I know the Nitro's kind of new, and perhaps nobody's really had time or the inclination to wrap their head around this, but does anyone know if there's a way to transplant a dual range transfer case into a Nitro? I'm assuming that there's one available in the Liberty, and that it would probably bolt up. I just don't know if you'd be looking at drive shaft modifications and you'd certainly want something with a manual shift, if one is available. It would be a really nice mod if it turns out not to be terribly complicated.
Dual range transfer case.
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Expensive mod
I think you would be thousands ahead by just trading your Nitro in for a 2008 Liberty, which is supposed to look like the Nitro.
Personally I don't see my Nitro as an offroad vehicle, just a cool looking street SUV with 4wd for when it snows each winter. Speaking of snow, can you believe that there is a 50% to 70% chance of snow this Friday at my home in Southern California! That is Big Bear Lake for you, unpredictable weather almost anytime of the year.
I think you would be thousands ahead by just trading your Nitro in for a 2008 Liberty, which is supposed to look like the Nitro.
Personally I don't see my Nitro as an offroad vehicle, just a cool looking street SUV with 4wd for when it snows each winter. Speaking of snow, can you believe that there is a 50% to 70% chance of snow this Friday at my home in Southern California! That is Big Bear Lake for you, unpredictable weather almost anytime of the year.
I've thought about this myself, and maybe somewhwhere down the road after my extended warranty is up.
BTW the '08 Liberty styling is decidedly Jeep, even though it is based on the Nitro.
I say stay with the Nitro as it is until you have had it for a year or 2. I really don't think you will need the low range as much as you think. I would hate to take my shiny new Nitro (or for that matter any brand-new 4WD) into serious off-road slogging. Just look at the thread on this forum of the guy that had rock damage from dirt roads. If you do regular offroading you will have dings, paint scratches and much worse.
I'd rather go off-road in a 10-year old beater with a lift kit and other mods required for off-road than my spotless Nitro.
Ken
We won't be doing any off road driving in the Nitro; I just like having low range in the snow and ice. It's nice to have here in the mountains, though we haven't received a great deal of winter precipitation the last couple of years. We've got the 6 speed tranny, though, so at least that helps a little. And this is the first new car we've bought in 10 years. After a series of upside down trades prior to that, as well as the years it took to pull our finances out of the gutter, I've learned my lesson, so we'll be keeping this one until it falls apart.
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I think you will be pleasantly surprised with the traction control and the ESP system you already have on your Nitro. I agree with Ken, don't start hacking up your beautiful Nitro until you try it in the snow and ice. I'm actually looking forward to winter this year for the first time in a long time! :Racing:
I have driven my f240 for a year (much of it off the beaten path) and have never needed the low range option. This was part of the reason for going for the nitro r/t 4x4.
Unless I actively would look to go 4x4ing I won't ever need a low range.. If I were that sort of guy I'd just get a Jeep wrangler instead.
Unless I actively would look to go 4x4ing I won't ever need a low range.. If I were that sort of guy I'd just get a Jeep wrangler instead.
We drive around in Boone on a regular basis. I had no problems with My RWD Suburban with positraction. I had chains just in case. I have total confidence that the Nitro 4X4 will be the perfect ski vehicle for Boone.
One more datapoint, a friend of mine is in the Ski patrol at Sugar Mountain. He drives his Honda Accord from Hickory to Sugar and has never missed a ski day. A 4WD Nitro is light years ahead of an Accord for winter driving in the mountains.
Ken
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Bearly....Snow on the ground up here today in North Cent. Montana just south of the border! Winter's coming quick!
Dredging up an old thread
I have read all the posts here and there is not a clear answer to the original question.
"does anyone know if there's a way to transplant a dual range transfer case into a Nitro?"
Maybe some of the Mechanics that work for Dodge/Jeep here can answer.
If so which one. Command trac1 or 11, select trac1 or 11? (model #'s?)
I'm leaning toward the Command trac as it is closer to the Nitro's 4 wheel drive system, but I think I read somewhere the 11 has a different bolt pattern.
Then, how would the wiring and switches work? I know on the newer ones they have eliminated the "mechanical pull Lever".
I use my Nitro to tow a small trailer, and first and reverse are so high geared that I find myself smoking the clutch when trying to go slow up a steep drive or backing threw my gate up a slight hill. If I let the clutch out all the way it is real easy to loose control of the trailer, or the tires start to spin on the grass and the traction control kicks in and locks up the brakes, thus killing the engine as it is at idol.
I have read all the posts here and there is not a clear answer to the original question.
"does anyone know if there's a way to transplant a dual range transfer case into a Nitro?"
Maybe some of the Mechanics that work for Dodge/Jeep here can answer.
If so which one. Command trac1 or 11, select trac1 or 11? (model #'s?)
I'm leaning toward the Command trac as it is closer to the Nitro's 4 wheel drive system, but I think I read somewhere the 11 has a different bolt pattern.
Then, how would the wiring and switches work? I know on the newer ones they have eliminated the "mechanical pull Lever".
I use my Nitro to tow a small trailer, and first and reverse are so high geared that I find myself smoking the clutch when trying to go slow up a steep drive or backing threw my gate up a slight hill. If I let the clutch out all the way it is real easy to loose control of the trailer, or the tires start to spin on the grass and the traction control kicks in and locks up the brakes, thus killing the engine as it is at idol.
I don't know details of shaft length. size etc, but I know that the ECM controls the Tfr case.
When you turn the 4WD switch in either the Liberty or the Nitro, it switches in some resistors to tell the ECM how to shift the Tfr case. This would lead me to think that you need to re-flash the ECM or perhaps install one from a Liberty to make the swap.
If you used a completely manual one, I suppose you could leave the old 4WD switch in place, but I don't know if the ECM makes any other decsions when in 4WD.
When you turn the 4WD switch in either the Liberty or the Nitro, it switches in some resistors to tell the ECM how to shift the Tfr case. This would lead me to think that you need to re-flash the ECM or perhaps install one from a Liberty to make the swap.
If you used a completely manual one, I suppose you could leave the old 4WD switch in place, but I don't know if the ECM makes any other decsions when in 4WD.
What would be the effect of a swap? Are the ECMs the same? I also see on the dash panel a small symbol that never lights up that says "Off Road". Is this another feature of the Liberty that has not been enabled on the Nitro? If so, can it be enabled?
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I spoke to the mechanic that replaced my transmission(Not a Dodge dealership)(And an Off-road specialist), And he stated that it is possible to make the transplant in question, however he did quote me at $6500, and said that their would be some neccesary modification needed including the dirve shaft.
Is that because the older style transfer case uses U joints, not the CV joint that is on the new ones?
I believe the newer electronic shift system uses the CV style joint like what is on the Nitro. Or is it because the dual range Transfer case is longer, and the drive shaft would have to be shortened?
I believe the newer electronic shift system uses the CV style joint like what is on the Nitro. Or is it because the dual range Transfer case is longer, and the drive shaft would have to be shortened?
Opening a very old thread. I'm half way done with my dual range transfer case. In my opinion best choice is NP/NV247 or 242 transfer case from old Grand Cherokee's, because they actually don't require any electricts to work. I chose 247 Quadra-Trac, because I like its "automatic" 4wd, low-range is just a bonus.
We have snowy climate and it's impossible to use Nitros' part-time 4wd. At the icy intersections you have to turn on 4wd to get going and then turn it off again, because of binding.
All the mechanics is done by now. New adapter from Grand Cherokee (WJ) and hybrid shaft, which connects transmission and transfer case. The transfer case would actually connect to Nitro's original adapter aswell, but I wanted to use Grand Cherokee's splined shaft. My CRD has NAG1 5-speed transmission and it has different splines from older NAG1 transmissions found in European WJ Cherokees, so buddy of mine milled me adaptor shaft.
I'm quite sure this conversion would be much more easier on petrol models and transfer would directly connect to 4-speed automatic. Pretty much all np/nv transfer cases have the same bolt pattern, only input shaft splines differ.
Switching from 4-auto to 4-low can also be solved with original switch.
Rear propeller shaft has to be shortened and transfer case rear output flange has to milled, because 247 box from diesel Grand Cherokee has CVT propeller shaft joints, Nitros have universal joints. Not sure if front one has to be extended (on CRD it has to be), front flange is the same.
Only issue I have, is when I go into 4-low my transmission goes into limp mode, because NAG transmission doesn't have output shaft speed sensor but uses ABS wheel sensors and transmission control unit sees gear slip, due to 2,72:1 low range ratio. 42RLE petrol automatic has separate speed sensor, so no problems- TCM and TIPM doesn't need to know, it's in 4-low.
I do have CDA software, where I can insert low range ratio, but it's useless, when TIPM doesn't know, when it's activated. It need new software, which doesn't seem to exist.
We have snowy climate and it's impossible to use Nitros' part-time 4wd. At the icy intersections you have to turn on 4wd to get going and then turn it off again, because of binding.
All the mechanics is done by now. New adapter from Grand Cherokee (WJ) and hybrid shaft, which connects transmission and transfer case. The transfer case would actually connect to Nitro's original adapter aswell, but I wanted to use Grand Cherokee's splined shaft. My CRD has NAG1 5-speed transmission and it has different splines from older NAG1 transmissions found in European WJ Cherokees, so buddy of mine milled me adaptor shaft.
I'm quite sure this conversion would be much more easier on petrol models and transfer would directly connect to 4-speed automatic. Pretty much all np/nv transfer cases have the same bolt pattern, only input shaft splines differ.
Switching from 4-auto to 4-low can also be solved with original switch.
Rear propeller shaft has to be shortened and transfer case rear output flange has to milled, because 247 box from diesel Grand Cherokee has CVT propeller shaft joints, Nitros have universal joints. Not sure if front one has to be extended (on CRD it has to be), front flange is the same.
Only issue I have, is when I go into 4-low my transmission goes into limp mode, because NAG transmission doesn't have output shaft speed sensor but uses ABS wheel sensors and transmission control unit sees gear slip, due to 2,72:1 low range ratio. 42RLE petrol automatic has separate speed sensor, so no problems- TCM and TIPM doesn't need to know, it's in 4-low.
I do have CDA software, where I can insert low range ratio, but it's useless, when TIPM doesn't know, when it's activated. It need new software, which doesn't seem to exist.
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Wow! I'm surprised to see a Nitro owner actually trying to install a different transfer case in their 4wheel drive Nitro. I hope you can figure out how to make it work. I don't do much off-road driving in my 4-wheel drive Nitro R/T (petrol version), but would like to have the lower gear range for towing heavy trailers occasionally (also need to upgrade my brakes for the same reason).
I found this thread while looking for any threads that talk about reprogramming the TIPM in our Nitro's. Seems to me that someone should be able to reverse engineer the electronics and come up with a way to program the TIPM, since the dealers are prevented, or refuse to reprogram our Nitro's with anything altered from the original programming from the factory. I think that there are many repair shops now that are capable of doing car computer programming for makes like Subaru, BMW, Honda, even Chevrolet. Why not Dodge Nitro's? I transplanted my seats from another Nitro, which have the heated leather seats in the front, also switched the control bar, that has the two switches for those heated front seats, but can't get them to work, because the TIPM doesn't know that they are installed, and the dealer does not know how, or won't adjust the programming to allow the heated front seats to work. Sorry for adding off topic content to this thread.
I'm quite sure those seats can be activated. Those heater switches are in LIN bus network and directly connected to the TIPM. TIPM has heated seats value option- activated/disabled. This can be done with CDA5 software. I have done different upgrades: EVIC instrument cluster, multifunction steering wheel, compass module (also LIN network, didn't even need to be activated). I also disabled TPMS sensors from TIPM- the WCM control unit, which has built-in tyre pressure monitor receiver does generate new fault code (ecu configuration mismatch) when you check with wiTECH software, but it isn't chiming, so I'm ok with it. Another thing you can activate is dual-bulb headlight when upgrading your headlights. For example to low beam xenon, high beam halogen and low beam has to stay on when you activate high beam (standard configuration disables low beam)
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