pros and cons of AX-15 vs 3550 in a renix

What are the pros and cons of each, and how easy would it be to drop a 3550 into a 90 4.0, ax15, 231?

TIA

-3550 has a higher torque rating then the AX-15. If your AX-15 just wore out, rebuild it or replace it with a good junkyard unit. If you broke it in your current setup, then maybe think about the swap. If you want to do it because "it's there", well, what can I say. That last reason explains half the parts on my jeeps.

Easy to do, it's a bolt in swap:
Get the whole setup out of a 03-06 TJ (bell housing,clutch linkage, maybe the flywheel,...) in a junkyard, or pay Advanced adapters like $3000.00 for a new one.

I swapped in a 3550 (for a dying peugeot) cause there is a stroker in my future... If you do go the wrangler 3550 route:

-The transfer case will be clocked 10 deg. "up", requiring some trimmimg and forcing to get the x-fer case to fit.

-The above problem will make you need to figure out how to get your x-fer case linkage working correctly... not that trivial.

-If you don't have (nor want) a x-fer case drop, you will want to look into an '00 or '01 crossmember, which has about a 1/2" drop "built in" to it so that the tranny will fit in the tranny tunnel.

-If you go with Advance Adapters kit... you are going to end up with a truck-driver sized gear shift nob... kinda like an ape-hangar on a chopper .

In hind sight, I wish I would have had the x-fer case bolt hole patter re-drilled to the XJ settings on the tranny before trying to just force a TJ version in.

tbburg said:

Get the whole setup out of a 03-06 TJ (bell housing,clutch linkage, maybe the flywheel,...) in a junkyard, or pay Advanced adapters like $3000.00 for a new one.

Click to expand...

The flywheel is probably different. I know it's different between the Renix XJs and the later XJs.

The flywheel IS different. The new ones have a crank pos. sensor ring on the bellhousing, and I think they're a different size. 'Read several reports of starters not lining up on swaps. That was why I said to get it. The new bellhousing may not line up withe/fit around your flywheel/clutch assy. Going fromm a new doner to an older jeep, I think you could just bolt the whole mess on and drop the CPS on the housing.

TheNerd: I forgot about the clocking issue. It wasn't an issue on the install I was doing(Dana 300 is on the other side!)

The crank position sensor is on the bellhousing on the Renix too. I was pointing out that the teeth that the sensor looks at on the flywheel are different, so you have to use the flywheel that matches the ECU.

I'm running an (XJ) NV3550 behind a 92 HO 4.0L, using a Renix control system.

The Renix flywheel works fine with the NV3550's starter location, and the CPS location.

The Renix vs HO sensor cutouts on the flywheel are totally different, but as long as you use the correct one for the engine control you're using, there shouldn't be any problems.

I never heard of starter issues when swapping XJ tranny's,
but when swapping anything, you can stack tolerances, or lose shims that were originally there, and need to shim things back into place.



BTW, I did the swap to replace a 2wd Peugot in an 88' MJ.
I used an 01' XJ NV3550, with the 231, complete hydrolic clutch linkage & the 01' X-member.

It all bolted in (had to drill a couple holes for the clutch master cylinder).

Now, there isn't the TC clocking issue with the XJ 3550, I'd imagine...
So using the XJ 3550 would be best, looking at on-line prices they are a bit less $ than the TJ 3550's anyway.

Maybe I'll just go ahead and get an AX-15 to replace... I just want to keep things simple.