Auto to manual swap?

And then from what I understand these are the parts I for sure need:

Pre-bled Master/Slave Cylinder $88.79 RockAuto
Luk Flywheel LFW193 $49.79 RockAuto
Luk Pro-gold Clutch 05-901 $173.23 Amazon (Do not need Throwout Bearing if buying Mopar)
Mopar TO Bearing 53008342 $95.69 Amazon
YJ Shifter $99.99 Ebay
Mopar ShiftBoot 53004539 $106.89 Factory Chrysler

Capture.PNGCapture2.PNGCapture3.PNGCapture4.PNGCapture5.PNGCapture6.PNG
 
SirDoopYJ said:
And then from what I understand these are the parts I for sure need:

Pre-bled Master/Slave Cylinder $88.79 RockAuto
Luk Flywheel LFW193 $49.79 RockAuto
Luk Pro-gold Clutch 05-901 $173.23 Amazon (Do not need Throwout Bearing if buying Mopar)
Mopar TO Bearing 53008342 $95.69 Amazon
YJ Shifter $99.99 Ebay
Mopar ShiftBoot 53004539 $106.89 Factory Chrysler

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Looks good so far. Some other things are the:
-lower shift boot (I believe Mopar still makes them new as well but they’re covered up so they don’t have to be pretty - eBay can work).
-transmission tunnel cover (or cut the opening bigger for the transmission shifter to also pop up through
-clutch fork spring
-clutch fork pivot ball
-transfer case shifter (their brackets bolt to the trans and are different in each setup, so need to find a 4.0 AX15 one on eBay)
-probably will need new driveshafts because the transmissions make the lengths of them different. Good reason to go SYE on the transfer case since the rear driveshaft length will have to be redone anyways.
-need to measure the stickout of your transfer case input gear when you remove the transfer case. It may be too deep to go into the AX15, or it may work perfectly. I think it’ll work but I am not for certain.
 
SirDoopYJ said:
What is the give away? I can't tell
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The giveaway is the bell housing pattern. The 2.5 has that flat top portion with the two bolts. That is a GM bell housing pattern since the 2.5L was adopted from the original GM Iron duke 2.5L engine back in the CJ days.

The 4.0 has the classic circular AMC pattern that the AMC 5.0/5.9/6.6 V8, 4.2L I6, etc all had. It’s easy to spot the differences once you’ve seen both a few times.
 
He said it was swapped onto a 4cyl. I only found one source, and from what I understand is that the bell housings cannot be interchanged?

I saw something that said one way to easily tell in person is to use a magnet on the middle. If it sticks it is an AX5.
 
SirDoopYJ said:
He said it was swapped onto a 4cyl. I only found one source, and from what I understand is that the bell housings cannot be interchanged?

I saw something that said one way to easily tell in person is to use a magnet on the middle. If it sticks it is an AX5.
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It’s definitely an AX5. Sad he doesn’t know it’s an AX5 based off of the fact it came from a 4cyl. The AX15 can be adapted to 4cyl but is a lot of extra work and not typical. So I guess he didn’t know what he had.

The bell housing can’t be swapped and as said earlier, the AX5 itself is not a strong transmission. It wouldn’t last under that power even if there was a way to adapt it, which there is not.

Yes, AX15 uses an aluminum central plate and AX5 uses cast iron I believe. So the magnet trick works. Identifying them in pictures is a lot more difficult though without the bell housing attached. Hard to tell without looking at the drain and fill plugs and you can’t always see them at pics since the drains are way down low.
 
Is the SYE necessary if I only have a 2.5in lift? I am only guessing it is 2.5 because my shackles are longer than normal. I have 31inch tires and from ground to bottom of tub is 22in.
 
SirDoopYJ said:
Is the SYE necessary if I only have a 2.5in lift? I am only guessing it is 2.5 because my shackles are longer than normal. I have 31inch tires and from ground to bottom of tub is 22in.
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Can’t really say if it’s necessary or not. I could not get mine to drive without vibrations on a 2.5” rough country lift. Considering that and the fact that you may have to change the transfer case input gear (which requires completely taking apart the transfer case), I’d probably lean towards doing an SYE while in there. And you’re going to need driveshafts anyways so yet another reason.

Take some pics. Looking at the springs will make it obvious if they’re changed or not. Having a body lift will also contribute and so will the shackles you mentioned. Can probably get an estimate of how much lift you have off of that. I personally do not like the stock transfer case setup as it’s pretty weak, so if I had to tear apart the transfer case to swap the input gear for the transmission, I would do the SYE at the same time. Especially since a different length driveshaft will be needed anyways.
 
For driveshafts should I get them used? I found a rear drive shaft for $96.99 from Deadjeep on ebay, and I found 3 different options for front drive shaft for about $200.00 on ebay.

Looks like there are a few ax15 transfer case shifters on ebay, does it matter the year?

Clutch fork spring and pivot ball are pretty cheap brand new it seems.

The inner shift boot I found two for about 30 dollars used.

For the SYE, does it matter the brand, or is it ok to find the cheapest possible. It looks like they range from $230 to $350.



Drive shafts I found:

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-...0001&campid=5337789113&icep_item=283967921269

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-...0001&campid=5337789113&icep_item=164526385480

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-...0001&campid=5337789113&icep_item=114517406409

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-...0001&campid=5337789113&icep_item=154193366517
 
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SirDoopYJ said:
For driveshafts should I get them used? I found a rear drive shaft for $96.99 from Deadjeep on ebay, and I found 3 different options for front drive shaft for about $200.00 on ebay.
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Used is fine for the front. Might want to check/swap the u-joints in it but otherwise it should be ok.

SirDoopYJ said:
Looks like there are a few ax15 transfer case shifters on ebay, does it matter the year?
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It shouldn't as long as it's for the AX15. It mounts using 3 bolts, 2 are to the studs on the trans shifter, and the third is a large bolt that goes into the side of the transmission. As long as it's for AX15 it should work fine because all of them have the two studs and that mbolt hole. I have seen instances where AX15s from Cherokees didn't have that side bolt hole though, so post pics of the transmission before you buy so you don't buy one of those.
SirDoopYJ said:
Clutch fork spring and pivot ball are pretty cheap brand new it seems.
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Yes, they are cheap. Definitely worth replacing rather than using the ones that come with the transmission, if any do.

SirDoopYJ said:
The inner shift boot I found two for about 30 dollars used.
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Sounds good. Doesn't need to be fancy, you'll never see it. You'll probably have to stretch the holes to get them over the shifter bases anyways (and they may already be stretched from whoever removed them from the Jeep it came out of). Definitely doesn't need to be pretty.

SirDoopYJ said:
For the SYE, does it matter the brand, or is it ok to find the cheapest possible. It looks like they range from $230 to $350.
Click to expand...
The cheap ones (lesser quality) would be Crown, Rugged Ridge, Omix Ada, Rough Country, etc. Ironically they aren't cheap. The one I recommend is JB Conversions Standard, not the super short. The super short is good but the speed sensors it comes with are pre-set and they don't seem to last very long with any heat. They require a programmer to adjust the speedo for different tires. I actually like that part, because you can get the speedo 100% correct, but I don't want that speed sensor since it doesn't seem to last and JB is the only place you can get replacements.

The JB standard SYE is around $200, excellent quality (better than Advance Adapters), offers better driveshaft length than any other Standard SYE, and just all around seems to be the best choice. Don't buy a rear stock driveshaft if you decide to do the SYE. If you decide to skip the SYE, then buy both driveshafts used. Or talk to Tom Wood or Adams Driveshafts, they could get you some stock style ones but definitely wouldn't be as cheap as used on eBay. Although by the time you buy used and swap the u-joints, it may be expensive to go that route anyways.

Also, 94-95 YJs have a 1330 rear yoke. Since you have a 93, you'd either need a conversion u-joint to run a driveshaft out of a 94-95, or just source the driveshaft from 93 and earlier.
 
Found a 1998 AX15 on car-part.com that is still in stock at the salvage yard 2 hours away from me in Mississippi. It has 185,426 miles on it. The guy on the phone said it is $600 and it has the bell housing still.

Assuming it wasn't shifted too rough, about how many miles does the AX15 last before needing a rebuild?
 
SirDoopYJ said:
Found a 1998 AX15 on car-part.com that is still in stock at the salvage yard 2 hours away from me in Mississippi. It has 185,426 miles on it. The guy on the phone said it is $600 and it has the bell housing still.

Assuming it wasn't shifted too rough, about how many miles does the AX15 last before needing a rebuild?
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Hard to say. They don’t have a defined mileage limit. Some still work fine at 300k, others have really worn synchros at 150k. Depends on the driver for sure, and they were all filled with the improper fluid at the factory so how long that fluid stayed in there also plays a part. Really no way to know.

You might weigh the option of buying brand new. It’s expensive, and will make the whole project much more expensive, it’s about $1700 with no bell housing. But, if you buy the one for 600 and need a $1000+ Rebuild, new might work out better. Definitely some options to weigh. Personally $600 seems like a bit much to me with 180K miles. But, who knows.
 
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