I purchased this 2 years ago as a back up vehicle. As my newer vehicles continual fail me this thing has been rock solid. Right after I purchased it I did a bunch of maintenance to include full cooling system, all new sensor, ignition system and shocks. I decided to finally give it some love and build it to suit me... all other Jeep people are going to hate it.. I'm not concerned.
1994 ZJ 4.0 5 speed 3.73 164k
Purchased and to be installed:
H&R lowering springs
Addco oversized sway bars and links
New control arms
Mountain Vista fab transfer case linkage
Rebuilt front driveshaft
Motor/trans mounts poly filled
Raceline 401GD 15x7 +15
Future purchases
Steering linkages and ball joints
Valve cover gasket
Ecode glass headlights
ShermanTanker said:
all other Jeep people are going to hate it
I'm here to tell you you're wrong.
I've thought about a lowered "rally spec" ZJ with the 4.0 5speed many times over the years. As a jeep person I am excited to see your project come together!
We have a 2WD 4.0 5 speed XJ (that's gotta be rare) and thought of doing similar, carry on!
In reply to John Welsh :
I have the article etc. on that!! Wish ours was a 2 door .....
long day of working on the Jeep. All rear control arms are in, sway bar, and springs all around. I'll try to get to the front sl control arms this week along with the other parts.
Initial drive was great. Much flatter and my shocks take the extra spring rate very well. Super flat in the corners but a weird wallow on transitions that I assume is the result is mismatched sway bars and old control arms.
More to follow later this week.
I'm very into this. Against all odds, I really liked our ZJ. I still have the Addco rear bar from it, and might still have one e-code headlight here, too.
It's a little hard to tell from your photos. What color is the interior?
I've been looking to upgrade to E-codes, just trying to justify the money. As for the interior... it's old man tan. But like all Jeeps from that era it looks almost new. I'd love to find a full black interior.
i can only post once per hour as per the rules I guess..
The stock 9004 headlamps are abysmal. If we still had ours I'd absolutely do the e-codes again, unless I really wanted to build a custom set with good bi-LED projectors behind clear lenses.
Apparently new accounts are throttled for a while. We have a problem with spammers here. Not a forever thing.
Wheels installed! I love the stance. Weather once again did not cooperate to test the suspension... at least it was fun.
How's the ride height compared to stock?
What size tires are you running? They look a little taller than stock.
What t-case comes behind the 5.0/AX15 combo?
How's the ride height compared to stock?
What size tires are you running? They look a little taller than stock.
What t-case comes behind the 4.0/AX15 combo?
If you still have a wallow on left-right transitions, check the front and rear track rods. They work pretty hard on ZJs. Ours always had a little bobble on transition, though this was not made better by the 3" lift.
buzzboy
UltraDork
2/16/25 7:32 a.m.
Lowered, manual, 4.0 ZJ! Love this thing!
I didn't realize you could get a ZJ with either an NP231 or NP249, I thought they were all NP249s
Cool! The wheels scream Rally!
As for the ride height. H&R claims a 1.75F and 1.5R drop. Mine was almost exactly this.
Tire size is currently 235/75R15. I've considered going with a shorter more rally-esque sized tire in the future.
Track bars are on the list of things to check. I'd like to go with adjustable but all of those are made for lifts not lowering. I need to measure to see if my axles are off center or not. I assume it'll be fine as you can lift them up to 3ish inches before track becomes an issue.. so lowering up to 2" shouldn't be an issue. I guess the tape measure will tell.
Transfer case is an NP231 part time 4wd. 2wd, 4hi 4 low. It was the only case option for the AX-15 equipped ZJs.
The NP242 which is a pretty cool option considering it adds a full time 4wd option to the NP231 with a 58% rear and 42% front torque split and still allows 2wd.
The NP249 is a viscous 4wd transfer case that offers 4hi and 4lo only According to the internet in the pre 96 249s, the viscous coupler sensed slippage in the rear and then increased power to the front axle in both high range and low range. In the 96-98, it works the same in high range, but the front and rear axles are locked together with 50% power going to both in low range. A much better setup. The VC tends to fail somewhere between 100,000 and 130,000 miles. I've read these like to have issues even after rebuild and I will probably steer clear.
I most likely will pull a 242 and see if I like it. I would need to swap it to a u-joint style yoke though. Or just pull a CV driveshaft.. more to follow on this.
My ZJ luckily came with all U-jointed drivetrain with not a CV in sight. Double cardan front driveshaft and single style axles.
