So I'm lifting my jeep 5.5 long arm lift and putting a 4.6L stroker in it along with a bunch of other stuff to offroad it. I want to do something about my tranny too, while im at it. Right now it has 230XXX miles on it. I called to get some prices for rebuilding it and they range from $950 (simple rebuild) to $1800 new torque coverter and all. It's out of my 88 jeep cherokee Automatic so its and AW4 tranny. Would I be better off paying for a beefed up rebuild or is there a nice aftermarket tranny out there that would work for me? Shoot me some options and opinions please, thanks.

 

Want to stay auto? Off road truck only? Daily Driver?

 

The AW4 is a very stout unit. Honestly if it still shifts well I wouldnt bother rebuilding it yet. Transgo makes a shift kit for them that will bump the line pressure a little and firm up the shifts. I would do that and run it. I can get you a price on a kit if you would like. Then a decent cooler and call it a day.

 

Offroad and daily driver. Love to drive stick shift, auto is okay. Whatevers best though. I was thinking auto would be better for offroad, am i wrong?

 

Depends on your wheeling. Do you want engine braking and fine control over gears (though there are some very fancy controllers for the AW4!) or do you want to rock crawl without using 3 feet?

 

I'm thinking engine braking and fine control of the gears, so what are my options for stick?

 

I have 200 K on mine with a 4.8L. I will just run it until it pukes no sense in spending the money if you don't have to.

 

AX-15 and NV3550 are decent options that came stock with a 4.0L, can take decent abuse.

 

says who? with the right gearing you can use two feet with a stick just fine.

either throw a AX15 in, or be a man and go find a NV4500 and adapt it. you can beat the ever loving bejesus out of a 4500 behind a stroked 4.0 and it will laugh and keep going.

 

Sure, you can also do a hand throttle on the stick. I'm assuming that after dropping dough on a 4.8 he's either not going to be able to afford a doubler or still want to take it on the highway lol

Yup. If they can take a beating from built 6BTs a gas engine is nothing to worry about...