I have an 85 xj with the 2.5L 4 banger. I bored it .040 over, put a 280 cam in it, and did a port and polish job on the head and manifold. The whole jeep has been COMPLETELY stripped down to the unibody and a custom dash installed and blah blah blah utilitarian apocalypse vehicle... you get the idea... now I have the A904 trans behind the motor, but I want to swap it for a manual. what is the best manual tranny that i could put behind it that wont break the bank or my patience? its got the stock axles under it with 33" BFG A/T's... oh and the np207 tcase.

 

Bueller?

 

sorry, never heard of the A904 tranny, but im pretty sure the AX5 is a good tranny and its what i have. Also..... Lets see that beastly rig!!

 

i have read that the ax5 is pretty light duty and not recommended for hardcore offroad use... the ax15 on the other hand is the "best" manual that came in the xj, but since they put it behind the fuel injected 4.0 and not the carburated 2.5, i dont know if it will bolt up. i know that some people say the 4.0 is a 2.5 with 2 cylinders lopped off, but others say that its a totally different motor. are the bellhousings the same? anybody put an ax15 behind a 4 banger?

 

sorry im the only one who's replying....must be a slow night. i have heard good things about the ax15, i would think it would bolt right because i think they used the same automatic transmission in both the 2.5 and 4.0 engines...dont hold me to that though.

 

ax-15 is a solid tranny, don't know if it will bolt up. If you decide to try it make sure you get one with an external clutch slave. that will save you a headache later.

 

I can definitely second that notion. The AX-15 is solid, mine had the slave cylinder in the bellhousing though. I replaced that ****er twice. First time took about 16 hours because I had no clue what I was doing, second time 8 hours. But pulling the dam tranny to replace a slave cylinder sucks bawls. You can tell and external from an internal on if theres a big black donga coming out of the bell housing. Internal is just the hydraulic lines going directly into the bellhousing.