Offroad-Express

Hey jeep guys. Having owned many dirty jap turbo deisles in the past and one xj. When deciding on my next vech as my mitsubishi is on deaths door. I want again to own a jeep. That 4.0 is hard to top. I want to hear your opinions on the difference between the grand and the xj. If there is anything serious to consider when buying. I think I want a grand as it will mostly be a road truck.

got a grand ..good bang for ya buck ..but wish I had brought another xj .....looking at doing a couple of mods on the the grand but yeah na....xj cheap as chips and parts aplenty .......

go xj ezyer to mod

buy my v8 grand cherokee ltd and ride in leathery comfort ha the lift kit ready to go in

Ha ok how much?

safaripete wrote:buy my v8 grand cherokee ltd and ride in leathery comfort ha the lift kit ready to go in

what lift did you go with pete

yeti wrote:

safaripete wrote:buy my v8 grand cherokee ltd and ride in leathery comfort ha the lift kit ready to go in

what lift did you go with pete

rough country.

was already there when i got it

ive decided on a grand, found one i can afford and will be picking it up on friday, cant wait! its a 4.0 aswell. i thought about the v8 but its out of my price range.

I see you've made your decision, these would be the questions that you'd have to ask yourself.

Square vs Curves? Headroom vs Not so much headroom? Then you've got the rear end, coil vs leaf?

A budget? Running gear reliability an issue to you?

I personally fall with the XJ, love that retro older style look. A V8 option would be nice but the reliable AMC242 is good enough (nearly).

You've still got a large shopping list on the other side of the world either way.

how do you mean running gear reliability? are they known for failing?

fish wrote:how do you mean running gear reliability? are they known for failing?

What year Grand Cherokee are you getting. They have different rear diffs through all the different variations.

its a 97 with the 4.0

Hope you don't mind me jumping in with my own question but might be helpful for you too.

My very limited knowledge. (Please feel free to set me straight)
The Dana 35 is the weakest but can run up to 32" tires quite happily and doesn't like hard offroad use. There are "kits" out there that can increase the strength of these but have no idea how good they are.
The Dana 30 is a bit better but not much.
The Dana 44 is what you want. pretty tough (for a jeep ) but very hard to find
Some have ford axles which is the best option. don't think its a factory option but more like an off road modification.

My Questions;
How good are the 35 strengthening kits?
How do you know what type of axle you are running?
What is the difference between the grand Cherokee and Cherokee axles?

Dana 30 is the front axle on YJ TJ JK ZJ WJ, different pinions but essentially the same. Only Rubicons come with front Dana 44.

Rear Dana 35c came in all except WJ and Australia NZ spec TJs and JKs. These have Dana 44 from factory, normal in TJ and JK and aluminum housind D44a in WJ.

97 would be a ZJ. It will likely be a Dana 35c. If you can find a rear end from a TJ it should just swap over. You can put your ZJ disc brakes back on your new TJ axle with drum brakes.

fish wrote:how do you mean running gear reliability? are they known for failing?

All mine fail

yeti wrote:

fish wrote:how do you mean running gear reliability? are they known for failing?

All mine fail

That might be because of the unrated nut behind the wheel on each of them.....

TJ wrote:

yeti wrote:

fish wrote:how do you mean running gear reliability? are they known for failing?

All mine fail

That might be because of the unrated nut behind the wheel on each of them.....

the d30 is the weakest so I've found ....too much right boot....



both will be fine playing in the slops .....run 33s on the old xj and gave that grief ....35s a c clip set up .......

they don't like the bounce bounce thing or bit of air time .....


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfQy855nE3o

Thats good info. Are the 35 and 30 limited slip?

well i picked it up and i have to say im very happy. its the tsi model and is in mint condition. i love it. prett sure the transfer case is locked up as its skitty in tight circles and has some noise. but for the price its great. i dont know much about the quadra trac box so has any one had this? might need to swap it...

full time 4wd ..... that's why the binding on full lock feeling

Isnt there a viscous coupling on the case that allows slip in normal circumstances? Iy feels like its locked. Right about the diff too
Its a 35. Pretty keen to swap it out for a 44 asap

yeti wrote:full time 4wd ..... that's why the binding on full lock feeling

Shouldn't bind up in full time. In the full time it lets the front and rear driveshafts spin at different speeds so it shouldn't be winding up the transfer case. So in short the front and rear can operate at different speeds. In part time the front and rear shafts are locked so that there is no slip except through the wheels (offroad terrain use only). Apparently the full time function doesn't work so great if it hasn't had much use, mine acts as though it's in part time in full time.

NP249 xfer case - viscous coupler packing up at around 140,000kms is common-ish

lax2wlg wrote:NP249 xfer case - viscous coupler packing up at around 140,000kms is common.

same problem with the np242 in the XJ?

XJCrawler wrote: np242

Center differential....IIRC

"The 2WD and 4x4 full time ranges can be used at any time and on any road surface. The 4x4 part-time and 4 Lo ranges are for off road use only. The only time these ranges can be used on hard surface roads, is when the surface is covered with snow and ice."

"Operating Modes:
2WD (Sends all power to rear wheels)
4WD High, full-time (Sends power to all wheels)
4WD High, part-time (Locks both front and rear driveshafts for increased traction)
NEUTRAL (Allows vehicle to be towed)
4WD Low, part-time (Doubles the transfer case gear ration for severe road conditions and low-speed pulling power)"

http://www.wjjeeps.com/tcases.htm#SELEC

@fish - please note this info applies to the NP242 part time box, ie not the box in your ZJ

NP249 viscous coupling can go bad and unfortunately it's a sealed unit. It has to be replaced, can't be repaired. But service the transfer case and diffs first. But it's dirty fluids or incorrect fluids that are making it heavy. If it was actually locked up, chances are you would have broken a driveshaft or something on tarmac.

My WG Grand Cherokee with NP247 (later than yours) has always been very heavy on tires and jerky but thats because it has LSD in the front.

My suggestion is to fully service it first and see if it improves. Second, transfer cases from other can be swapped in if its broken.

lax2wlg wrote:

XJCrawler wrote: np242

Center differential....IIRC

"The 2WD and 4x4 full time ranges can be used at any time and on any road surface. The 4x4 part-time and 4 Lo ranges are for off road use only. The only time these ranges can be used on hard surface roads, is when the surface is covered with snow and ice."

"Operating Modes:
2WD (Sends all power to rear wheels)
4WD High, full-time (Sends power to all wheels)
4WD High, part-time (Locks both front and rear driveshafts for increased traction)
NEUTRAL (Allows vehicle to be towed)
4WD Low, part-time (Doubles the transfer case gear ration for severe road conditions and low-speed pulling power)"

http://www.wjjeeps.com/tcases.htm#SELEC

@fish - please note this info applies to the NP242 part time box, ie not the box in your ZJ

I know the operating modes. I'm confused to why my NP242 is winding up the transfer case on the road when in 4WD full time, assumed similar problem that fish is having with his np249.

A limited slip centre diff will do that as the LSD is always trying to send power to the slower spinning shaft and trying to get them to turn at the same velocity.

ok, i think you could be right that its not completly locked but still not healthy.
i plan to have the rear diff serviced as it has noise, sounds like a bearing.
when i turn sharp on the hard top the front end sounds like bad cvs, but with a live axle there are none right, Im gonna wear it for asking that.

Yes your low pinion D30 front utilises open knuckles with CV joints and CV boots. Exactly like the Range Rover P38 front end. You also have a CV joint on your front driveshaft.