AX-15 gurus, help me out

My friends wife was involved in an accident that banged up their poor little 2wd 4 banger XJ. The beam is toast so he's tossing around the idea of doing a 4wd swap. I'm not real familiar with the 4wd swap process with the AX-15. I believe his is a 94. My question is what needs done with the transmission? Does he need to swap out the output shaft or get an AX-15 from a 4wd? Any help would be appreciated. I've searched for like half an hour and can't find anything quite like my question.

A 4cyl should have the AX5, not the AX15, I think. To do the swap, I think he'll need a different tailshaft assembly. I doubt the AX15 tailshaft assembly will swap. I also don't know if he can swap in an AX15 behind a 4cyl easily.

ChiXJeff said:

A 4cyl should have the AX5, not the AX15, I think. To do the swap, I think he'll need a different tailshaft assembly. I doubt the AX15 tailshaft assembly will swap. I also don't know if he can swap in an AX15 behind a 4cyl easily.

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They went to the AX-15 in 1990. I just found that out in a thread in the FAQ section!

Not according to my 1994 FSM. I wouldn't bet it's got an AX15.

Well if that's true then the FAQ is wrong!

So I guess this would be an AX-5 4wd swap thread now....

He's gonna have to find out exactly what he has first.

Yeah, I'll help him figure that out.

Find a matching trans that's already 4wd. You're going to need to find the a 4wd trans to rob the tail shaft and output housing to swap onto the 2wd one anyway, that is going to require dropping the trans. Might as well just swap in the 4wd one, unless it's toast and can't be used. You should be able to find a decent deal on a trans/t-case combo in a wrecking yard local to ya.

FlexdXJ said:

They went to the AX-15 in 1990. I just found that out in a thread in the FAQ section!

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Both of my 89's have AX-15 from factory. Iv seen them in an 88 as well.

NotMatt said:

Find a matching trans that's already 4wd. You're going to need to find the a 4wd trans to rob the tail shaft and output housing to swap onto the 2wd one anyway, that is going to require dropping the trans. Might as well just swap in the 4wd one, unless it's toast and can't be used. You should be able to find a decent deal on a trans/t-case combo in a wrecking yard local to ya.

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There is a yard close to his place with around 40 XJ's in it. Pretty sure we can find one or 2 transmissions that work.

Nealio240z said:

Both of my 89's have AX-15 from factory. Iv seen them in an 88 as well.

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BUT this is in a 2.5 XJ, so until I see a pic I'm gonna say its an AX5.

Should be ax5 in the 4 cylinders. Believe that also means her rear axle will likely be 4.10 gears, make sure to match a front if you do the 4wd swap. Ideally get the ax15 from a 94 or newer so your slave is external. You may also have to source a new pilot bearing, flex plate, pressure plate, and probably drive shafts. Also ax15s were available in dodge Dakotas with six cylinder engines. If you can't find a good shape Cherokee one, you could use the Dakota one though you would have to source a Cherokee bell housing and bearings.

Oh just came to me but you might need a new shift lever too. I don't know if there is a difference. I'll see if I can find the sites I used when I had problems with my ax15 last winter.

FlexdXJ said:

My friends wife was involved in an accident that banged up their poor little 2wd 4 banger XJ. The beam is toast so he's tossing around the idea of doing a 4wd swap. I'm not real familiar with the 4wd swap process with the AX-15. I believe his is a 94. My question is what needs done with the transmission? Does he need to swap out the output shaft or get an AX-15 from a 4wd? Any help would be appreciated. I've searched for like half an hour and can't find anything quite like my question.

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You have the AX-5, not the AX-15 (AX-4 if you have the four-speed.)

You can probably fit the AX-15 behind the 4-150, but you'll need an adapter plate. As I recall, the 4-150 uses the GM "Metric V6" pattern (common to the V6-60 and later 4-151,) while the 6-242 uses the AMC "I6/V8" pattern (later I6, Gen-II/III V8.) I do now know offhand if the bellhousings will swap between the AX-4/5 and AX-15, but I do believe the input shafts are the same.

2WD/4WD? The 2WD mainshaft is longer than the 4WD - by several inches. I have been told that the BA-10 shaft may simply be cut down (it's splined along its full length,) but I don't know about the 2WD AX-15. The 4WD mainshaft is shorter to accommodate the length of the transfer case within the driveline.

In general, converting any transmission 2WD/4WD requires removal of the mainshaft (manual) or output shaft (automatic) and replacing it with the correct version, in addition to securing and installing the correct output housing.

Since you have the 4-150; and I do believe it uses the GM "Metric V6" pattern, this opens up a new field of donors for you - the S10/S15 series! You can just grab the transmission and transfer case out of one of those (they don't use the AX-4/5, I think they generally use the T4/5 behind the 4-121/4-151 engine, and possibly behind the V6-171/183. However, this is an acceptable gearbox for behind four-cylinders and mild sixes...) and you'll probably net the NP231C transfer case, which has a wider drive chain than the NP231J (1.25" vice 1.00") and is therefore somewhat stronger.

Just a thought... I'd Google the idea of the bellhousing pattern on the 4-150 being the "Metric V6" pattern - but if it is, that opens up a new field of driveline donors for you!

FlexdXJ said:

BUT this is in a 2.5 XJ, so until I see a pic I'm gonna say its an AX5.

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I will agree with that.

as already discussed, it be an AX-5.

You'd need mainshaft and tailhousing, the trans would have to be disassembled to swap the mainshaft.

I've heard that you can use an AX-15 from a dakota to bolt up to the 2.5L, but I've never actually seen it done.

94 2.5 xj will be better off to just swap a whole transmission. The 96 - 98 dakota with the 2.5 had the ax-15. I had a Dakota DH for the swap not sure if I still do. The best way to do a 4wd swap is to find a donor vehical. Unless you a familure with the tear down of a trasmission I would just swap the whole transmission. We swapped input shafts on an AX-15 in front of my shop one Saturday bc they have different inputs from the early ones to the later ones. The AX series uses little detent balls that have to be removed to seperate the case from the intermediate plate... real pain in the ass IMHO!

My bad its a 96 but yeah it looks like i'm gonna try to convince him to sell it and his old minivan and get a 4wd 5 speed 4.0 XJ. Sounds like too much work but he is in love with the damn thing like I am with mine.

FlexdXJ said:

My bad its a 96 but yeah it looks like i'm gonna try to convince him to sell it and his old minivan and get a 4wd 5 speed 4.0 XJ. Sounds like too much work but he is in love with the damn thing like I am with mine.

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Have you let him drive yours? I loved my 2.5 too till I got behind the wheel of one with 2 more cylanders....

I know a guy (as in, actually was there when he pulled the bellhousing and have wheeled with the jeep it went into) that put an AX15 behind a 2.5 by using a 2.5/5speed Dakota bellhousing. It does work.

You will need an uncommon front driveshaft - you want the one from a 2.5/ax5/4wd donor, I'm not entirely sure it'll be the same as a 2.5/ax15/4wd needs but it's your best bet. Hell, I have one sitting on my porch that I haven't managed to get rid of yet, if I can find a cheap way to get it to you it is yours. Also remember you're going to need 4.10s in that d30 probably - check the rear diff ratio before buying one...

I have also heard tell that the 3.9/5speed Dakota on some years had the AX15 in it, with a different bellhousing. I haven't managed to verify this info anywhere but the transmissions in those trucks do superficially resemble an AX15... going to be investigating further tomorrow at the JY.

Why? One of my buddies wheels a Toyota with a 3VZE (turd motor) and an R150 trans, and is pretty sure his motor is on the way out... and the R150 trans is very very very similar to the AX15 (built by Aisin Warner, most gear ratios are the same, many internal parts shared, etc), to the point that the bellhousing to transmission bolt pattern is the same. So it looks like if we pull a 3.9, harness, clutch, clutch slave, bellhousing, pressure plate, and AX15 input shaft + bearing retainer there is a solid chance that it will bolt to the front of his existing transmission, requiring only custom wiring, motor mounts, cooling, exhaust etc. Gonna make a lot of Toyota fans angry with this one :eyes:

Another thing that should be clarified - I've heard a lot of people say you can bolt a 360 V8 to a trans from behind a 4.0. This MAY be (probably is) true of an AMC V8 (gen3 304/360/390/401 and possibly others?) but is certainly NOT true of the Mopar smallblock V8s (318/360) as they use a completely different pattern. You really probably shouldn't put an AX15 behind a smallblock V8 anyways, unless you intend to keep your foot out of it... and then why bother swapping away from a 4.0?