Tranny question

i have a 4door 2wd 4.0/5speed how can i add a Tcase to my current trans. i wanna keep it cause it has only 96,000 miles on it.

I convert my manual 2wd to 4x4, much eaiser than a auto conversion IMHO. To adapt a t-case to the 2wd ax15 you need a shorter output shaft and different tail housing. So basically you have to tear the trans apart to swap all the gears from the long output shaft to the shorter one. The output shaft is the main shaft in the trans where all the synchros and shift collars are. If your comfortable rebuilding a manual trans then its easy to do and IIRC the shaft cost ~150 online.

edit: to clearify i swap my 2wd ax15 for a 4x4 ax15. Both trans are high mileage and the 4x4 unit was cheap at a junkyard

so can you verify what im needing to get to swap tranny to 4x4 and a estimate on how much things will run just to swap.

thank you im trying to do this on a budget.

Exploded view

you need the main shaft, #30 and the rear part of the housing, the thing #47 is pointing to but its not the right description and i cant find any place that sells it right now.

Quadratec is alittle more expensive then other places but its easy to find, i dont remember the other site. Its much easier to find a complete 4x4 ax15 and swap either the whole transmission or the parts you need.

Edit: as for a price to convert you 2wd drive to a 4x4 unit it will probably cost $3-400 depending if you can find a rear case. At that price just buy a junkyard ax15 and swap over your syncros and shift collars

if the transmission internals need to be swapped. would it not be easier to just swap the tranny over instead?

It is easier to just swap trans but be prepared to pay 400+ for a trans with less than 100K on it(even then you dont know) or buy a reman one for 800 or so(still can be iffy and ive heard of some crapping out after a yr or so and a new ax15 costs 1300+). Hes tring to do it on a budget but wants to keep his nice 90K trans feel. Just giving him or her all the info i have on this subject

I picked up a tired ax15 for 250 to swap in and its not the best shifting trans but it works. That was the most expensive part of my 4x4 conversion because they are hard to come by in MI for some reason. The rest came from a parts jeep i bought and just swapped in, This is the best way to go if your converting it to 4wd

Okay, true. the AX15 seems to be the most expensive tranny the XJ has. they were the best 5 speed tranny the XJ came with. Hmmm

Its the same trans used in manual wranglers and grands. The only difference is the pre 93 or 94's are internal slaves and the later ones are external.

Isuzu's use the ax-15's too but they have an integrated bell housing making them incapable with jeeps

Just buy a junker XJ 4wd with AX15 and then you have all the parts to swap over--front axle/differential, trans, transfer case.

joe_peters said:

Just buy a junker XJ 4wd with AX15 and then you have all the parts to swap over--front axle/differential, trans, transfer case.

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x2 This is how I did my 4wd swap. When your done with the 4wd swap, part out what's left to recoup your purchase price. You'll have a free swap minus labor. I'd suggest looking for a rolled or rear ended xj, the mechanicals you're looking for are typically still good on these.

nw-xj-scott said:

Okay, true. the AX15 seems to be the most expensive tranny the XJ has. they were the best 5 speed tranny the XJ came with. Hmmm

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I believe 00/01 came with the NV3550 which is even better, hopefully me saying this will result in one of the 5-speed fanatics either verifying this or telling me I'm full of crap :eyes:

A transmission costs $120 at my local you-pull-and-pray. Not sure if it's the same auto vs manual, that's the price for an auto.