Transfer Case Linkage Upgrade from OEM

[Srikumar]

With the number of Wrangler drivers facing issues with linkages, and having to crawl below their cars to push the transfer case in position, thought I would reshare the transfer Case (TC) linkage upgrade that I had done with my Cherokee XJ. 

To just give a quick background, I have been driving a Cherokee XJ since 2017 and like most of you, after a few months of purchase I decided to lift it by a couple of inches and that's when the problem started. With the lift and a TC drop, the OEM transfer case linkage was never aligned properly resulting in a lot of stress on the rubber bushings. I replaced the bushings multiple times (each bushing costing AED 20), and still after every few drives I would have a loose TC handle. So I would crawl below my car to push the TC shifter in the right position and this became tedious especially when the car was at an awkward angle and I had to crawl below to shift the TC into 4Low.

After reading a lot on various forums, I finally decided to upgrade the linkage to a Boostwerks linkage. Its been 3 years since and this linkage eliminated the following problems:

• Smooth Shifting between 2H, 4H and 4L
• Never pops out of 4H when I go through some extremely bumpy tracks. My original linkage would suddenly go into 2H when I used to hit cross tracks. Imagine that happening while doing a sidey or a long hill climb.
• Never having to crawl below the car and no burnt hands as exhaust manifold runs close to the transfer case
• Best Part : Peace of mind that my transfer case would not fail me when I needed it the most

 

Though Boostwerks dont make the linkage for Wranglers, Advance Adapters do and they have got a lot of positive reviews on various forums. Ofcourse, you need to read up a bit more to see which model would suit your car depending on the year and the amount of lift, TC drop, etc. There are various other options as well, but this is something that you guys need to seriously consider especially if the TC lever is frequently becoming free.

https://www.advanceadapters.com/products/715596--heavy-duty-jk-cable-shifter-upgrade/

 

Note: I have no affiliations to any of the above vendors and have just shared an experience that would probably help other offroaders.