NP 231 or NP241

[osfp40]

I am in the process of rebuilding a 63 CJ5 . To cold to start tearing it apart right now but I'a buying parts. So far 9" ford out of 64 T bird mounting surface of 61" and Dana 44 out of 82 wagoner 61" wms. also going to run chevy 4.3 V6 with 700r4. but I need to know what the difference is between NP 231 and NP 241. The 241 was run in some chevys so I wouldn't need adapter save a few bucks but do they make a slip yoke eliminator kit for it or is it the same as the 231 kit. also going to go with soa set up but I haven't read anything that really impresses me about reversing the front shackles. All and any feed back is welcome. Soon as I figure out how to upload a few pics I will.

 

[derf]

Assuming you get the 231 out of a chevy, the difference will be in the strength of the Transfer Case itself. The 231 goes in the smaller vehicles like the S10. The 241 comes in the 1/2 ton and larger vehicles. They should share the bolt pattern and 27 spline input that goes with the 700R4.

Given your short wheelbase, a slip yoke eliminator will almost be mandatory for either one. There are plenty out there to choose from.

I'm not sure if the 241 is longer than the 231. That may be a consideration. The 231 will be more than strong enough for a V6 in a CJ5 .

The biggest concern will be finding one of them with the passenger side drop that you need. Off hand I don't know if the 231 ever came in a passenger side drop. I know that in the last couple of years of the K5 Blazers the 241 came in passenger side drop.

If you can't find one, an alternative would be an NP208 from an older Chevy. Those were all passenger side drop. Not as heavy duty as the 241 but for a V6 CJ5 it's plenty strong. Again, you'll probably want a slip yoke eliminator for it, which is easy to find.

 

[BajaEdition]

ok I think you are in research mode
so, lets look at you are going need a narrow driver side pumpkin front axle to use with either of those cases, the D27 you have will not work. Even a Dana 30 from under a later Cj will not work, the offset is on the wrong side for those cases, you may need to find a YJ or TJ front axle and have it narrowed. Not a bad project if you have money to burn.
Or you can go with a set of full length axles from a TJ or YJ and just put up with the wheels sticking out so far.
A better project would be to get a Dana 20 , adapt that and get a Terra Low kit for it, now you can use the Dana 44 axle behind that Rig you have, full float it and it will be stronger than a newer Dana 44 , keep your front D27 or upgrade to a 76 or later Dana 30 with disc brakes and live the life of Rielly

 

[osfp40]

I have already been working on that problem, I have a ford 9" out of 64 T bird wms 61.5" and a danna 44 out of 82 wagoneer 61" wms so axles are wider and the wagoneer is a dr. side drop. Next is the suspension, weather to go SOA or 4 &3 Link, been do alot of web searching but still haven't found my answer, I want the suspension to do better than stock on the trail, but still be able to drive down the highway at the speed limit.

 

[BajaEdition]

are you ready to do all the frame mods so you can fully box the frame to do a 4 link swap?, have you had an engineer design the geometry for it yet?, I have a friend who thought it would be so simple, he is on the third rebuild so far. he finally went and bought an automotive engineering software program and has found out that it is a lot more complicated than just buying arms and going for it.
Also are you prepared to redo the entire pedal system/linkage stuff to move them from in the way of your new driver side drive shaft?, Remember the 54 to 71 CJ5 had a pedal system that goes through the floor and hangs off the frame, using up the room on that side. You are going have to redo the system to get it to hang off the firewall and redo the brake and clutch to operate successfully.
I have a very serious question for you. Why do you want to do so much work on an early CJ5 ? If you want a jeep with a 4 link, why not buy a TJ, the frame is already set up for the system, it is fully boxed and reinforced where needed, the axles are wide enough so the Jeep will not be flip prone. Oh yea once you take that narrow Jeep and set it as high as you need to to justify the expense you are going to go through, it will be flip prone.
We are dealing with a very short wheelbase and a very narrow track here. the entire reason the track and wheelbase of the modern Jeep is what it is, is so it can handle a modern suspension without flipping.
And, that is on road with a lift. Trust me I know it is no fun traveling down the road at 70 mph on your roll cage.
Plus, I do not think you have thought through how much money you are about to spend when you start to embark on this project. Every piece of drivetrain you buy will need to be rebuilt, possibly regeared, and if you are going through the effort for all of this, axles locked. you are going either be very good at welding or know someone who will spend a few weeks under that jeep to set it up correct and then you will need to engineer a lot of stuff that ends up in the way because of the extreme changes you are doing. those axles you are talking about are 48 and 30 years old, if you do no completely tear them down to housing and rebuild you are just asking for a failure, rusted bearing surfaces, worn races, upgrading yoke sizes. And then your Tcase, Used? 2311 will require a lot of mods, only 241 you will find short enuff for that jeep will be the 241OR from a Rubicon, any other will need to be adapted in the exit shaft. and what about adapting it to the existing tranny? Remember that is an extremely short Driveline. We CJ5 guys have dreams of just an extra 2 inches so we can have a 4 speed.
My suggestion for you is to rebuild the Jeep stock and have a killer looking street Jeep that can take medium trails, go find a used TJ if you want 4 link or an YJ if you want to go SOA and build them. You will end up with a much better trail jeep that will have the length and width to do as you want.
What I fear you are about to do is start one of those projects that end up on craigs list, all parts are there, I lost intrest, you can put this together as the badest CJ ever with just a little help, and finally ending up as, parting out old CJ.
Good Luck