i have a dana 20 from a FSJ in my 76 CJ7. My stock 20 needed a rear output bearing and the FSJ 20 had the output mounted brake so i went with it. my problem is that the FSJ 20 with the fawked up "U" shaped shift pattern is too far forward, it almost hits the fire wall depending on the gear its in and is too far to reach from the drivers seat. can i swap the shifter from my CJ 20 over to the FSJ 20?? there are small differences in the case where the shift rods go thru, for example in the FSJ 20 both the cast openings for the shift rods are even, meaning they are exactly the same length and side by side while in the CJ 20 the hole for the shift rod closest to the inside of the jeep when mounted is cast about 1/2" further out (longer) then the outer shift rod opening. Make sense?!?!? what i would like to do is just undo the cotter pins and the tubing that the lever mounts to and swap shifters only with out having to pull the case. Anyone know if this will work???. dont tell me to just throw a new bearing in my CJ 20 and install it, i already have a new driveshaft for the FSJ 20 and with the output mounted brake it is a bit longer then a CJ 20. Unless i can remove the brake and mount it on the rear of my CJ 20???? Anyone, Anyone.....

Why don't you swap the entire FSJ output on to your CJ case? We are talking the rear output aren't we? It should be a direct and easy swap. Otherwise, you could shorten the FSJ linkage.

i thought about swapping the output from the FSJ case to the CJ case, how hard would it be and what all is involved? does the whole case need to be emptied?

Nope, it couldn't be easier. You just remove the 5 (or is it 6) bolts that hold it on and slide it out. The gear inside stays put and you just reinstall the output. Piece of cake.