Need a transmission for my 88 4.2

DeltYJ

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Nov 15, 2021
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Klamath Falls Oregon
Transmission wanted any leads on an AX15 blown up I can have rebuilt or t5

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All the used AX15s I have seen still cost between $600 and $900. I have been searching for a year. It is just not worth the money to buy that and then turn around to spend about another grand on a rebuild. Unless you are doing the rebuild yourself? Idk.

Novak still makes them brand new with brand new parts. It has been reccommended twice on the TJ sister forum. I believe it is $1,600 before tax/shipping. @machoheadgames may be able to give you more info on that.

I am currently saving up for a Novak for my conversion. I had to buy alot of other needed parts for the switch first.
 
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All the used AX15s I have seen still cost between $600 and $900. I have been searching for a year. It is just not worth the money to buy that and then turn around to spend about another grand on a rebuild. Unless you are doing the rebuild yourself? Idk.

Novak still makes them brand new with brand new parts. It has been reccommended twice on the TJ sister forum. I believe it is $1,600 before tax/shipping. @machoheadgames may be able to give you more info on that.

I am currently saving up for a Novak for my conversion. I had to buy alot of other needed parts for the switch first.
And with that conversion I'd need different parts for it with the transmission?
 
I am doing an auto to manual conversion on a 93 with 4.0l motor. So I needed things such as:
Clutch pedal assembly
Transfercase shifter
Bellhousing
Shifter
Drive shafts - auto and manual are different lengths.

And of course I needed
Clutch, flywheel, throwout bearing, master slave


You shouldn't need anything I listed above, except of course if you need to replace clutch, flywheel, etc.

I am assuming you are swapping out your BA/10 for AX15. The drive shafts should be the same length. I am not familar with the swap process though. I believe there is a kit or a mod to do the swap.
 
Rebuilding an AX15 is very meticulous but not impossible with a hydraulic press and some basic tools... And YouTube.

I did an AX-5 , first time ever attempting that. A bearing and synchro kit can be less than $200.

The factory service manual is a must have item and covers every step needed.
 
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Rebuilding an AX15 is very meticulous but not impossible with a hydraulic press and some basic tools... And YouTube.

I did an AX-5 , first time ever attempting that. A bearing and synchro kit can be less than $200.

The factory service manual is a must have item and covers every step needed.
How long it take you? Still I can't even find one less than $600
 
I spent an hour or two each day for about two weeks because I had never done this before. After I saw how everything worked i could probably strip one down and reassemble it in a day.

I built a simple stand to secure the center plate during the process which made it much easier.

You'll need a press for getting the gears off the shafts. I bought a $50 snap ring plier set at Harbor Freight which I highly recommend.

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Here's a 20 minute video showing the steps. (Not my video but I used it as a guide) Be very careful not to lose any of the locking balls, springs, or small parts that can fly off into orbit. Also take lots of pictures before you take anything apart.

 
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Yeah as Joe said, T5 is trash. I’d stick to AX15. If it’s any help, a brand new AX15 was 100% worth it for me. Cost me around $1680 total shipped. Came in a large box, transmission surrounded in hard foam. FedEx called me to say it arrived at a location and I went to pick it up. I think they wouldn’t deliver it to doorsteps because they don’t want it wasting space on trucks if the delivery attempts keep failing from owners not being home. Big box wastes a lot of space on the truck if it has to be there multiple days.

Anyways, went to pick it up and it has shifted great ever since. My factory one was very grindy in a few gears and just overall didn’t feel great. The brand new ones are stronger than the old ones and are basically a product of 30 years so by now they surely know how to build them. You could buy a used one and rebuild but for me that’s just too much effort and I don’t trust my rebuilding job. I trust a brand new one from the manufacturer.

It will be a bit of work to get into an 88 but the mid year 89s came with them on the 4.2 so you could mimic that setup. I’d highly recommend an external slave cylinder setup.