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So, round three of MJ for me begins. Street comanche, LS comanche, and now starting with a stocker to build it my way this time. I sold my fully built XJ for a great profit and am able to start a build I have wanted to do for a long time. This is NOT a prerunner, I have built and driven real $500k+ prerunners that actually prerun baja and whatnot. Thats not what this truck is meant for. This truck is going to have that look of a prerunner although. But that is because the wide fiberglass fenders are a supporting mod for the rest of the build. The true theme of this build is going to be a LCOG build. Having a street comanche I really fell in love with the way it handled like it was on rails because I had a nice healthy tire patch, lightweight truck, and low center of gravity. With my XJs I really enjoyed how well 35s felt off road, but still had a nice patch while on road. So this truck will be low, roughly a 2'' lift, with a nice wide stance. A good adjustable sway bar, adjustable ride hieght, and adjustable shocks. I really want to have the ability to dial it in to whatever type of driving I am doing. Id like a truck that I can daily drive, or blast down a dirt road, do some mild crawling, or take a nice canyon road at some speed, all with the adjustment and tuning of a few things. This truck is being built to not be perfect at anything, but decent at many things. With that said, I picked up a steal of a deal on the truck. It is an ORIGINAL owner 89.5 SWB Sportruck. Options are as follows: AX-15, NP231, HP-D30 vacuum disconnect, Trac-loc D44, bench seat, mini console, tilt steering, and some other odds and ends. It was originally sold in Whittier, CA, and I know this because I have the original window sticker and original registration along with it. I picked it up about 5 miles from where the dealership it was sold at used to be, still in Whittier, CA. It came along with all service records, all original manuals. The exterior is truly impecable, paint is dulling, and one small dent on driver door, otherwise astonishing for its age. There is not a spec of rust inside or out, floor boards, rockers, and even the battery tray. The interior is imaculate, one stain on the driver floor, seat has been reupholstered, and one panel is missing behind the seat. Again, not a big deal. I picked up the truck and got it on the freeway and quickly blew two tires that had been dry rotted beyond use. I saw this ahead of time but thought I'd try to make it home to San Diego where I had new tires, proved why I invest in AAA though. Got some cheapy tires and made my way to Hanneman Fiberglass where Hal, and Harold helped me to some 6'' Front fenders, and 6"' bulge bedsides. Got to have them fresh out of the molds. Cruised down interstate 15 at 85MPH for about an hour and 45 mins, didnt break a sweat or have any issues whatsoever even on the small grades. Will hold 90 in 5th gear like a champ. I quickly realised the brakes were shot so I stopped and picked some up to throw on in the morning. As everything opens at 8AM tomorrow I will be ordering a few parts. I will be purchasing a currie antirock sway bar, JKS acos spring spacer with bump stop, 15x10 Aluminum wholeshot rims, 35'' General Grabber ATX tires, and possibly a 97+ header panel kit. Some things I still need to research are regearing, and I want with this jeep I want to learn some painting and autobody skills. This jeep will not get beaten, and I sort of want it to be a pretty truck, that new ford avalanche gray just has been on my mind since the first time I saw it. So any info on those would be very helpful. Join me for this build, I have been anticipating this one for years, and funds finally came through!! If anyone is intrested in the shell, the rims and tires, or possibly trading plus cash for a bed I won't feel bad about hacking up let me know. I am located in San Diego.

Here I am, posting another new build...again LOL. I wasn't really actively looking, just browsing the local marketplace and came across this SWB, 2WD, 5 speed, 4.0 comanche that looked pretty clean. It hasn't run in a few years at least, and the trans is known to have problems. It was headed to the scrapper the next day. So I scraped together $500 and got myself my 4th MJ. I loosely told my fiance the other day, after the Wagoneer restoration is done, and some loose ends on the others jeeps are tied up, I'd like to start a sport/muscle truck build. And then this happened to pop up for sale, on my birthday weekend, so it was a sign lol. This jeep likely will get the drivetrain, electronics, and some other odds and ends scrapped off of it in the next 6mos - year. It's got some rocker rust, and I'm sure the floors need love too, since it was $500 truck, it'll likely get some sort of budget oriented build, as my other three were very high budget builds. Currently it is: -Renix 4.0 -BA-10 2WD -Dana 35 The plan is: -LS (likely 4.8 or 5.3) -GM ECU/Harness -Cam setup for high RPM power -AX-15 W/LS bellhousing -NP242 or NP249 -D30 with CV axles -C8.25 with KJ Disc Brakes, and an LSD of sorts. -WJ Master/Booster -Nice stereo -Working AC, Heat, etc. -JK Sahara 18'' wheels -V8 ZJ Sway bar -coil Spacers/leaf mods to level it at near stock height -WJ lower Controls arms -Tie rod upgrade -Bed toolbox? -New bushings/bearings front to back. Going for a really fun and reliable road cruiser, be able to slam gears and get sideways at will, or slap it into AWD and do some sprited driving. Where I live, a lot of fun, and smooth curve roads. Also I live up a dirt road that is slick when weather decides it is lol. After I bought it I found out it was an Eliminator, not that I mind either way, but a nice perk. See Photos:

Codename Bumblebee: Continued A currently quite short build thread by Minuit I've been looking for a second project for some time. My silver '91 has been my daily driver for years and is at the point where it's getting hard to call it a project truck. If you've been keeping track of this truck's previous build thread, you'll know that this truck's previous owner, relyt120, never got a chance to do much with it and recently needed to sell it. Coincidentally he put it up for sale at the exact time I happened to have both the means to buy it and the time to work on it! Not only that, but I'd had my eyes on a manual vehicle of some sort. The previous owners (with the exception of relyt120) have been unkind and downright neglectful to this truck, and it needs a lot of love. However, the most important things are in place - to get it up to snuff I have a lot of small things to do, and some major surgery is needed. Here are the specs: 1989, short bed, Renix 4.0, AX-15 internal slave, open D35 rear end, ~150,000 miles. Let me be clear: I'm very much aware I have a lot of work to do, but I know what I'm doing and I'll do things right The Good: - It has the AX-15, and it shifts very well - The engine, while noisy, runs fairly well. - Besides the floor pan, it's almost completely rust free. The body on this truck except for the floor pan is in some ways better than the '91. - It's a Comanche! - I got it for a very good price. - It has a number of upgrades already done, including bucket seats, switched electric fan controls, Volvo fuel injectors, and upgraded grounds. - It theoretically has air conditioning. - I got tons of parts with it, including two Comanche interiors. - It has a surprisingly soft ride. - It's a blank canvas for whatever I want to do to it. Unlike the '91 I don't feel any obligation to keep it original. The Less Good: - Electrical issues abound, including non-functional reverse lights, brake lights(!!!), and a completely nonresponsive instrument cluster. - The engine sounds like hell and makes barely acceptable as of January 2019, zero as of May 2019, barely acceptable oil pressure. - The driver side floor pan and some of the transmission tunnel is rusted through likely due to a long ignored clutch fluid leak. I have a patch panel for the driver side floor. - The front end is in need of work. The truck has a significant front end shimmy - not quite death wobble, but definitely something is very loose. - It has massive vacuum and exhaust leaks. - Renix Cooling System. 'Nuff said. The pressure bottle of course leaks and a replacement has already been ordered. - The windshield is toast. - It's mind bendingly hideous. - The parking brake is missing. The Plan (more detail in Post 14): - Fix brake lights before I drive it on the road again - Fix all critical electrical circuits: brake lights, gauges, reverse lights. - Replace the Renix pressure bottle. - Re-install the interior. - Refresh front suspension. as of August 2019, done... more or less. - Repair the driver side floor. - Convert cooling system to the open loop High Output version. as of September 2019, it's been thoroughly de-Renix'd. - Turn the truck a single color, with chrome trim. - Air conditioning! Edit 12/2/16: Unlike my other build thread, the OP will be updated continuously and serve as a summary of my progress.

Hey guys I’m new to the forum and I’m not sure I understand how to use it I tried looking this up but the first like 10 pages don’t show what I’m looking for and I got too lazy to keep scrolling so apologize for that. i picked up a 89 Comanche about a month ago it’s got the 4.0 with the ax15 it’s 2 wheel drive and so far I’ve picked up a Dana 30 at a local junk yard I’m wanting to know what else I will need I’m having trouble finding an AX15 that’s 4x4 or will my transmission work? I’ve found a 231 transfer case and I know I’ll need the linkage and drive shaft? Am I missing anything or is there a better way or what way would you do it? All opinions are welcome I should also mention this is my very 1st Jeep and I’ve only had about a month of research so tips and tricks are welcome.i forgot to mention my blinkers won’t work with my lights on?? I’ve changed the 2 front sockets and the rear passenger and when I push the blinker button with the lights on my hazards come on????

Speedo help. The truck will have 37’s soon. Axles have 4.56 gears. What Speedo gear do I need to order for the tcase to keep the speed right? Buying the correct gear will keep the odometer accurate also, correct? Also don’t know if I need the short or long gear. Just did the 2wd ba10 to 4wd ax15 from a 96’ xj. The Speedo parts that go into the trans/tcase are different between the 2wd and 4wd transmissions. I won’t be able to use the cable driven Speedo off of my 2wd trans (it’s much bigger) so I’m going to take the Speedo mechanism off of my 87’ 4wd mj tcase.

Looking to buy an AX15 transmission, bell housing and np231 transfer case with proper spline. The more I can get to do this swap, the better. I have an AW4 I pulled out of my truck that was working okay if you might be looking for one. Thanks for looking.

I've just purchased my MJ a few days ago. I'm trying to figure out what transmission I have. My Comanche is an 88 and I've read that 88 was the year they started phasing out the ba10/5. I would check for the band that the ax15 is supposed to have but the MJ in question is several states away from me at the moment (long story). I know that the transmission in question has an internal slave cylinder (and it is broken). Is any transmission behind an inline 6, with an internal slave cylinder, ipso facto, a ba10/5? or could it be an early version of the ax15? how can I know for sure? Hypothetically, if I have a ba10/5 (which i am informed is trash garbage) just how bad are they? Ive read a lot that they are bad but why? (Id like to hear a horror story) Obviously I wouldn't want to sink money into a rebuild for it if it breaks outright, but right now it just needs a clutch kit with a new slave cylinder. Should I just save my money for a new ax15 instead of fixing this? (assuming its a ba10/5)

Hi! I am trying to find a short box roll bar for my 89. I am also looking for a sliding rear window for my truck, as it is a feature that my family has had in other trucks and I would like one for my truck. I do not need but I would like a tailgate for my truck as mine has a lot of dents and a bit of rust. I am also looking for an AX-15 as my truck is an early 89 with the Puke-goat. I would consider traveling 1.5 hours to get parts. I am parting out a 97 Cherokee. I would be interested in trading parts for parts. I may also consider buying a whole truck for parts. Thanks everybody, Carter T.

Interested if anyone has a spare or leftover internal slave AX-15 bellhousing lying around they'd like to part ways with, loan out, or donate. Looking into making my own engine adapter and want to avoid removing my trans just for dimensions... worth a shot!

Is this a good kit? <AX15 Master Rebuild Kit - Power Torque> Does it include everything I need? Also, any good how-to's or DIY tutorials that y'all know about for a first time rebuilder?

I have an ax15 out of a 94 cherokee in my 89 4.0 Comanche I am replacing the trans mount but can't find one that fits the trans mount that's in it now from the previous owner (I think it's from a ba10 or something like that) is all cut up so it would fit. Does someone make a mount for an ax15 in a Comanche? Is it something custom I would have to make? What can I do. Thank you. I would post a pic of the old mount but I don't know how.

i am new hear. just checkn to see if anyone knows if i need to change the inspection plate when goin from ba10 to ax15 transmission? also would a bellhousing from a 87 to 93 wrangler ax15 4.0 work with my 89 comanche 4.0.. the current bellhousing i have is from a 94+ ax15 external slave. but it doesnt line up 100% to the bolt holes on my motor. any help is apreciated

https://muncie.craigslist.org/wan/5395928811.html

Hey all ive got a 91 comanche that used to be automatic but now its got an ax15 from a 98 xj. i need to hook up the reverse lights to the transmission. However before i do that i have to find the 2 reverse light wires in the engine bay and connect them to the reverse light switch on the side of the tranny. ive found the 2 large plugs (1 gray 1 black) in the pass side of the motor near the firewall and i need to know which wires are the reverse lights. any assistance would greatly be appreciated.

So for about 3 months now Ive had a ford 8.8 ready to swap in including a new 5.5 inch lift. :doh:I have everything to do the lift and swap and i know how to do it, but i haven't yet because its different gearing then my dana 30 upfront right now and i need a drivable car and 4wd here in the upcoming colder months. But now that i have this 1995 4wd cherokee with a non CAD dana 30, I'm going to pull it out and have it re geared and put that in my comanche. I'm not going to build it up yet because i don't have the money because i started school and can't work as much, but i just want to replace what i should and get the parts to re-gear it. I'm just wondering what i need to buy for a re gearing? thanks. Id like to get the parts so that i can do this ford 8.8 swap, new 5.5 alexia lift and then this dana 30 all in one weekend. BTW I'm not doing it myself, but i just want to have all the parts ready to bring to the shop. also, the shop in town here is cool with bringing in your own parts. . :MJ 1: . (me after swap)

So last weekend I did the ax15 swap, but never actually tried turning it over until today because I was busy with school and my sister was gone so I just drove her Jetta. Everything a on except for the 4wd linkage and front drive shaft. The thing won't start. Battery's good, starters on, it has gas but it was empty when I parked it so I just put 1/4 tank in it. I used the ax15 starter; should I have used the ba10 starter? I don't know much about getting a vehicle started so any help would be great!

i got my pats vehicle. I got a ax15. I'm taking that out today. I'm going to put all new seals in it and clean it up and then I'm going to swap it in. I need to know all the stuff thats needed for this swap. I got the cross member, shifter, case, and linkage. I have no idea what needs to be changed or bought for this. Thanks all!

Hello friends. Jess here from Placerville, CA. I've been lurking around here for several years and have been so grateful to have such a fantastic resource. You guys rock! I can only hope to one day return the favor and give useful advice to someone in need. I don't have the technical knowledge many of you have and this certainly won't be the end-all AX15 swap thread but I figured I share my experience and if it helped someone out, awesome! First of all, there is a lot of posts about the AX15 - If you can't find what you need here on CC there is a lot of other AX15 swap threads out there, I found this thread on naxja particularly useful. I also picked up a FSM from Pacific Coast Manuals. Best $7.95 I think I could have spent, especially when it came to finding torque specs. Another good resource for parts if you're in the Sacramento area is J&W Auto Wreckers - I find their prices are a tad on the high side (basically double of most Pick & Pull parts) but they appear to have pretty much everything, including the AX15 bracket which was difficult to find and you don't have to bring your tools and roll around in broken glass. So, I have a 1989 MJ which of course had a Peugeot BA10/5 with the NP231. The internal bearings went and my second gear synchros have been out since I got the truck 6-7 years ago. The repair shop (I tried several, price always the same) wanted $850 to repair the bearings/synchros. I've always wanted to swap for an AX15 but never really had a reason until now. I found one out of a 91 Cherokee with 150k miles in a wrecking yard for $500 with the bellhousing and another $200 for the factory mated NP231. I probably could have swapped the input shaft for a little less, but honestly it was taking so long already I figured it was worth it to get the new one and go. Dropping the Trans: Having the right tools for the job would have made this much easier. Unfortunately we had none of those. If you don't either, I'd recommend renting or borrowing a transmission jack. It was always my plan to do that but my Dad and I backyard mechanic'd it pretty good instead. Our jack died recently, so we borrowed a neighbors which is hilariously tiny for removing a transmission. We used it pretty much for the wheels only. What we did was place a strong steel pipe above the trans tunnel/shifter hole and wrapped a large ratchet strap around the pipe and transmission. This supported it and allowed us to guide the transmission back out of the pilot bearing. Another thing that helps which we didn't have is level ground. Our driveway has a slant to it so we decided to park the truck facing down, which meant pulling the transmission uphill to remove it. I attached a strap from the jack to the rear bumper and a second from the t-case to the bumper, ratcheting both at the same time to back the trans out. It would have worked beautifully except we forgot one of those small bolts at the top of the bellhousing :( Once we got that it it popped right out, go figure. :dunno: We basically used the same strategy to reinstall the AX15, we took the t-case off and used two straps from that same pipe to raise the AX15 up and guide it in. It's not a perfect alignment, there's definitely some precarious finagling but it worked. Yep, zipties. A third strap was added to the axle of the jack to pull it and the trans back simultaneously. Bracket/Mount: My biggest unknown was the mount vs bracket. As I mentioned above I found the "bracket" to be rather elusive. I read several posts where people said they used the Peugeot crossmember with the AX15 mount and it was fine - but since the AX15 mount lacks the catalytic converter support arm I wasn't really sure how that was possible without fabrication work which I don't have the tools to do. If you cannot find the bracket or fab your own, you might try this AX15 Crossmember Mount Kit from Advance Adapters. They told me it would work fine in Comanches but considering the cost difference between having to replace the Peugeot mount vs AX15 mount I decided to try harder to find the bracket. Which I did find for $30 at J&W Auto Wreckers. Top left: AX15 "mount". Bottom left: AX15 support bracket. Right: Peugeot mount. Crossmember: To save myself $70 for an AX15 crossmember I used my original Peugeot one. Since the AX15 has that little dip in it I decided to get some longer bolts and use heavy nuts as spacers to allow the AX15 to sit properly. The crossmember had to be moved to the rear set of holes on the body, which meant taking a sawzall to one of the studs as I couldn't get it out with the other tools I had. Some of the original holes threaded fine, but three of them needed to be chased (10x1.5). Here you can see the nut spacers and new bolts. Transfer Case Linkage: I read several posts where people said you can flip the bracket which bolts to the transmission and make the Peugeot linkage work with the AX15. We popped it out and flipped it, the problem was by flipping it I took it to mean - removing it and plugging it into the same hole from the reverse side. We couldn't make that work at all. So we tried flipping it the other way, plugging it into the smaller hole on the other side of the bracket and bolting the grommet side to the transmission. After some finessing I was able to get it to work - it probably won't last forever but you know, it was free. Reverse Switch: I just cut the connectors off both the AX15 end and the Peugeot end and used quick disconnect connectors. I was out of shrink tube so I wrapped it all up in electrical tape. While I was at it: I had an oil leak so I changed the oil pan gasket, which thanks to advice on a thread I posted it was easy to remove the oil pan without the transmission in. I went ahead and replace the rear main oil seal and the oil pump as well. Conclusion: So glad it's done and I love this thing. I love the way the shifter feels and I think it's a lot quieter. Also huge bonus, I can use second gear lol. I'm so used to having to baby second gear that I still flinch when I shift, anticipating gears grinding. It's not all perfect though - there is an oil leak someplace. It seems to be coming from inside the bellhousing which is making me think the seal on the transmission is bad. I used Mobil-1 10w30 in the AX15 per some recommendations so I can't tell the difference between it and engine oil. It could also be the rear main seal which would also totally suck because that was a huge pain to change. Reverse gear is being a pain to shift into as well, we may need to bleed the clutch again, or something could be going on - I dunno. Right now I'm just happy it's running :yes: Jess

Alright so I just got a 89 Comanche 4.0 5spd 2wd. been working on getting everything going so I can get it on the road and on to being my DD. Wasn't running when I got it and Cruiser54s tips helped tremendously in getting it going, so thank you for that. I'm now on to getting all the lights to work. The person that had it before did an AX15 swap but did not bother to wire up the reverse switch. so i'm needing a little help with the wire colors and locations to get it going. I've tried searching around to find the right diagram but seem to be getting conflicting answers. when I probe the connector that I thought was the body side of the switch connection I get a hot wire but no matter what combination of wires I twist together I can't get the reverse lights to come on. So any information would be helpful. Thanks in advance

Just purchased my second Comanche, 91 Eliminator shortbed 4x4 4.0 I6 HO, Ax15, and the metric ton package (dana 44!). Bought it for $1000 runs great only 168k on it and all stock. Problem is floorboards and rockers are gone. (Literally holes you can stick your leg through) I have replacements for both those but came across a rotten frame. Leaf spring and shackles are fine just drivers side is rotted up to the brake lines and a pretty decent size hole. Has anyone repaired a unibody? I know you can strengthen them with unibody supports but anyone do something different?

How the heck do i remove the top two torx bolts on the top of the transmission?! I want to leave the engine in. i have read on a couple different post that they are E12? I don't think a socket wrench will fit between the firewall and back of the engine. I already have the cross member out and the trans and TC on a tranny jack.

:dunno:Hi, I've had a few MJs over the year, but never knew differences between trims: Sport, Eliminator, Base. And what differences will metric ton version over the standard vehicle(yes, I know about carrying capacity). AX15 is good/bad trans?? Different than RENIX? Slainte :cheers:

Went to the junkyard today with my sights on getting a Durango steering box and brake master cylinder for my XJ. There were a ton of Durangos and Dakotas out there. When I'm there, I always check the Dakotas for the infamous AMC 2.5L and 5-speed. Sure enough, the last one I checked, a '98, had the engine removed but the 5-speed was still there and still intact. I jumped into the engine bay and snatched her up. Can't believe I found one after all this time of searching... With that said, I have no use for it at the moment since I did the 4.0 swap... If I could've found this last year, I would have been more tempted to stick with a 2.5 and done the AX15 upgrade.

Need within 30-45 minutes of three rivers,mi txt 224 656 3114 I don't need expense but I don't want garbage send me pic an price

Just like the title says, I'm looking for a front drive shaft. Needs to come from an MJ/XJ that has/had an AX15. I'm not looking to spend an arm and a leg. I have one for an AW4 equipped MJ/XJ that I'd be willing to trade if you're in need of that. Thanks... Shawn