Hi.

I'm planning to swap the old 4.0 and auto tranny for a chevy 305 and manual transmission, maybe a NV3550 or something else that can handle the engine.
I'm asking this because I can get an AX-15 tranny very fast than any other, but that tranny would handle the engine's power?
Just want something that stands with the engine's power and won't break up.

 

A 305 is not that powerful and I would wager the 4.0 has more power than it lol.

 

Dude, I can pull out more HP from the 305 than the 4.0, trust me, I'm a mechanic.
I just need to know if the AX-15 can handle the V8 punch. As I wrote before, I can get an AX-15 faster than any other 5 speed manual tranny that can handle a v8 engine.
This is my DD rig, but on weekends I go to a friend's place on the mountains or even to rivers where you can't go on a 2wd vehicle.
I'm not going to spend money buying kit and fluid when it dies.
That's why I asked and wich manual tranny is better.
For the rest of drivetrain I don't worry at all, the rig have a front Dana 30, 4.10 gear ratio and rear Dana 44, 4.09 gear ratio. I'm on 31" mt and going to 33" once this set is done.

 

Under 300 foot pounds of torque the NV3500 will be fine.Higher then 300 foot pounds you need a nv4500.The AX-15 is rated for 300 foot pounds but thats only for in a car not a 4x4.And i have seen wranglers trying to use it with a junkyard 350 and break the trans pushing it hard.

 

Cool.
Now we're getting up with the soup.
So, wich 5 speed tranny would be more suitable for the v8, the NV4500 or another tranny?
BTY, in PTY we do more mud than rocks. Rocks only on the trails near rivers, to get there we go through a lot of dirt and mud first.

 

Depends on what your purpose is. Neither the 3500 or 4500 are great transmissions as the 3500 is easy to destruct and the 4500 has synchro issue that can develop. You could look at the SM465 but wouldn't have an OD.

 

This is my daily drive rig, that's why I don't want to install a 4 speed tranny, besides the 465 1st gear is really brutal, I don't want to use it. As I told, this is my daily drive rig and I want something that stands daily use and when I gotta go off road, I can go and come back without problems.

 

A beefed up 700r4 would work even tho you don't want a auto.Only problems i see is using a t case with whatever trans.It would be either a adapter kit with a ford np205 or flipped dana 300.Only thing oem i can think of is a np241 out of the 88-98 trucks.

 

don’t the manual trans xjs typically break several other drivetrain parts before the trans breaks? u joints etc..? point being - i don’t think the trans will be the weak link.

 

Some help here.

http://www.novak-adapt.com/knowledge/transmissions

 

You run into the same thing with the 4500. 1st gear is useless and you will find you start out in 2nd the entire time.

 

^THIS. It takes A LOT to strip a gear hub. Props for going manual

 

Fine info you got here.
I know that a tranny can't be the fuse point of any drivetrain. Axles, U-joints, for me, those are the fuse points to break up.
I've seen broken axles, driveshafts, U-joints and diff jokes from stock XJ, even YJ both, manual or auto tranny.

 

Sorry dude, I don't want another auto tranny on my rig. I rather use it on another vehicle, specially one I use for long trips and not for off roading.

 

The NV4500 is a good transmission, another option would be a ZF 5 speed if you can adapt it to the 305. Why not do a 350 instead of a 305? They are the same size but have way more power potential.