ghetdjc320

Trouble I keep having is figuring out where to mount a good oil cooler. Been looking at the chase bays unit. It is purpose built as an engine oil cooler vs a general fluid cooler. Seems like a decent unit

Sounds similar to the MJ/XJ train coolers, more of an oil temperature regulator to bring oil up to temp and keep it within the same range as the coolant. For my build, I just want to shed some Btu's and don't want to add any more load to the radiator. My outside temps don't vary at all and will be constantly warm. Don't really need to bring the oil up to temp, but I will be towing about 2200lbs through some decent grades occasionally. I'm thinking a good quality oil cooler with the thermostatic adapter would be nice.

For reference, this is the newer arb design for the 8.25. What I noticed was the c clip retainer design. It used to be an open c channel that was very difficult to get the c clips in and out of. This new design fully cages the c clips but allows them to be removed by sliding it to one side with the cross shaft removed.

Haven’t set blacklash yet but happy with pinion depth. Set crush sleeve to 20 in lbs rotating torque and swapped on a new 1310 yoke from Tom woods

Took 5 attempts to get the pinion depth correct. Backlash will help set the toe-heal placement. Ended up with .0031 shim stack. Factory shim was .0028. Pretty close.

Setting pinion depths on the 8.25 is quite a chore. Made a pair of setup bearings for the pinion. Going for the 3rd try now. Pinion too deep in this picture

I’d want to shed some btu’s and get the engine oil on its own cooler perhaps with a thermostat. The stock cooling system has a hard enough time handling a 4.0. Not sure if I’ll do this or not though. Would need to find a good location and the right sized cooler thats actually designed for engine oil.

Never seen an engine oil cooler in the radiator on a gas engine Many L series (LM/LQ/LR etc. Don’t know of any actual “LS” model engines that came in trucks) truck applications came with oil coolers from factory. A correctly installed oil cooler is not a problem and is a sound add on for heavy engine loads such as towing. As with so much of the aftermarket crap, poor design, copy cat, imitation, bargain bin products and poor installation ruin the reputation of many sound concepts if there are contaminants in your oil, you need to change your oil (and possibly find the cause of your contamination). Used to see gas in oil on many supercharged Kawasaki engines. Ultimately, you had to just change the oil more frequently as gio tends to be a side effect of forged internals combined with high cylinder pressures. But many performance engines come with an engine oil cooler

I had installed new o rings when I did the new pan. I am still considering doing and engine oil cooler though. Just can’t find a good place to mount the cooler. Also installed a new rear cover and gasket while I was back there but didn’t do the barbel.

Ordered up some odds and ends. Crossmember with skid from stinkyfab offroad along with their upper control arm mount and track bar bracket. I wasn’t too pleased with the Barnes 4wd parts that i installed.

No real mods planned. I just wanted to do all the reliability upgrades that have been developed in the last 20 years. The trunions, new lifter trays and lifters, ls2 water pump etc. I was considering running 243 heads and the ls6 cam but ultimately decided against it as the power band would have moved a bit out of my ideal range. Surprisingly, the 241 heads have considerably better exhaust flow than the 243’s and the C5 cam was made specifically for these heads. I’m trying to balance this build from an engineering perspective. Between the engine, tranny, t case, axles, brakes and steering, just trying to get everything on the same level if that makes sense. Something along the lines of what could have been a factory style build if that makes sense.

You can use the tach adapter from Dakota digital. It will adapt pretty much any engine configuration with any gauge input. Obd2 dashes are a pain to deal with as you need to get the canbus signal from the ecu

USA21651 and USA21653 are the part numbers for 1541 bolt in shafts. Look for an 89 Cherokee. Also reach out to revolution axle. Pretty sure they have the shafts as well

A gear driven limited slip will be good for those axle shafts. Also, you can get 1541 axle shafts for your non c clip axle on rock auto. You must have found some pretty old info out there as superior axle has been out of the game for a long time. Revolution axle is the new superior after it was dissolved/reorganized. I remember having long discussions about the 35 on Jeep forum back when the 8.8 was the latest fad. In a nutshell, your plan is sound. Just grab some 1541 shafts and a trutrac or similar and have at it. A good stout diff cover never hurts either. At 4.88 gears, that should be pretty easy on that ax5 tranny.

Just finished up the re assembly. It shift so smoothly. Really happy with how it turned out. It’s worth noting that the synchros that come in a rebuild kit will typically give you the wrong rings for 3/4 gears. The part you need that has the “house” shaped teeth is the same as the 5th gear synchro. One could just order up a couple more 5th gears synchros to compete the kit. I ended up re-using my 3/4 synchros as they were if like new shape with almost zero wear. Evidence of the relatively low mileage on this Comanche (90k). First and second synchros were a bit more worn but everything is new now. One particular aspect to pay attention to on a transmission rebuild are the springs and keys that are inside the synchro hubs. They play a crucial role in shift performance and keeping you in gear. They aren’t difficult to assemble but are a bit finicky. Still need to finish prepping and painting the case. On to complete the engine work tomorrow.

Transmission internals are all finished and the upgrades are in place. Very satisfying project. Really came to appreciate the way this thing is engineered.

So the 5th gear update difference is in the gear hub design. The new style uses different keys and springs for the synchro hub. Looks like a better design to hold it in gear better. The gear itself looks identical.

I’ll be installing it tomorrow. I think the difference is with the 5th gear shift hub or possibly the blocking rings “slipper clutch” but don’t know for sure yet. I ran into the same issue that many people do when rebuilding the ax15. The new 3-4th gear blocking rings have different shaped teeth than the originals. I see a lot of people reuse originals as you can’t really find the “house” shaped teeth versions for 3-4 rings. You’ll notice a comparison pic of the new vs old above. Supposedly, the adjustment in tooth design was designed to improve 4-3 downshifts and 3-4 upshifts. I researched it quite thoroughly and others have used the newer “ramped” style tooth blocking rings on the older synchros with no issue. It doesn’t seem like it would present an issue since ultimately, the tooth width is the same at the base, the blocking rings will still engage the slider teeth and the slider and synchro still have the same pattern.

Interesting project. Never delved into the ax15 this far. Was able to do a full rebuild and upgrade to the newer synchros, Marlin HD thrust washer and billet retainer plate. Fun project. Tested all the gears and it shifts great.

Rear half of the case disassembled

Tapped the passenger side coolant port to 3/8 npt to use a decent quality 3/8 to 1/8 reducer to run the Jeep gauge sensor. Lots of cleanup and assembly. 100% genuine GM parts used, none of those copy lifters, trays, gaskets etc. Also am swapping to an ls2 water pump as it looks much cleaner under the hood vs that giant ls1 water pump pulley. Awaiting a replacement set of Che bronze trunions that will complete the heads. Went with remflex header gaskets also to ensure zero leaks on the Sanderson headers. Coated all new parts and cylinders/pistons/valves in a light coating of assembly lube. Tranny work coming up next. The last picture is of the ax15 5th gear upgrade kit. Since I don’t have the original gear out yet I can’t say what the difference is but I’ll document it and compare some of the upgrades with the original parts.

Should be just fine. I doubt it damaged the inner roof skin. In order to affect the a pillars both the inner and outer roof structure would need to be damaged enough to pull the pillars in. For additional peace of mind, check your door gaps against the a pillars and see if you see a significant difference from before

Engine tore down to a short block. Doing a full cleaning and inspection. Crosshatching on the cylinder walls is fully visible. Everything looks great overall. Removed any carbon buildup.