anyone do a 5spd swap? input please

So has anyone done a 5spd swap in there XJ. I hate my auto. How much of a PITA is it? Is any fab work nessesary or is it just a buy the manual parts and bolt em in kinda deal.

Jay

IMO The best way to do any major swap is to drive/drag home the donor. Best if the donor is of the same year and interior trim etc. This can save you dozens of trip back to the boneyards to get it all just right.
If your talking about a 2000 a good trany is the NV3550. It will take the external slave system that was OEM to the 2000 and much preferred to the internal slave of early AX15.I don't know about the computer/shift mod.
NOTE: Some of the last of the AX15 also used the external slave setup.
By sticking with OEM you will avoid many of that small parts mismatch problems that can turn swamps like this into real PIA. You (((may))) also need the late model bell housing and flywheel to keep the CPS working properly. I also under stand finding the right idle bearing can be tricky.
IF THIS IS YOUR FIRST MAGOR SURGERY? Keep it as simple as possible
GET A BACKUP CAR. Do you home work. Take your time. DO expect it to take longer then planed and cost more. luck

There's a writeup in the FAQ forum on doing just this that includes a junkyard shopping list iirc. X2 on everything badron said, it's better to have all the parts you could possibly need onhand.

I did the swap but have not ran it yet so can't tell you if it worked but I just went to pick a part on half price day got everything in one shot and it all bolted right up I did had to drill holes for the clutch master there were dimple's for the holes. The worst part was finding a idle bearing for sure... I have heard that I'll need a engine control module to complete it???

On a 97+ you'll need an ECU from a manual of the same year OR some electronic hacking. On a 96-down, you might be able to get away with just leaving the TCU plugged into the wiring harness and splicing the safety switch on the manual into the right pins in the NSS connector for the automatic.

EDIT: the output speed sensor being missing is going to confuse the TCU and thus the ECU a bit though. The easiest by far way is to get the ECU from a manual of the same year.

I have a 96 cherokee sport it was equiped with a automatic transmission, I have swapped to a ax-15 with a hurst shifter and love it. I started with a 94 cherokee ax-15 I picked up for $160, I chose the 94+ because it has the external slave cylinder, I removed the clutch pedal with the long bolt that goes there both pedals. I started with that, purchased a flywheel and clutch kit new for $175 from autoparts store. The transmission mount in the same but you need the bracket to reposition the mount because the manual is shorter, I forgot it but sourced it from another manual cherokee. The install was straight forward everything lined up, but the shifter was a hurst and I wanted to see the shifter and base so I removed the console, and carpet and bed lined it, looks awsome. The wiring came next, theres a 2 plug harness that runs to the back of the transmission I unpluged the one that went to the sensors on the transmission, I think the other runs to the transfercase, the selector on the transmission tells the computer that the vehicle is in park so it will start you must jump the two wires I found what I needed in my hayse manual. There is also two you want, so you can wire those to the back up sensor on the manual this was pretty simple but stopped me dead when it wouldnt start you you have to do this. The rear driveshaft and front driveshaft need to be addressed because of length, I did a slip yoke eliminator so had a custom shaft made out of my front drive shaft, but if you have no sye just grab the shafts from a manual. It drove awsome and talk about different, I love it. O.k. there was a problem with a check engine light, the computer was trying to I guess look for the automatic, swapped in a 96 manual computer everthing works great know. I hope this helps anybody trying this its, not that difficult with a little mechanical abbillity and the love of a manual.