[YJ4RoX]

Greg, again great info man!

BadCo, .125 thick bushing shouldnt be a problem with the oil impregnated bronze, mine isnt much thicker than that. about .188. I never found a conversion pilot, i just had one machined. McMaster Carr has various diameters of bronze, so if you do machine the flywheel you can easily get a larger OD bushing in there.

 

[BadCoAlaska]

That is what I thought. I think having the flywheel machined will be better in the long run than having a custom bushing done. Logistics in Alaska make small parts rather expensive.
I have a couple of bushings from one of my employees Peujunk to AX15 swap, so I will probably go that route.
Thanks for the "write-up" YJ, having the bellhousing made the swap a lot more straight forward.

 

[moveaside]

Anybody else got any more updates on this thread me and a buddy are going to get neck deep into this in the next week. Anybody tried machining a little off of the bellhousing?

 

[YJ4RoX]

There isnt a whole lot of meat on the face off the bellhousing to mill any off. YOu may be able to get .100-.120 milled off without weakening it too much.

I just swapped to an external slave setup a few weeks ago. I HIGHLY recommend it. Its Much better with the longer bellhousing. The pivot ball on the dakota bellhousing is longer than the pivot ball on the ax5 bell. I assume the rod on the slave is longer on the dakota as well. WHen i crossed referenced part number the dakota slave is different. I just turned a new 1/2" longer rod on the lathe and its perfect, im cheap. I have been told the stock slave will work just fine however. I just wanted to be sure so i made a new one. Took 10 min to make it.

I have been wheeling the hell out of my set up and I love the ax15, especially with the short throw Hurst shifter. I recently swapped motors(low mileage 2.5) so I swaped to the external slave at the same time. The spacer behind the internal set up worked fine all last summer and fall. It ended up rubbing the input shaft and cooking a seal though.

moveaside, feel free to pm me or post up any questions. I will help in any way i can. Its really a very simple straight forward swap if you just swap tranny's and the input gear on the 231.

 

[moveaside]

No 231 to deal with he has an Atlas 2 already behind the old setup but an old inline six that won't pass smog and the 2.5l will. Thus the reason we are trying to make this work in the first place. I'll mention the external slave and I didn't like how light the bellhousing was in the first place to try and shave it. Just looking for part #'s if they were found and updated yet?

 

[ynotemt]

even though most did of you did the swap in a yj, would the parts be the same for the TJ 2.5L??

 

[YJ4RoX]

Chris in this thread did the same swap in a TJ, he said it worked fine.

moveaside, I have the part number for the clutch disc you need, its actually in the thread somewhere. Other than that, you use the stock 2.5 flywheel and pressure plate. Custom pilot bushing. If he does go to external slave, the throw out, shift fork and slave are all the same for 4 & 6 cyl. Then the 96-98 dakota 4 cylinder bellhousing. Thats pretty much everything.

 

[moveaside]

Chris in this thread did the same swap in a TJ, he said it worked fine.

moveaside, I have the part number for the clutch disc you need, its actually in the thread somewhere. Other than that, you use the stock 2.5 flywheel and pressure plate. Custom pilot bushing. If he does go to external slave, the throw out, shift fork and slave are all the same for 4 & 6 cyl. Then the 96-98 dakota 4 cylinder bellhousing. Thats pretty much everything.

Thanks thats pretty much what we have is 2.5l YJ stuff and 4.0l XJ stuff and trying to make it work using just the bellhousing. Its easy enough to just get a custom brass bushing made from the local welding/machine shop. We're taking down all the measurements and I'll post all that stuff later.

 

[Hard Rock Holley]

write up never got finished, what can i say i am a procrastinater, it will get done, just not sure when.

Ever finish that writeup?

 

[Bad Co]

We finally installed the transmission in the XJ we're working on. Had to move the stock crossmember back and modify the stock transmission mount. I used the AX-15/XJ mount on the tranny side, stock AX5 mount and stock AX5 crossmember (which appear to be the same as AW4 and AX15 ones). The holes on the subframe are about 2" off. So, I drilled the bracket that bolts to the trans about 1" further back and drilled the stock mount about 1" off center to make up for it.
Off course, with my luck, the planetary in the t-case was bad and has 3 damaged teeth so I have yet to roll this out of the shop.
I'll post some pics later. Just FYI for anyone wanting to do this in a Cherokee.

 

[JFR]

We finally installed the transmission in the XJ we're working on. Had to move the stock crossmember back and modify the stock transmission mount. I used the AX-15/XJ mount on the tranny side, stock AX5 mount and stock AX5 crossmember (which appear to be the same as AW4 and AX15 ones). The holes on the subframe are about 2" off. So, I drilled the bracket that bolts to the trans about 1" further back and drilled the stock mount about 1" off center to make up for it.
Off course, with my luck, the planetary in the t-case was bad and has 3 damaged teeth so I have yet to roll this out of the shop.
I'll post some pics later. Just FYI for anyone wanting to do this in a Cherokee.

Wow!! That's nice. Thanks to all of you and specially to Greg and YJ4Rox!. The 5 speed is not working anymore on my AX-5. I'll swap a AX15 on my 93 2.5L Jeep YJ. I'm new in this offroad stuff. From what I understand, I have to get a bellhousing from a Dakota 96-00, a Avance Adapter pilot bushing, a AX15 tranny 94 up (to have the lager ID pilot bushing 0.75 ish and external slave), clutch disk NAPA part # RCF4198 9-1/8" OD with the 1 1/8x10 spline (1984 Chevy Camero with a 4 banger and a 4 spd tranny), then swap to a 23 spline input on the tcase NP231. And if I get the tranny from a donor XJ I can get the AX-15 with the NP231 connected to it. I feel like I need more info about external slave. Right now I have a internal slave. And what is the easiest and cheapest way to modify the driveshaft.

 

[YJ4RoX]

You got it JFR, the years on the dakot bellhousing are only 96-98 however.

The external slave is an easy swap. If you get the 94-up ax15, it and the dakot bell are set up for external slave. You will need a shift fork, throw out bearing and slave cylinder from a 94 up YJ. They are the same for 4 or 6 cyl. You can pick them up at any auto parts store or places like quadratec or 4wd hardware. The only other thig would be the line from the clutch master cylinder to the slave. The fittings will be different on the slave end.

Any local drive line shop can take care of your drive shaft mods. Shoot you could even find some 6cyl driveshafts that should work.

 

[creepyjeepy]

Slave cyl and clutch

true, an external jeep slave cylinder will work. and for those wondering, the dakota slave cylinder has the same size rod--so don't waste money on getting one because you still have to have a shop hook up the line to the jeep clutch reservoir, and it is also very different. i got one and did not even use it. the jeep part works well, and even if it feels it does not reach, you have to push the pedal and let the fluid push it further out until there is contact. there's also NO need to move the pivot point as they are the same on both the ax-5 and dakota bellhousing.

another question i have is about the pilot bushing. i got the AA part for the 4500, but have been wondering if the dakota part will also work (even if with some minor machining to the flywheel). it would be a good set up because it is a stock part. i'm concerned because a chattering noise occurs and gets louder when it reaches operating temperatures, and wondered if the AA bushing (which from other AA parts i've bought seem to sometimes lack precision) heats up, expands, and allows for the chatter?

yet another concern is the clutch. i used a stock pressure plate and a centerforce disc. it stunk like matches burning for a few hundred miles and finally went away. just wondering if there is a better alternative or if anyone has had the same condition. :grinpimp:

 

[TellyDSP]

I'm nearing time to do this, and lacking any formal training so I have a couple Q's. Main one is the pilot bushing. The need for a custom one is because the input shaft does not protrude the bellhousing of the Dakota like the Jeep one? In this case, are there any specs for this bushing or prefabbed ones, or just one a half inch bigger? Also, should I use a new stock Jeep throwout or do I need an aftermarket one? Also, when swapping in a 23 spline input into my TC, do I need to modify anything else in there? It would obviously be easier to just swap the TC, but the SYE I installed only got 500 miles on it before the Tranny went. Finally, is it possible to shorten a CV shaft, or do I need to get a new one?

I should be doing this w/in a month, once tax money comes back. I'll try to get some nice pics and a writeup for anyone else looking to do this. Thanx for all the info so far. I've read this thread about 10 times now.

 

[creepyjeepy]

the pilot is the same as the AA part for a nv4500--it's a brass thing that compensates for the different input shafts (i've yet to figure if a stock part will work equally well). the stock throwout is the same; you may need the pivot arm (is that its proper name?) if you don't have the external slave. as for the TC input, i think it is the long version you need to use as opposed to the shorter 23 spline input--nothing other than the output needs to be replaced. lastly, you can have your existing driveshaft shortened. just my thoughts.

 

[YJ4RoX]

creepy,

The pivot ball in the bell is different on the dakota and ax5 bells. I measured them, the dakota pivot ball protrudes farther buy nearly 1/2".

Telly, yes you need the longer pilot because the dakota bellhousing is deeper. This pushed the input shaft away from the flywheel and didnt leave enough engagement of the stock pilot. On the older ax15's, the input diameter is the same as the ax5. ON the 94-up the diameter is bigger(.750").

There should be no other mods needed to the 231 when swapping inputs, its a direct replacement. Any good driveline shop can shorten your cv shaft.

 

[Pottsy]

So, I have all the parts to swap my ax-5 with the ax15... I need the dimensions of the pilot bushing so I cam machine a new one. I know the ID is .75 but what is the OD and legth..........

 

[YJ4RoX]

length is 1.0625, i cant remember the OD, its in the thread somewhere. its like 15/16, let me dig it up.

 

[YJ4RoX]

.947 OD, i would say tolerancing needs to be -.000/+.003 on the OD.

I would rather it be tight in the flywheel than loose. I would double check your current pilot OD just for reference. This dimension works on my 91 flywheel. I am not sure if there are differences between pilot ODs in 4 bangers.

 

[Pottsy]

.947 OD, i would say tolerancing needs to be -.000/+.003 on the OD.

I would rather it be tight in the flywheel than loose. I would double check your current pilot OD just for reference. This dimension works on my 91 flywheel. I am not sure if there are differences between pilot ODs in 4 bangers.

Awesome! Great write up and thanks a ton for the research you put into this! It saved me a ton of time... I'll post a end result here is a couple weeks.

By the way here's a drawing of the pilot bushing I'm machining.