

Take the front D.S. out, and just take it for a quick drive, if it doesnt do it, it is most likely the t-case, if it does still do it then it is most likely one of the cv axles up front. I really thought that they got rid of the dreaded VC in 96.

 

First yes take out front drive shaft and test drive by doing tight figure eights.
Sounds to me like it's your VC has gone out in the TC.
If so you can run without front shaft. You can run 96-98 without front shaft without doing damage.
Second do not use friction modifiers unless you have the limited slip diff. You don't in front axle, you'll have to check tag on rear diff to be sure.

I have a 96 and my front shaft exploded on me so I ran without one for almost a year now it's back in and all is fine.

 

I'd do the fluid change with the correct fluid or additive for limited slip first. Never had jeeps with this issue, but I have a jaguar with an LSD rear diff that started making a loud groan and stick-slipping on slow turns, and a fluid change fixed it right up. I think the additives can wear out in time. I think I bought LSD fluid at Oreilly's with the additive already in it.

 

go to a chrysler/jeep dealer and get the Mopar friction additive. it was less than $15 for a 6oz bottle. And as previously noted, it only goes in the REAR diff, not both.

 

pretty simple for you or myself but how about a backyard mechanic or a young one?/the additive is just that you only need to add the couple oz. of friction stuff
ps. life just fell you are now talking to freakin mechanic's

 

Thanks for all the help guys. I'm gonna get under the thing one day and check everything out and go from there.

 

Nomader you cant run the full time TC with out the front shaft you will destroy the VC even more then it is http://www.masoncomputing.com/np249/

 

On the 95 and earlier it will hurt it, but on 96-98 the 249 are differant.
OP read this:
http://www.nagca.com/forum/showthread.php?t=23975

The first thing to get straight is that there are 2 very functionally different 249 cases used on the GC's. The case used from 93-95 is quite different in how it works compared with the case from 96-99. Unlike a 242 or 231, both versions of the 249 use a Viscous Coupling. The VC is basically a hydraulic coupling, and is sensitive to heat. Overheating a VC will cause it to fail, and the easiest way to make it overheat is to spin the input with no couter-torque on the output.

On the 93-95 transfer cases, the input shaft connects to the chain drive for the front driveshaft and the VC. This means there is no speed difference between the input shaft and the front driveshaft, ever (well except when the planetary is used for reduction, but it's still fixed). In the early 249 the rear driveshaft is driven by the VC and can spin faster or slower than the input and front shaft.

On the 96-98 transfer cases, the opposite is true. In AWD the input shaft is connected directly to the rear driveshaft. The VC is driven off the input shaft and turns the chain for the front driveshaft. The input shaft and rear driveshaft always spin at the same speed, and the front can spin faster or slower because of the VC.

Removing the front driveshaft from a 93-95 NP249 is just as bad as removing a rear driveshaft from a 96-98 NP249. In either case, the VC is left with a severely unbalanced torque load to transfer and will spin continuously, causing is to heat up and wear out the fluid.