Savvy 241 (Rubicon) transfer case shift cable install

andy29847

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Youse guys and gals are costing me money! I didn't even know about Savvy's transfer case shift cable until I found this forum. I usually do OK shifting my Rubicon in and out of 4 wheel drive, but my wife has struggled at times. It seemed to me like that was justification enough for buying the Savvy kit. The kit does not come with instructions, but there is ample info available on the internet to make this an easy job. I found Rubicon specific instructions for the similar Novack shift kit, and a PDF file for the Savvy 231 transfer case shift cable kit. I have attached files of the instructions I reviewed before starting my project.


First, meet Rootie the Rubicon. She is a 2004 model. She has been in the family for 2 1/2 years.
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I started by checking the hardware in my package. Savvy put most of this together before putting it in the box. I love hardware and this is all good stuff.
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Once I was satisfied I new how the kit went together, I started on the Jeep. I removed the skid plate and the front driveshaft. This gave me plenty of room to work. Be sure and support the engine and transmission when you remove the skid plate. You need to unbolt the locker air compressor from the skid plate and tie it up out of the way too. I marked my drive shaft and yokes so I could put that stuff back on just like it came off. I recommend that you service that driveshaft while you have it out.
 

Attachments

  • novack shifter instrtyctiond.pdf
    1 MB · Views: 1,442
  • transfer case shifter instructions.pdf
    1.8 MB · Views: 840
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With the skid plate and front driveshaft off here is what I see underneath.
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I used a big screwdriver to pry the linkage rods off of the shifting levers. I used a 3/8 drive ratchet with a 15mm socket to remove the bracket bolted to the transfer case. You have to pull back your carpet on the tunnel of the drivers side to access the 4 bolts that hold on the floor shift bracket. There is a screw under your cup holder insert that holds the back half of the console down. Remove that screw and the carpet comes out easy.

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stock floor shift linkage
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stock transfer case shift linkage
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You can see in this last picture that there are plastic grommets in both shift levers. You need to remove those. They are very hard to push through. I just used a knife and cut off the parts sticking out. The rest of the grommets pushed out easily.

Here is the stock linkage - invented by Rube Goldberg.
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I just installed mine today as well. good idea to write it up.

My only concern is the torque on the upper of the two transfer case bracket mounts. Tough to get at that nut.
 
My cable came mostly put together. I put the cable ends on before I started the install. This was an easy way to make sure all the parts got under the car with me. Each cable end should include a bushing, a washer, and a nut.


My first step for the install was to attach the transfer case bracket.
84398


Next was the bracket for the floor shift lever. This was tricky since I was working by myself. I put in the 4 bolts and washers from inside the cab. Then I used some gorilla tape to hold the bolts in place until I could get the bracket fixed in place with the supplied nuts.
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After getting the nuts started on all 4 bolts, I used a wrench and some more Gorilla tape to hold each nut while I tightened everything up from underneath.
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After I had the brackets fixed in place, I attached the cables. I had to adjust the cable using the big nuts at the brackets first. Fine adjustment was made using the end fittings. The only thing I found about the Savvy kit that was not first rate was the angle of the cable on the floor shift end. You can see the bend in my picture below. I don't know if this matters, but I didn't like it.
84401


After adjusting everything, I found that I didn't have the tool (a small 24mm wrench :) ) to tighten the big nuts on the floor shift bracket. I took the cable loose and took the bracket off, and worked it down below the car. I had an inspiration to try and bend the bracket some to straighten the cable, so I separated the bracket and cable. I was able to put the bracket on the floor, stand on one end of it, and use an adjustable wrench to bend the bracket a little. Then I reassembled everything (including tightening the large nuts on the cable) and reinstalled the bracket. I adjusted the cable again (minimal slack, shift lever and transfer case lever in 2 wheel high) . This is how it looked after bending the bracket. I like it.
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Note that there are several nuts that need to be tightened to finish. The end fittings have a 7/16 lock nut. The 24mm nuts on the cable need to firmed up. Hopefully, you did the final tightening on the transfer case nuts when you put the bracket on. The same for the floor shift bracket. Here's how she looks now.
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All that is left is reassembly and a test drive. Good luck with your project.

PS: When I bought my Jeep, it had all the accessories I wanted - a winch, a lift, bigish tires, etc. I went places and did things with the Jeep just like I bought it. My wheeling was trouble free. Last spring, I had wobble trouble that turned out to be mostly out of round tires. The wobble made me a lot smarter about how my Jeep was put together. I decided I wanted to upgrade some suspension and steering parts with the idea that I was going to do this one time, and do it right. I begin by replacing track bars. My lift kit (Skyjacker) used the stock rear track bar. I replaced it with a JKS adjustable bar. The front track bar was a Skyjacker adjustable, but it was attached to a bracket that fit on top of the axle, and Skyjacker also utilized a dropped Pittman arm. I replaced the Skyjacker track bar with a Currie adjustable bar inthe stock location. I also installed a stock Pittman arm. My Jeep was really handling good now. I looked at Currie control arms on the internet 20 times (estimate) and balked at the cost. Then a couple of months ago, I started feeling some play in the rear when I pulled off from a stop. I finally bit the bullet and bought the Currie control arms. Woo-wee. Now my Jeep handles like a sports car. :) The morale of the story is good parts make a difference. The Savvy shift kit is a good part.

finished.jpg
 
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Nicely done, thanks for the write up as well!

Mine wasn’t bad to install, but I did spend a lot of time fine tuning the adjustment!
 
I installed the brackets on the Jeep first then I installed the cable. I admit it was tough tightening those large nuts that sandwich the brackets at both ends. Not sure if I torqued it enough but I did the best I could with my adjustable wrench. Hopefully it will be ok and everything will stay in place.
 
My cable came mostly put together. I put the cable ends on before I started the install. This was an easy way to make sure all the parts got under the car with me. Each cable end should include a bushing, a washer, and a nut.


My first step for the install was to attach the transfer case bracket.
View attachment 84398

Next was the bracket for the floor shift lever. This was tricky since I was working by myself. I put in the 4 bolts and washers from inside the cab. Then I used some gorilla tape to hold the bolts in place until I could get the bracket fixed in place with the supplied nuts.View attachment 84399

After getting the nuts started on all 4 bolts, I used a wrench and some more Gorilla tape to hold each nut while I tightened everything up from underneath.
View attachment 84400

After I had the brackets fixed in place, I attached the cables. I had to adjust the cable using the big nuts at the brackets first. Fine adjustment was made using the end fittings. The only thing I found about the Savvy kit that was not first rate was the angle of the cable on the floor shift end. You can see the bend in my picture below. I don't know if this matters, but I didn't like it.
View attachment 84401

After adjusting everything, I found that I didn't have the tool (a small 24mm wrench :) ) to tighten the big nuts on the floor shift bracket. I took the cable loose and took the bracket off, and worked it down below the car. I had an inspiration to try and bend the bracket some to straighten the cable, so I separated the bracket and cable. I was able to put the bracket on the floor, stand on one end of it, and use an adjustable wrench to bend the bracket a little. Then I reassembled everything (including tightening the large nuts on the cable) and reinstalled the bracket. I adjusted the cable again (minimal slack, shift lever and transfer case lever in 2 wheel high) . This is how it looked after bending the bracket. I like it.
View attachment 84407

Note that there are several nuts that need to be tightened to finish. The end fittings have a 7/16 lock nut. The 24mm nuts on the cable need to firmed up. Hopefully, you did the final tightening on the transfer case nuts when you put the bracket on. The same for the floor shift bracket. Here's how she looks now.
View attachment 84425


All that is left is reassembly and a test drive. Good luck with your project.

PS: When I bought my Jeep, it had all the accessories I wanted - a winch, a lift, bigish tires, etc. I went places and did things with the Jeep just like I bought it. My wheeling was trouble free. Last spring, I had wobble trouble that turned out to be mostly out of round tires. The wobble made me a lot smarter about how my Jeep was put together. I decided I wanted to upgrade some suspension and steering parts with the idea that I was going to do this one time, and do it right. I begin by replacing track bars. My lift kit (Skyjacker) used the stock rear track bar. I replaced it with a JKS adjustable bar. The front track bar was a Skyjacker adjustable, but it was attached to a bracket that fit on top of the axle, and Skyjacker also utilized a dropped Pittman arm. I replaced the Skyjacker track bar with a Currie adjustable bar, and I also installed a stock Pittman arm. My Jeep was really handling good now. I looked at Currie control arms on the internet 20 times (estimate) and balked at the cost. Then a couple of months ago, I started feeling some play in the rear when I pulled off from a stop. I finally bit the bullet and bought the Currie control arms. Woo-wee. Now my Jeep handles like a sports car. :) The morale of the story is good parts make a difference. The Savvy shift kit is a good part.

View attachment 84408
The angle of the bracket on the tub also affects how the cable end points and the angle of it can be adjusted there as well. The washers should be under the heads of the bolts at the tub bracket. That allows the serrated flange nuts to be mostly self holding when you tighten the bolt.
 
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I installed the brackets on the Jeep first then I installed the cable. I admit it was tough tightening those large nuts that sandwich the brackets at both ends. Not sure if I torqued it enough but I did the best I could with my adjustable wrench. Hopefully it will be ok and everything will stay in place.
I use a stubby 15/16 open end wrench if I recall correctly the size.
 
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I use a stubby 15/16 open end wrench if I recall correctly the size.

Ha! A mystery cleared up for me. I had heard the stubby 15/16 wrench line before. For some reason, I associated that with the transfer case bolts. I was pleasantly surprised to find my transfer case bolts were 15mm and easily accessable with a ratchet. I never transferred the 15/16 wrench info to the large nuts on the cable at the brackets. FWIW, I had all my tools laid out on the bench in my shop. The 24mm was the girst wrench I picked up that git. My 24mm wrench is about 15" inchs long. Likr OJ said, it didn't fit (in the worspace).
 
Ha! A mystery cleared up for me. I had heard the stubby 15/16 wrench line before. For some reason, I associated that with the transfer case bolts. I was pleasantly surprised to find my transfer case bolts were 15mm and easily accessable with a ratchet. I never transferred the 15/16 wrench info to the large nuts on the cable at the brackets. FWIW, I had all my tools laid out on the bench in my shop. The 24mm was the girst wrench I picked up that git. My 24mm wrench is about 15" inchs long. Likr OJ said, it didn't fit (in the worspace).
Not that you should, but I snag cheapie wrenches like that from Harbor Freight and cut them to the length I need for stuff like that. I have one of their big open end sets for control arm jam nuts and we cut about 3/4's of them in half. Put the wrench on, slide a cheater over it and tighten or loosen away.
 
Not that you should, but I snag cheapie wrenches like that from Harbor Freight and cut them to the length I need for stuff like that. I have one of their big open end sets for control arm jam nuts and we cut about 3/4's of them in half. Put the wrench on, slide a cheater over it and tighten or loosen away.


I was always big and strong. My recent illness has turned me into a weenie. The result is I have a collection of cheater bars. One of the cheaters is 1 1/2" thinwall, selected because it fits over the end of big wrenches. I hadn't thought about cutting a wrench in half. That's a good idea. FWIW, I already have the Harbor Freight wrenches. I strayed to cheap tools after I lost my firs toolkit off the back of my dirt bike a long, long, time ago.
 
Just got this kit in and going to install it this weekend. It looks like some of the parts have changed and now include a new shifter for the transfer case and a clevis similar to the Novak kit. These were not in @andy29847 photo above.
IMG_20200506_110116.jpg
 
Just got this kit in and going to install it this weekend. It looks like some of the parts have changed and now include a new shifter for the transfer case and a clevis similar to the Novak kit. These were not in @andy29847 photo above.
View attachment 159187

Nothing has changed as far as I can tell.

All of those parts were in my Savvy 241 shifter cable install, and that was about 2 years ago I installed it.
 
Looks like the 241 is for the Rubicon only and the 231 is for TJ in general. I have a Rubicon so hopefully the 231 will still work for it? :unsure: