Prepmech
NAXJA Member #981
- Location
- Neoga/Decatur, IL
Flexed with the sway bars attached, before OME lift:

I've got a '04 Special Edition that I use as my DD.
It has a OME HD lift, ARB bull Bar, Warn M8000, IPF 9000XDs, 17" JK wheels and 32" tires.
They like to loose their front springs if you take the sway bar off, there are no spring retainers to hold them in place.
The front axle shafts are CV shafts, and the front driveshaft also uses a CV joint (not a double cardan). The steering is better than the xj. The front axle is a low pinion 30.
Fuel mileage ranges from 16-20mpg for me in the grand.
Hey how much lift did you get out of that OME HD kit, they're rated at 1.5" but I'm curious about whether or not you saw more than that from it
IronRockOffroad.com has a kit to take care of that for you.
Mine has a double cardan front shaft, that wasn't consistent in all years, and I want to say that mine is also a HP30, but I haven't looked down there since last December when it was replaced. EDIT ***scratch that, just found an old pic, low pinion indeed...but they are 30 spline instead of 27 spline like the XJ was***
In stock form I used to get up to 24mpg on the highway with the 4.7L with the 32's and all the extra weight I still get up to 20mpg.
Wow, my mileage sucks. I've gotten 21 before, but never 24mpg. The 4.7 must not have to work as hard as the 4.0L. I can still get 20 if I go easy on it.
The 249 transfercase is known to be troublesome, a 242 swap isn't too difficult if it goes out. I haven't had any issues with mine yet, but it will be swapped for a 242 as soon as it starts acting up.
245x75R16 tires will fit on it stock
Actually, from wjjeeps http://www.wjjeeps.com/tcases.htm, the WJ used the 147 (Quadratrac I, no N or L), 247 (Quadratrac II and Quadradrive), and the 242. The difference between Quadradrive and Quadratrac is the limited slips in the axles for Quadradrive.
The ZJ used the 249 for quadratrac which is known to have a failure prone sealed viscous coupling.
We were planning on popping the front and rear diff covers off to have a look, and he said it's got a limited slip front and rear....sounds a little strange to me. The rear I could see, not so much the front though.
The difference between Quadradrive and Quadratrac is the limited slips in the axles for Quadradrive.
Sorry to hi-jack but i've got one that I may be working on this week. 2002 4.7L Limited with the Quadradrive. Buddy called and said it's starting to bind some in turns (like running a part-time case in 4hi on the pavement, only I don't think it's that bad).
We were planning on popping the front and rear diff covers off to have a look, and he said it's got a limited slip front and rear....sounds a little strange to me. The rear I could see, not so much the front though.
Other than something in the diffs we were thinking transfer case, or now that I think more about it, maybe something in the CV shaft up front?
Been a pretty good Jeep for the year he's had it...only done oil changes and put a TPS on over the summer. Hoping we don't find a serious problem with it this week.
I have heard of the "viscous coupling" going bad on these, this could be a expensive fix, the part is a few hundred alone. It is like a center diff for the AWD
http://www.discountjeepparts.com/index.php/cPath/87_3112
Wrong. I'll give you a hint. Look at the link you just posted then look at the year of the WJ in question.
Limited sips in both axles is what makes it Quafradrive. Maybe a friction modifier wasn't used last time the diff fluid was changed. It needs a special friction modifier from Jeep. Or wrong fluid in the transfer case, which is also a special Jeep fluid.