Topic: 242 vs 231

[oldjeep]

I was a little suprised by this, but it appears that the NP242 and NP231 are basically the same length.  If anything, the NP242 is 1/4" shorter.

Front case is a 231, back one is a 242.   I'll have to take a real measurement this weekend when I have a complete 231 to compare the 242 with.

[chardrc]

wow those look about the same in the pic. is there any real advantage with the 242 other than full time 4wd?

[oldjeep]

wow those look about the same in the pic. is there any real advantage with the 242 other than full time 4wd?

Nope, that's the only advantage.  The 242 is somewhat weaker and it's hard to find an SYE for it.  But this is for the kids truck so that he can leave it in FT 4wd when the roads are spotty.

[chardrc]

ok. that what i was thinking after trying to read up about the 2 cases and it sounded like there was no advantage other than full time 4wd. ill keep my 231. 2wd in snow is more exciting when it isn't too bad. 

[Jeffy]

Better to go with a 241 then the 242.  IIRC, the 24x series will have a 6 gear planetary unlike the Jeeps 3 gear planetary.  The obvious other difference is in the output shaft being larger.  Oh and the chain and sprocket sets are larger as well.

Way back before there were Altas and Stak's people once installed 241's.

[oldjeep]

Better to go with a 241 then the 242.  IIRC, the 24x series will have a 6 gear planetary unlike the Jeeps 3 gear planetary.  The obvious other difference is in the output shaft being larger.  Oh and the chain and sprocket sets are larger as well.

Way back before there were Altas and Stak's people once installed 241's.

Better depending on what you are trying to accomplish.

A 241 is a beefed up 231.  Neither have a fulltime 4wd position.  You can swap in a 241 6 gear planetary into a 231.

A 242 has a 3 gear planetary just like a 231.  It has a fulltime 4wd position

[Jesse-James]

Are they the same ratio?

[oldjeep]

Are they the same ratio?

231, 241 and 242 are all 2.72 ratio.  They all use the same planetary set and sun gear set.  The chevy versions just fill in the 3 empty planetary slots that the jeep versions don't use.

[Jeffy]

Better to go with a 241 then the 242.  IIRC, the 24x series will have a 6 gear planetary unlike the Jeeps 3 gear planetary.  The obvious other difference is in the output shaft being larger.  Oh and the chain and sprocket sets are larger as well.

Way back before there were Altas and Stak's people once installed 241's.

Better depending on what you are trying to accomplish.

A 241 is a beefed up 231.  Neither have a fulltime 4wd position.  You can swap in a 241 6 gear planetary into a 231.

A 242 has a 3 gear planetary just like a 231.  It has a fulltime 4wd position

So you're wanting Full-Time 4wd then.

I'm not sure about NVG231-C but you can find the 1.25" chain with larger sprockets as well as the 6 gear planetary in the NVG231-HD's in some ZJ's and NVG231-D's.  For some reason I'm wondering if the 242 has the wider chain and sprocket set though.  It would make sense that the 242 and the 231 are close to the same since since both were used in the XJ, so no major changes would be required during initial assembly.  They were already using four different sets of driveshafts to adjust for variances between the 4.0/2.5 and the Auto/manual.

On another note, there used to be a company that made a bolt in viscous coupler.  Basically giving you Full-time 4wd.  Only problem is you don't have the locking capability of a dedicated transfer case.  I don't think that product is around anymore though.

Take some pictures of the install.  Oh and use a flash if you don't want them blurry.

[oldjeep]

So you're wanting Full-Time 4wd then.

Take some pictures of the install.  Oh and use a flash if you don't want them blurry.

Nothing much to take pictures of.  Took 2 hours start to finish, couldn't be easier.
1) remove both driveshafts
2) remive crossmember
3) remove 231
4) bolt in 242
5) Adjust shift linkage 1/4" and swap shift pattern bezel
6) reinstall crossmember and driveshafts

His truck doesn't have a vac disconnect any more but it still had the vac actuated shift light.  For the moment, I took the vac switch off the old tcase and left it hooked to the harness, mainly because I didn't feel like messing with it at the moment.   I've still got to get the harness for the 242 and run the PT and FT indicator light wiring.

But it works great.  Took it out on the iciest road I could find and tried to to tail whips in ft 4wd, and it behaves great.  As an added bonus, the 242 came with a 35 tooth speedo gear which was what we needed to get the speedo reading correct (truck had a 29 in it)

Worst part of the whole deal was getting the comanche stuck coming out of the shop (garage in back yard with no driveway).  Had to pull it out with the much taller YJ.

[chardrc]

got it stuck? we don't have that much snow here yet. you must have some drifts or something. or the plowed edge of the snow.

[oldjeep]

got it stuck? we don't have that much snow here yet. you must have some drifts or something. or the plowed edge of the snow.

  Foot and a half of snow in the backyard.  The comanche doesn't sit very high and I wasn't willing to spin until I started diggin up the grass.