Well that's new....

 

Coulda fooled me. You always pipe up in the 231 vs 242 transfer case threads and express the same old crap.

 

The 242, good t-case. Lots of parts available, the later model's have a "no core, heavy duty" sye kit pn. from what I hear.

That's what I bought from Tom Woods anyway.

Summit catalog has a pn. too, I haven't investigated it much though. Don't know what years it works in, but it is Advance Adapter's.

After buying the Tom Woods kit, I noticed the Advanced kit in the Summit catalog. It's probably the same thing, but once again, I don't know what years it fits.

 

You fit the t-case you want to run with your rig.
I rather use the 231 because is way more reliable than 242.
I only drive highway and off road. Snow... Quite a couple of times I've been upthere in vacations and a friend of mine in Illinois lend me his xj and it has a 231. Only a couple of times I had to use it in 4lo just to get off where I was sort of stuck on snow and then back in 2h and drive normally, only drive it in 4h when snowing hard and frozen roads.

 

Way more reliable? Bull****.

 

the shifiting is a non-issue because it's the linkage that causes the 242 to be harder to shift in and out of 4wd. there's kits out there to replace the factory linkage and once you've done that it shifts like a dream.

 

The linkage isn't the problem, mine shifts easily it just takes a little bit longer to engage. I have pretty much gotten used to it by now, I just shift in to 4x4 20-30 yards before I need it, or if I am already stopped I shift into 4x4, put it in reverse and back up a few feet then put it back into drive and it engages.

 

shift like this and it's really a non-issue.

aHere's how the factory suggests you shift the transfer case and I've been doing this since these things were new and I worked at the dealership. Quoted from the owner's manual. The suggestions in CAPS are mine.

"To engage, shift the transfer case lever from 2H to 4H while the vehicle is moving at any legal speed". I LET OFF THE GAS, THROW THE LEVER, TAP THE GAS AND LET OFF.

4L position: " To engage, slow the vehicle to 2-3 MPH , shift the transmission to Neutral, then shift the transfer lever to the right and pull firmly rearward to 4L".

TO SHIFT OUT OF 4L, SHIFT THE TRANSMISSION INTO NEUTRAL WITH THE VEHICLE STOPPED, SHIFT THE TRANSFER CASE LEVER TO 2H, THEN THE TRANS TO D IF YOU HAVE AN AUTOMATIC, OR INTO FIRST GEAR WITH A MANUAL, AND CONTINUE ON.

Revised 11/20/2014

 

Like I said it goes into 4x4 just fine when I am still moving as long as I have 20-30 yards to go before I get into a situation where the rear wheels will start spinning, but If I am in 2wd and there is a mud hole right in front of me that I need 4x4 for or if I get stuck in 2wd and need to switch to 4x4 I just back up a little bit and it engages, not a big deal.

I have no problems going into or out of 4L it works just like any other part time transfer case I have had.

 

i dunno man, perhaps something is wrong? Ive had the 242 before and it engaged immediately just like my current and past 231s?

 

00t444e, I'm also considering this swap, I have used the full time option but I won't miss it either. My biggest reason for wanting to swap is the SYE kits are about half the price for the NP231 and I want a Tera Low 4:1 kit. I've seen allot more aftermarket support for the 231 as well and the prices on similar mods are much cheaper on the NP231. Good luck with the swap and I'd like to know how it goes as it's on my to-do-list.

Also, my previous jeep had a NP231 and I loved it, worked great, I haven't had my current XJ long but I've engaged the 4x4 several times and there is a delay before the NP242 engages on mine as well from time to time. It's not just you. I'm amazed at the ranting in this thread.

 

I'm scratchin' my head about the "delay" thing personally.

 

What delay?

Idk.

Other points in #26 made sense.

I'm not experiencing a "delay" when I shift the 242 in my 2000 XJ.

 

I think it may be more something to do with the torque splitting that the NP242 does in full-time but I get rear wheel spin before the front engages, it's only for a few seconds but I've noticed it, this was something I didn't have with the NP231 because it doesn't have the full time option. I shifted it to part time and the delay was gone. I think I wasn't clear what I was referring to when I stated delay in reference to my own experience. I noticed this in snow and on loose surface (loose gravel on a grade), shifting to either part time option and the delay, or maybe I should say hesitation, was gone. Is that more clear?

 

Oh yeah that's clear.

Front and rear axles are locked together in part time.

Front and rear axles are not locked together in full time.