• NAXJA is having its 18th annual March Membership Drive!!!
    Everyone who joins or renews during March will be entered into a drawing!
    More Information - Join/Renew
  • Welcome to the new NAXJA Forum! If your password does not work, please use "Forgot your password?" link on the log-in page. Please feel free to reach out to [email protected] if we can provide any assistance.

5spd trans & t-case question

asykes

NAXJA Forum User
Location
missouri
I was wondering if it possible to bolt a t-case to a 2wd ax5 or ax15 trans i have searched and im not coming up with enough info after reading the specs on both trans. I have a 91 2wd mj with a 5speed and would like to convert it to 4wd if it just takes changing the input gear on a 231 that would be awsome any one done this ?
 
Bad news. You need to toss the tailshaft housing, and buy a transfer case adapter(changes the back half of the trans), then you need to put a new output shaft in the trans(requires complete disassembly) I did it with an NV3500 using the rear case and output shaft from an NV 3550. cost me about $600.00 to do the swap. The only thing that made it worth while was the 2WD trans was free, and I got dealership pricing on the parts through a friend of mine.
 
thanks know we are getting some where if we all put our heads together i think it can be done cheaper than 600 but this gives me hope if its going to cost that much to do i will start looking for a used 5 speed unless you are saying 600 for everything including t-case that not 2 bad
 
Save yourself at lot of trouble and just hunt down a used 4wd tranny. Swapping the tailend and output shaft means tearing the transmission down, and you would still need a donor for the shaft.

BTW, the search button is your friend. You're about eh 1503 thousandth person to ask this question and the answer never really seems to change.
 
i was hoping to keeping this cheap as possible since im wanting to buy a donor xj with auto trans / 242 for 500 a 5spd donor seems to be a rare find around here
 
The problem with keeping it cheap is: the parts you need to get used(for the price saving) generaly involve buying a whole transmission. (why were we doing this?) The only way it makes sense is if you get a trashed 4WD trans, and swap the guts out of a 2WD trans. If you get UN-lucky, the output shaft is one of the parts in the 4WD trans that is shot and your out $400.00 (price of the shaft new) to complete the project.
You won't know if your "shot" 4wd trans is worth it until you break it down.


Like I said: the ONLY reason I pulled this stunt was because the 2WD trans was in good condition and FREE. The $600.00 was the price of the shaft, rear trans housing, and a bearing kit. Price did not include labor to reman. the trans.

The only way I see to get cheaper would be to find the individual parts used. Try getting to know a jeep mec. It is amazing what parts can get broken in wrecks. If you could find a colision repair that involved a front or side hit that cracked the front of the trans. around the bell housing, you might be in business

Off topic: I also did it to a 2WD T-18 ford trans. going into a CJ. This required a new main shaft as part of the adapter and required full disassembly anyway. 'Didn't matter which trans you started with.
 
The donor transmission need not be in an XJ or an MJ - I'm inclined to recall that the YJ/TJ and ZJ (rare 5-speeds there, tho...) also used the AX15 in the same configuration.

It is correct that converting a 2WD transmission to accept a transfer case requires an overhaul (in essence,) since the mainshaft and extension housing both want replacing. Unless you decide to go with a "divorced" transfer case mounting, using a short solid shaft to couple the two gearboxes. However, that will probably get spendy rather quickly (in coming up with a second crossmember to mount the tcase, fab a mount for the tcasse proper, fab the shaft, ...)
 
Thanks for the help i will start looking for a good buy if any one knows any place that i can get one for around 500 to 700 please let me know
 
Rebuilt AX-15s are 600-700 on eBay. Much cheaper if used is ok. Local salvage and pull-n-save yards can be realy cheap ($50 at my local pull it yourself place). Hell, you could probably pickup a used XJ for under $1000 and part it out. Rebuilt kits with bearings and syncros is about $170.

Too bad you're not closer. I have an AX15 sitting in the garage that was rebuilt 2 years ago. The pilot bearing munched and tore up the input shaft and input bearing. Otherwise, it's fine.
 
lawsoncl said:
Rebuilt AX-15s are 600-700 on eBay. Much cheaper if used is ok. Local salvage and pull-n-save yards can be realy cheap ($50 at my local pull it yourself place). Hell, you could probably pickup a used XJ for under $1000 and part it out. Rebuilt kits with bearings and syncros is about $170.

Too bad you're not closer. I have an AX15 sitting in the garage that was rebuilt 2 years ago. The pilot bearing munched and tore up the input shaft and input bearing. Otherwise, it's fine.

External slave, or internal?
 
Bugger. I've been trying to score the front parts off of an AX-15 External (front bearing retainer, bellhousing, fork) for a little while now. I'll just have to keep looking - I never did like that "concentric cylinder," or "hydraulic bearing assembly," or whatever they're calling it this week...
 
Back
Top