Dealer tricked my friend into a 2wd Jeep. Didn’t check for 4wd. Wants to pay me to make it 4wd.

It's an 07 Wrangler 4 door. He's not a car guy & was in a hurry one day & just bought it with cash.  He feels stupid & dealer is like, there it is is writing on the paper. 
We're in Florida & not a big deal but they bought it to take out on the beach. 
If we had the parts it shouldn't be a big deal to make it 4wd. I know we would need the transfer case (not sure if they are electric or manual), the front axle (matching the rear ratio),  drive shafts. 
Do we need anything else? There aren't any JY's around here, is there a big Jeep parter outer online?

 

Probably cheaper and less headache to sell it and buy the right vehicle instead.

A kid I worked with in the 1990's bought his mom one winter a Jeep Cherokee to find in the summer it didn't have air.  He felt the dealer should've told him that fact.  Too funny.  

How did they trick him? Did they show him a fake transfer case shifter?

How is it their fault he was "in a hurry"?

As mentioned above, easier to sell and buy a 4x4, when he has more time to look at them, let him know if the big knob on the left is missing, it's 2wd.

And maybe tell him not to drive it on the beach anyway, even if it's 4wd.

I live near the beach and we used to go to our friends house for parties in the summer. Part of the entertainment was watching 4x4's be claimed by the sea.

I didn't even know they made 2WD Wranglers!

As far as the hard parts go, it's difficult to say without seeing what's under it for a front axle.  IIRC on the Cherokee's they used a straight axle with the same suspension configuration as the 4wd, so I would expect the wrangler to be similar. 

The best option might be to buy a 4wd with a rotted frame from up north and move over everything you need and part out the rest.

My guess would be you'll need:

- axle

- driveshafts 

- transfer case and adapter

- transmission 

- switch gear / shifter

- crossmember and mounts (might be the same on 2wd and 4 wd)

- any missing harnesses

- reprogramming/replacement of control modules. 
 

He's not upset, he knows he should have checked, but he didn't even know they made 2wd.  I should have said mis-represented it. They told him it was 4wd. 
Yes a lot of "4wd's" are non locking difs & you have 1 in front & 1 in back. In the sand you want all 4 turning. 
Would be better to not do this one. 

Tricked me. I didn't know they made 2wd JEEPs that didn't have US MAIL on the side. If I went to that dealer, or any JEEP dealer, I would have never asked about a 4wd Wrangler.  

They make 2wd Explorers, Durangos, Cherokees, Grand Cherokees, Suburbans, 4runners, etc.  Any SUV from southern areas is more likely to be 2wd than not. 
Most people haven't noticed the 2wd Explorers are back to being RWD vs FWD now. 

I started to notice them with dummy axles a while ago, was kinda sad. 
 

i have a neighbor with some extra jeep parts he may let go super cheap/free. He LS swapped his JK. Has a jk transfer case sitting in his garage, he mentioned to me that "nobody wants it". 

No Time said:

As far as the hard parts go, it's difficult to say without seeing what's under it for a front axle.  IIRC on the Cherokee's they used a straight axle with the same suspension configuration as the 4wd, so I would expect the wrangler to be similar. 

The best option might be to buy a 4wd with a rotted frame from up north and move over everything you need and part out the rest.

My guess would be you'll need:

- axle

- driveshafts 

- transfer case and adapter

- transmission 

- switch gear / shifter

- crossmember and mounts (might be the same on 2wd and 4 wd)

- any missing harnesses

- reprogramming/replacement of control modules. 
 

 

fairly easy as the front axle is just a beam with brakes.

I have an uneducated guess that you will be $5k into used parts if bought at JY prices.  CL/FB might get you down to $3k.  I think a wrecked,rolled second Wrangler might be the answer.  But, even wrecked Jeeps are never cheap.  The big costs will be transfer case, driveshafts and front beam.  You might be able to buy the weak stuff from guys beefing up to strong stuff.  

Those prices are without paying for any labor.  And, if your pulling the parts off a donor vehicle, your gonna have that labor time into the job too.

Another answer:  Install a front bumper winch to the 2wd Jeep for that occasion that the 2wd goes too far and is not enough to get back out.  Maybe a rear winch too.  Or, just one winch that slots into a receiver hitch with a receiver on both front and rear and quick disconnects to power supply.  

Is it by chance within his 30day consumer return policy window?

84FSP said:

Is it by chance within his 30day consumer return policy window?

I think only Costco is that generous with their return policies :)

I would say it's far cheaper to sell and buy.  Until you buy all the parts and associated gaskets and sensors, reflash the ECM, and do all the work, you're looking at major money.  Keep in mind, you'll have to replace the transmission as well, or do a complete disassembly to change the case and the output shaft.

You're looking at major surgery.  I would advertise it high and wait for a buyer, then buy a 4x4 jeep.

I would just sell it and buy a 4wd Jeep.

A few years ago a co-worker did make a 2wd Wrangler into a 4wd Wrangler,  he said it would have been cheaper and easier to just buy the one he wanted.

Another sad point is that the '07 will be a 3.8L V6 which is not as reliable or powerful as the 3.6L which was offering in 2012 and newer Jeeps. 

2007 = 202hp at mpg of 14/16/18 from 4 speed auto trans
2012 = 285hp at mpg of 16/18/20 from 5 speed auto trans

The above mpg is for 4wd.  The 2007 with 2wd is mpg rated at 15/17/20

I would not want to waste my time on this guy if he was too busy to check for 4wd.  Sell and buy the right thing!  

84FSP said:

Is it by chance within his 30day consumer return policy window?

No such thing for vehicles, not even a 72 hour window like most people assume. You sign and drive it off the lot, you own it. 

Also remember, the owner is not a car guy.  For that reason, I don't think he's gonna enjoy owning a Franken-Jeep. 

When he does sell it, which is likely he will trade it in, the vin is gonna come back as a 2wd Jeep and they are going to offer him a 2wd value even if he did convert it to 4wd.  Or, when the Jeep gets totaled, the insurance company is going to pay him off as a 2wd.

In case anyone is wondering why Jeep did it for a non mail truck, it was for the rental companies. They were made from 2007-2010, and most of them were for Hawaii rentals. It was the first 4 dr wrangler, and the rental contract says no off road, so they saved money that way. 
 

That's just the Wrangler though, you can still get other Jeep SUV in 2wd

ShawnG said:

Probably cheaper and less headache to sell it and buy the right vehicle instead.

This is the correct answer. 

There is really no point in dropping thousands in parts and time on it. He should sell it, and by a 4x4. 

Sell this one. Buy the 4-Wheel drive.  Don't do the conversion.

 He has lost money either way but the conversion could take a lot of time as the bugs are worked out and he will be without a vehicle for that indeterminate time. 

 And since he is not a car guy he will have ZERO appreciation that there WILL be bugs to work out.

How good is his insurance? 

Is driving it through the front window of the dealership and then telling them now it is your problem, an option?