What I found Inside my Transfer Case: np231 Rebuild

[@FlawedOffroad]

A little tip for anyone using this as a tutorial, a brass wire wheel is far less likely to gouge the aluminum when cleaning up the surfaces like you mentioned.

[@JeepSolid]

Yes. Thank you 👍🏼

[@3rdGenDodgeForever06]

This is a super helpful video! I love your positive attitude ( especially doing something so frustrating and challenging)! I have my 231j on my bench right now.. rebuild begins at first light!

[@davidkihn770]

Good tutorial. That is something that can be done very carefully by the home shop.

[@JeepSolid]

Yes. If you take your time it's not too hard.

[@davidkitson-i9e]

This is a great video now I can't go wrong

[@eversleyowl]

I really appreciate the time you put into these videos. I don' think I would have the confidence (or tools) to take on this task, but your clear, informative video has provided an excellent understanding of the really nitty gritty of how my transfer case works. Thanks again for the time you put in to making these videos.

[@moabwheeling1305]

Excellent job Dale ! I liked your longer video , kinda like the old days Ha Ha . That chain was definitely worn out . Catch you on your next video sir , take care .

[@JeepSolid]

Thank you sir!

[@sbwal2502]

Mr. Dale, sold my YJ a few months back but I still love watching your channel. Makes me already want another one. Great work, keep it up!!

[@JeepSolid]

Thanks man! I appreciate the support

[@phil9022]

Thanks for the video. Question. It looks like the chain you took out was narrower than the replacment. There are 1 inch and 1.25 inch availible but apparently the drive sprokets need to be changed to match if going from one to the other. Have you had issues with the wider chain?

[@roccom5988]

Top class work my friend.

[@rushwal]

That new chain looks wider.

[@JeepSolid]

It’s is wider. It’s designed for a few different cases. Perhaps it will give it more strength

[@shadvan9494]

I had to rebuild one after my in laws towed their jeep behind their motor home and had it in 4wd the whole time. chain was completely trashed. One tip that was left out. there is a bushing in the tail shaft housing. if it is worn out it cause the tail housing seal to leak in no time flat. also, if it is worn bad enough, it will cause drive shaft vibration. it is not usually included in the rebuild kit and sold separately. one last thing. if you are going to tear an NP231J down that far, I would spend few extra dollars on a 2-Low conversion kit. having 2-low is great when you need a really low gear, but not 4WD. one other tip, the Dodge Durango has the NP242D transfer case, it has wider gears and a wider chain. and a 6-gear planetary gear set. All these parts interchange and fit in the NP231 so you can add some durability if your jeep is packing a V8. just know that some 2-Low conversion kits will not work with the wide chain.

[@leonardobarojascondado7194]

justo se me daño el cojinete que mencionas que puede hacer vibrar la flecha cardan,mi transfer es el np231 pero no encuentro el cojinete ,solo kits completos de reparacion lo cual no es una opción viable para mi, tu sabrás por tu experiencia cual es el número de parte de ese cojinete?

[@shadvan9494]

@@leonardobarojascondado7194 I used the OMIX-ADA 18676.28 Main Shaft Bushing when I rebuilt the one for my in-laws 95 Jeep YJ. the bushing is in the tail housing behind the drive shaft seal. not all NP231j's have that tail shaft housing. some of them (97-06 NP231J) just have a rubber sleave that go over the drive shaft and do not need the bushing. I prefer the old 87-95 NP231J since it had the bushing, it eliminates driveshaft vibrations if you have a short drive line and a big lift kit.

[@leskobrandon538]

Good job! Now your an expert! You can also use grease to lube the brg seals...

[@JeepSolid]

Yes. Just don’t want it to run dry. Looks good now

[@leskobrandon538]

@@JeepSolid you make it look easy!... On a side note, I miss your live streams and I miss Fungus!... Lol

[@leskobrandon538]

@ JeepSolid you make it look easy!... On a side note, I miss your live streams and I miss Fungus!... Lol

[@tsmith578]

From my experience on transfer cases, l found out that it is best to take a measurement of how deep the bearing is in the planetary input shaft and put the new one in to the same distance. And for removing the front output bearing from the rear cover, rather than cutting it apart, if you spot weld a washer and a bolt to the bearing you can use a sleeve of PVC pipe and a couple more washers and a nut as puller , and the bearing comes right out with any sort of a struggle or any damage to the aluminum cover. And last but definitely not least ,if you buy your self a good pair of Lock Ring pliers , you will struggle a lot less with those pesky lock rings , rather than trying to remove and install them with snap ring pliers. I have a pair of SK Brand ones that I use , and believe me when I say they are well worth the money. And one last and very important thing is that you should probably really replace the oil pump in those transfer cases if they had metal shavings in there, they get damaged pretty easily and the pump housing is made of aluminum and they often get grooves in them and then they no longer provide sufficient lubrication for the bearings. Thank you for your videos Dale If you have a question about something that you are working on don't be shy about sending me a message I will be glad to help you out with a answer if I can. Good luck with your project man. Tim from Wisconsin.

[@JeepSolid]

Thanks Tim! I appreciate any tips and feedback. I never thought of using the welder to get that rotten bearing out. What a pain it was. I like your idea.

[@tsmith578]

@@JeepSolid I used that set up for my 242 J transfer case last year when I rebuilt it because I wasn't able to get a bearing puller , and I didn't want to try cutting and chiseling out the bearing and take the chance of damaging the aluminum cover. So I just looked around the garage and found what I had available and it worked out really great.

[@grease_monkey9044]

In the middle of doing my tcase. I tried the suggested puller method. It was working great until the washer I used behind my welded washer started folding. Then my threads started stretching and all of a sudden I was stuck with a bolt and washer welded to a half removed bearing lol...... So if anyone tries this method, use thick washers, small tack welds and a good bolt. Its out now after getting a bit redneck on it

[@tsmith578]

@@grease_monkey9044 When I use the method of welding a bolt and washer for pulling out the blind hole bearing in the rear of a transfer case,. I always try and use grade 8 hardware. First I weld the bolt to the washer to center it and then I weld it to the bearing,. And I use a sleeve of Pvc pipe and a nut and some more washers on top of the PVC pipe. So far I have never had any problem with removing the bearing using this method. But I have always used PVC pipe just in case the bearing is really tuff to pull , so that there is less chance of damage to the aluminum housing,. I'd suggest that if the bolt you tried was too soft of steel to do the job, Cut it off with a Dremel and a small disk , and weld in a better bolt and washer. And if you need a stronger piece of PVC pipe, or one just a little bit larger diameter , then use a PVC coupling instead of PVC pipe, I hope that I can possibly have helped you with this information Good luck with your project...

[@grease_monkey9044]

@@tsmith578 yea the failure was all on me, scabbing random hardware together. The only washer big enough I could find in the shop had a large hole, so I needed a smaller washer to fill the gap to keep the bolt from pulling through. The only issue was the smaller washer I used was thin junk. So as I applied pressure it started trying to fold through the larger washer. If I ever do another tcase ill be doing it your way again....... but with better hardware haha. Now here's hoping I got the rest of assembly correct!

[@nopoohfan7112]

Hey, I wanted to thank you for a previous video when you recommended red line gear oil. I changed the gear oil about 5K miles until I noticed a difference. Second gear was hard to get into randomly. Now I have not noticed the problem. I will change it one more time with red line and hope that the problem of getting into second gear does not come back. Appreciate your suggestion. ;)

[@Thundarr995]

What oil did you drain out of it? Some of these TC call for ATF,actually many of them do. About a year ago, I bought a 96 Grand Cherokee with a bad np249 TC. I swapped a np242 into it. I didn't have the repair manual, I assumed it took gear oil,so I put gear oil in it. It was a major pain to shift into 4WD. A couple months later, I had to replace the lower intake manifold gasket,so I bought the repair manual. I just so happened to stumble across some information on the fluids. My TC takes ATF+4 or Chrysler ATF. After I repaired the intake gaskets, I drained the TC and put the ATF+4 in there. It fixed the hard shifting into 4WD. It's still not like butter, but it's a lot easier. When I had the gear oil in there,I had to pull the 4WD lever like I was trying to tear it off.😂 Anyway, you may want to look into that. Make sure you have the right oil in there.

[@tharaka853]

Can you use assembly lube for the transfer case rebuild?

[@timwilson7326]

Great video

[@Electricninja87]

quick question do you just put the oil pump housing back on and line up your snap ring gap and put the ring on. I noticed you said to make sure you get the depth right didn't no if you needed to pull the bearing forward more when doing this. Currently got my apart

[@thewarpuggaming1137]

My truck a 2000 dodge Dakota 4.7 4x4 has a 231. I don't know if it's a transfer case or front diff but put it in 4wd and press against a curb. I give it power and a horrible grinding happenings and seems to skip over the teeth of drive shaft

[@christopherpucci5036]

Thanks Dale, your videos are great. Is there a need to pack the bearings with grease before running the transfer case?

[@scottmcclenaghan3236]

Great video, thanks

[@loganbarboza4248]

Curious if this would fit the '93

[@sewerratt47]

How many times have you done this ?

[@banzaiib]

looks like you replaced the 1" chain with the 1.25" chain. Do you need anything else new for that, or is it a simple swap? I need to replace my chain, and i was just wondering which one i should order, as they're basically the same price. (np231 out of a 95 yj)

[@JeepSolid]

The thicker chain is compatible with few different cases. I didn’t change anything out

[@jasonhoward8606]

Thanks for pointing this out. While watching the video when comparing the two chains length (for stretch) I wondered the same thing. When side-by-side the new chain definitely appears slightly wider in comparison?

[@roccom5988]

What kind or brand transfercase oil do i have to use for my yj 1991 ? It's a manual gearbox ( 5 gears ) Thanks in advance my friend.

[@andreass.5093]

The input shaft looks like worn out. I needed 3 attempts to figure out why my transmission is leaking … it was the TC input shaft. Cheap fix: Speedi sleeve

[@jeffreykolba8578]

How much oil do you put in a transfer case?

[@ryangregory3094]

1992 wrangler but the rebuild kit is for 84 and newer???

[@Jim_woods]

Why so blue? Just kidding great video as always 👍

[@slowg8701]

You wouldn't happen to.have an exploded diagram for the np231 would you?

[@tsmith578]

Hey there Dale . Is that transfer case A 231 HD. Model by looking at some of the parts you removed in your video it looks like the HD model. I have rebuilt several transfer cases over the past 25 years , but I have not built a 231 yet but a couple of guys I know said that the 231HD have heavier duty parts in them , such as a wider chain , a wider front input bearing and I heard that some of them are supposed to also have a heavier duty shift fork.

[@JeepSolid]

This was a np231j. Not hd that I am aware of.

[@bob4003]

Why not put a sye while your there ?

[@xxshooterxxdm]

All that u should have put a sye wile it was out

[@SteppingR]

make pics when disasamble XD

[@zxborg9681]

Couldn't you just shrink the old chain by putting it in the freezer

[@JeepSolid]

Don’t think so

[@zxborg9681]

@@JeepSolid Just pulling your.... chain. Been waiting to see how this resolved since you pulled it a month or so back. Really enjoy your content - lots of good ideas and advice. I have a 250,000 mile TJ that's in need of a lot of work, hoping the t-case gets me through a few more years still though.

[@nopoohfan7112]

You have more guts than me, I would not feel confident using a Dremel. I would find a tool. Cannot have enough tools. Ha Ha

[@VictorQuevedoRoa]

Brother, your videos look interesting but you should put subtitles in Spanish since there are many Latin Americans who do not understand what you are saying, it would be of great help, friend.

[@josegonzalez-no4os]

La

[@larryalexander4833]

Way to stretch this series way to lonnggg

[@JeepSolid]

I work on it each week as I have time. I have another full time job

[@wegngis]

This is a video