I've picked up a 231D HD at the local Pick a Part junk yard for my Jeep, under the impression that it came with the 1 1/4" wide chain, and 6 pinion planetary gears. I can't say what it came out of because it was just laying in one of the isles. What I can say, is it did NOT have the 6 pinion planetary.



Does anyone have any helpful information as to what model/years I need to be looking at for a 231D HD WITH the wide chain and 6 pinion planetary gears?

 

Look for a 241? HD for those parts.

 

So NONE of the 231D HDs came with 6 pinion planetary gears?

 

From all the information I can find, no, none of them did. Rumor has it the 231C (chevy) had four pinion planetary's. Not entirely sure on that.

It IS, however, a common mod to take the six pinion from a 241 and put it in the 231.

 

I've seen that the 231C does have 4 pinion planetary gears, I've seen a guy on NAXJA turn a Chevy 4 pinion into a 6 pinion, using a spare 3 pinion for parts. I've seen several people use the 241 planetary gears, and thats what I had to resort to with mine.

Just trying to find out if there really was a 231 that did come with the 6 pinion. I have a few guys I wheel with that have been interested in following my footsteps on this t-case build. It's a good bolt in upgrade without having to limit ourselves to the 4:1 that the Rubicon 241 gives, and at a fraction of the cost.

Thanks for the help!

 

From my understanding, the chevy four pinion is just a six pinion cage, they left two gears out of. There ARE some differences in tooth pitch between years though, so, that is something to keep in mind.

It is also my understanding, but, not 100% sure, that the 241 cases are dimensionally the same as the 231, and might be a direct bolt-in swap. Find 'em in 3/4 and 1 ton trucks. (dodge and chevy's, and jeeps, if they made any that heavy.)

I think they might be clocked differently between manufacturers though, but, there are clock rings available as well. Don't think they screw up driveshaft lengths either.

Happy to be of service.

 

Yeah, all of the 231 planetary cages I've seen have been 6 pinion cages, but not all of them are used. Both the 231J and 231D planetary gears I have are 6 pinion cages, with 3 pinions, the other 3 spots just were not drilled yet, though I have heard some of them are even drilled for it. Here is some good tech I've found along the way:
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=854320
I've also found that the gear cut change seems to have happened in '95(t-case model year, not vehicle), there are pics in the link above on how to tell them apart.

From what I've seen, at least the 241C is a bit larger than the 231, I've also heard that the 241OR(Rubicon) is larger also, based on some of the aftermarket Jeep parts, it seems to be an issue with some of the tummy tuck(flat belly) skid plates in the Wranglers. I do know that the 241OR is as close as a direct swap into the Jeeps as they get for the 241 in Jeeps up until 07(all of the Wranglers come with 241s now, Rubicons are the only ones that get the 4:1 though).

 

Oh, and just a heads up for you guys. Like I said, I've been building this case to go into a Jeep, and unlike most of the Jeep guys that take the dodge guts and put them in a Jeep case, I'm taking Jeep aftermarket stuff and putting them in the Dodge case. So far I've found that the Teraflex 2 Low kit will also work in the Dodge case:
http://www.teraflex.biz/2wd-low-range-kit.html
I've also found that the 231J output shaft and tail housing will swap in. Jeep case with a Rubicon Express Hack n Tap SYE on the left, Dodge with Jeep tail shaft and tail housing one the right:

I'm currently waiting for my NP231J that I've modified, to sell to fund getting a JB Conversions Super Short SYE for the Dodge case:
http://www.jbconversions.com/product..._short_sye.php