RexFox

I am purchansing an older Cherokee soon and I haven't been able to find any with standard transmissions. I would greatly prefer to have one for reliability, simplicity, and because i just don't know what to do with my other hand while driving.

I plan on buying an older Cherokee and having the engine and tranny rebuilt, however if it isn't too expensive, I would like to throw a manual tranny in instead.

While I'd love to do it myself i don't have the time and I definitly don't have the expertese so this would have to be done by a shop.

How much would doing this cost and how long do you think it would take?

Thank you guys very much and I am looking forward to joining the community.

amonideos

The price you're going to pay to have a shop install a new tranny/rebuild engine is going to cost well over what you would pay to just buy a clean jeep with high mileage yet runs good.

RexFox

I can get a running Cherokee with 160k miles for around $4,000 and rebuild the entire Powertrain for $3000.
I expect to have $10,000 (hopefully more) to play with.

andrewmp6

Most shops charge around 2 grand to 3 grand for pulling rebuilding and putting a trans back in its a lot of labor.Having a engine pulled rebuilt and put back in probably another 2 or 3 grand.Only way i would spend that much is if i found a clean xj that needed a engine for next to nothing.And if your going to rebuild the engine think hard about getting a stroker kit and a bigger cam for it.

Fred/N0AZZ

The AW4 trans is the preferred one for reliability in the XJ's IMHO and not nearly the upkeep required with a manual and clutch. As for cost doing a swap who knows what shop rate's are around you. I personally would not care for a manual in my off road XJ I guess I've had to many manual transmissions in my life 2wd and 4x4's and for off road only autos now for me.

The AX15 manual was not that common as most XJ's seem to be ordered and shipped with the AW4's. What transfer case do you have now the NP231? I guess if you did decide to do it the best way would be to buy a complete XJ with the manual so you would have everything needed including interior pieces. I guess the dash panel from the other one will be required as well in the swap along with the wiring.

When its all said and done at least you will have a parts XJ when needed, good luck with your project.

austinjoe13

I'm with Fred, the AW4 is just as bullet proof as the 4.0. Toyota used it under a different name in the Supra, 190hp will not kill it with standard use. My 89 XJ has 285k miles (at least 115k of those were hard miles ), a bad motor, and a GOOD tranny.

timberwolf

Welcome to the forum.

The aw4 is a great trans, but I've heard it doesn't take rebuilds well.

There are 5spd cherokees out there. How big of a search radius are you looking at?
For that kind of money you could look nationwide and have it shipped home.

mcguyver_xj

where are you located i could do it at my shop i 5-speed swapped my last xj and we 5-speed swap volkswagen tdi's a lot

RexFox

I live in Athens GA