Like most owners with AX-15's in their Jeeps, I too experience shifting problems. Its never really been that big of an issue because the ol' 2nd to reverse trick has been working just fine for the 2+ years I've owned my Cherokee. Well since the to do list is starting to get smaller on her I decided to investigate the issue a little more in depth. Researched showed than many owners with shifting problems can be directly related to a weak point on the clutch fork pivot joint, where the plastic clip that holds it together breaks causing excess play in the fork reducing pressure on the throw bearing resulting in the clutch not fully disengaging. Sounded like my problem to a T. So to check it I took off the slave cylinder and bam, the piston on the slave cylinder was just hanging out ( see pic below). My first thought was maybe it just had to much built up pressure and popped out when I removed the assembly, so I pushed it back in and had my wife pump the clutch a few times (not to the floor) and I was able to hold it in very very easily. Seems to be the problem, however, in the name of science I decided to still check the fork for play. Results of that, smooth movement in and out with no up or down play. Well looks like this fix will be about 300% easier than expected.

 

....... the only bad experience I've had with my AX15 was the hydralic line broke loose and rubbed against the exhaust resulting in replacement... Never needed a 'trick' or anything else, the 5 spd.. was a Godsend....

 

Wanna make it bleedable get this...