Hello all, please forgive me if this is a simple question, I'm not much of a truck guy. I would just like to get some things confirmed. I did a few searches but didn't find anything.

I own a 99 Dakota 4x4 club cab, 5speed with the 5.2L V8. The tail shaft of the transfer case has broken. I don't intend to ever off road the vehicle, and use it for home depot runs etc. I've been looking at replacement transfer cases and they are a bit more than I want to spend.

I've been looking into converting to RWD. What I would like to know is what all do I need?

As far as I can tell, I should be able to remove the transfer case, Disconnect the front drive train, and install a drive shaft from a 5.2, Manual, 4x2 truck. There happens to be one in a junk yard near me.

I have a one piece drive shaft in my truck currently.The 4x2 shaft appears to be a two piece. I cannot find a picture online of what the, I assume, carrier bearing mount looks like. I want to confirm I have a way to mount the shaft in my truck before going to the junk yard and bringing it home.

Any other input is welcome, such as alternative vehicles I can get a transfer case out of that will drop right into my truck. I'd rather not mess with modifying one to make it fit. I have yet to find a definitive answer on a Cherokee having the same transfer case. The broken unit is a NP231DHD.

 

I don't think you can just convert a tranny to 2wd. As the output is made for the tcase.

It is probably possible, but will cost more than a new tcase. I believe the tranny needs a entire new housing before that can happen. But I could be wrong.

 

You'd probably have to make an adpater to mount to the rear of the transmission. I don't know the spline-count on your transmission output shaft, but you'r probably need to get a convertor or something.

Plus, getting a new rear drive-shaft, etc etc. You'd probably be better off replacing the t-case. Their not too hard to remove/replace, providing the old one seperates from the transmission easily (ie when changing my transmission, we basically had to sledge-hammer the t-case and trans apart!)

 

Ok so it appears the RWD conversion is not as simple as I thought.

Now, what vehicles can I get a transfer case from?

 

any dak/durango or ram are possbile candidates if you have the manual shift(floor lever) make sure to get another one with the manual shift, same w/ the electronic

 

Thank you for the replies. Finding a MT transfer case locally out of anything is proving harder than expected. Pretty sure the Durango didn't come in MT.