yessir tons of wheeling and a little of everything here!! I've had 4 xj in my short life and one had a 242. I just didn't care for it. But I do understand why people like it.

 

I've had my 231-equipped XJ through a couple of winters now and it seems to work well enough. I've found that if there's any snow on the road there's enough slip to keep 4WD engaged without any signs of distress. (If snow is patchy though you have to keep shifting in and out of 4WD on turns depending on conditions, so I can see that the 242 would be better overall for winter driving.)

 

Funny isn't it, I've yet to see an XJ with a 231 over here in England. All the ones I've seen have had a 242. Possibly something to do with competing with Land Rover/Range Rover which are both full time 4WD.

Luckily, I'm very happy with 242. For a DD on slippery roads (doesn't have to be ice and snow - mud and rain will do it) I find the 242 really good. The ability to pull out of corners without having to tread on eggshells makes it for me.

For a DD the stock (for the UK) setup of 242 + rear LSD is a great combination, until the clutch packs give out at least. I'm still hopefull I'll get a Tru-Track for mine one day! For hardcore offroading, of course you'd want something very different but honestly there isn't that much opportunity to do proper wheeling in the UK unless you go to a Pay and Play which tend to be pretty small.

 

I love the 242 in my ZJ. Here in NC its great in the snow and heavy rain. I really like it on the farm though. I can put it in 4 all time and just go. It doesnt tear up the field like 4 part time but it also keeps all 4 wheels turning. I had the 249 before the 242 and didnt care for it. It didnt lock up in 4 low which sucked offroad

 

out of curiosity what happens when the clutch pack wears out, has it happened to you? does it just act as an open diff? picked a 8.25 LSD from the jy last year but a clutch pack would be twice the price of what I paid for the axle, so not really worth it.

 

Full-time 4wd in a 242 works like an open diff--there's neither a clutch nor a viscous coupler.

 

I could be wrong but i think Cane was referring to the clutch pack in a LSD differential.

I have a 8.25 LSD where the clutch pack went out at about 290k miles.
My bad i think, had a unknown leaking rear axle seal and didn't change the fluid for a lot lot longer than i should of.

Its hard to say how the toasted clutch pack acted, just a lot of grinding noise when making turns so i babied it until i got it quickly rebuilt.

 

I have a 8.25 LSD in my dodge truck and the clutches wore out. Its just like an open diff now. The pack on my D32 in the zj is still good and works well. I like having it and am considering getting a new one for the truck.

 

If you learned to drive before abs and learn not to depend on it you don't need it,Or times in the winter in the snow and ice i have seen cars slide right through intersections with the abs pumping you can see it.On a dry road you can threshold braking which is on the edge of a control skid but does work,Its something most road racer type drivers use.

 

I also know how to threshold brake. It's not rocket science. Knowing how to do it, and having the capacity to execute it perfectly in an emergency panic situation are two different things. Neither of my current vehicles have ABS, and while I know how to threshold brake AND learned to drive without ABS, I wish I had it. I've had emergency stops, and in those split-seconds, one just isn't capable of executing a quality threshold stop. I used to have a 94 Eldorado, and among other things, I miss the ABS and the traction control (which also, I have no doubt, saved me from having an extremely bad day one time). It's OK to let technology assist you; it doesn't make you an inferior in any way. Additionally, cars sliding through intersections with ABS would also slide through without it; that's quite the straw-man but is actually a strong argument for the importance of proper tires especially in winter.


Note: not all ABS systems are created equally of course. There were some systems back in the day that kinda suck, but they were back in the day and even then the exception to the rule. A person cannot react several times a second to changing traction conditions and instantaneous wheel speeds. Modern ABS systems can. The best ones don't even lock the wheels anymore, they simply modulate line pressure to keep wheel RPM within a set minimum limit relative to vehicle speed, and they do this for each wheel independently. Can you do that, human?


Sidenote: ABS and threshold braking aren't mutually exclusive. You can threshold brake with an ABS-equipped vehicle. It will likely show you how good or bad at threshold braking you actually are though because if you cross that threshold even for an instant, the ABS will activate. If the ABS doesn't activate, then you stayed at the threshold (or were braking too lightly).

 

I learned to drive before ABS (in the 1970's). I've raced cars, ridden motorcycles, driven semis, and even flown airplanes (I know - what's an airplane got to do with it?!). I lived in Germany for six years and for nearly a year I commuted via the Autobahn between Lübeck and Berlin (about 300 km each way) five times a week at speeds of up to 210 km/h (about 130 mph). I'm a very good driver (if I do say so myself).

And yes, when I'm thinking about it, I can out perform an ABS system. Just like great rally drivers have shown, I can threshold brake a car, even one equipped with ABS, and stop it on ice or snow sooner than the ABS system can (when the brake pedal is mashed to the floor and the ABS takes over).

All that said, back in Germany one time, the ABS system in my BMW saved my life. It was winter and the roads were slushy. I pulled into the left lane to pass a car that was going ridiculously slow (he was doing about 20 mph on a highway where 40 mph would have been safe). As I was passing him a car pulled out unexpectedly from a driveway that was hidden by trees right in front of me, turning right into the oncoming lane I was using for passing the slow car. I mashed on the brake and slalomed across back to the right lane just as a I passed the car, just before having a head on with the new car pulling out. The ABS system did its job and allowed me to keep steering and guiding the car - had I skidded straight forward I would have had a head on collision and you wouldn't be reading this.

Those who think ABS is only for average drivers are welcome to their opinion, wrong though it is.

Cheers,

John

 

This post makes me . I edited for quote brevity. I bought a stock loaded red '92 Limited and owned it for 15 years, with the np 242 and all the other bells & whistles that come with a Limited. Original owner optioned it with pretty much everything except heated seats. When my beloved XJ gave her "life" to save mine last year, she was an extremely well built 6+ inches, minus the ABS (Ford 8.8 rear).

But here's the kicker, mdtobe: just over 3 weeks ago I saw the exact Jeep you're looking for! Black, '99 Limited, ONE OWNER! 144k miles, 242, ABS, leather, heated seats, power everything, cruise control, NO rust, and just under $3k - right here in Fredericksburg VA. I almost threw up when I saw the ad because I had been searching since December, and had reluctantly settled for a 2001 Sport (ugh!) with the 231, the only feature it had that I cared for was 4WD. And that was part-time so ugh! again.

I was out of money now because I had also previously bought a '94 Country 2WD planning to swap the 242 from my '92, then realized it was too much work/money, hence the '01. Then along comes the '99 . Broke as crap, I borrowed the money from a friend and jumped all over it!! So yeah, I currently have 3 XJs (and need to sell 2 to pay back my loan). And yeah, I know exactly where you're coming from. Good luck with your search ... and post up when you find it.

But you can always buy one of mine & I'll throw in my 242 (you pull it!) with only 150xxx miles on it.

BTW, 4WD and AWD are 2 different animals. My DD Dodge has full time AWD with PT 4WD, and you can actually feel the superior stability when I have to switch to 4WD from AWD.

 

like he said after you posted, i was referring to the clutch pack in the LSD!

sounds good, the jeep i got it from had probably 140-150k miles, so i should be fine for a while hopefully. thanks for the info!

alright cool, at least i know i won't have to throw a bunch of money at it if it were to happen the clutch pack is toast. thanks

 

Yep, sorry for the misunderstanding of the question.

 

Wow - happy for you!

And yes, when (or if) the day comes and I find another Holy Jeep Grail, I'll post about it.

Cheers,

John