hey, looking for some opinions and facts concerning my build ideas.

before i get started, i have what i feel is a pretty decent light to medium duty offroad daily driver, 99XJ 4.0L, AX15/231J, HP D30/chryco 8.25 rr w/3.55's (both axles were from a '95 auto XJ) junkyard lift ZJ front springs, durango mix and match rear, JK shocks all around, cheapo wrangler radials 235/75-15's too, as well as all ZJ V8 steering parts.

it drives good, gets 16-18 mixed usual driving, and ~20mpg on long trips as long as i take off the roof rack.

i like to go on some trails and the beach every now and again, but also where i drive daily it rains alot, and the roads aren't so great (new orleans) so i'm pretty sure i want to change up my heap to a more AWD setup.

i need to replace my front axle seals, so since they have to come out anyways, i plan to replace them with ZJ CV axles (93-04?) which are cheap and would be plenty durable for what i do, but also better for full time AWD.

on that same note, i'm thinking of heading to the local junkyard and finding either a 242 (preferred) or 249 (96-98 ZJ for the locking 4lo) to swap out my 231.

any reason why a 96-98 249 would be any less reliable than a 242? i know a little about the viscous coupler in 4FT, anyone have firsthand experience with them?

and about the front axles, since the whole assemblies are cross-compatible, any reason why i shouldn't be able to basically swap out my u-joint axles for a new set of ZJ CV from the local auto parts store?

 

Don't really know what it'll take to make it work right, but it sure does sound cool!

 

answered some of this on jeep forum NP242 will work NP249 is crap.

 

i have the 242, no problems at all with it. and you can pick up replacement cv shafts from advance auto....

one thing though....full time 4wd destroys your gas mileage. it is awesome in the rain and snow though....i have stock front axle u-joints.

http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/web...51_10051_-1___

 

just thinking out loud, but i don't follow how FT4wd changes mileage since you're already moving all the parts anyways?

but yeah ,heading to the JY next week. i love that place!