Transmission Tag Help - Manufacture Date

[Oddmodman]

Hi guys, I need help finding out the manufacture date of my transmission. In my service manual it says that the first 3 numbers of the ID tag on an ax15 indicate the date. It gave an example, saying that 902 meant it was made in February of '89. Wtf? How does that make sense...unless it counts as a '90, hence 902 is February of 1990? My numbers are 006, they are what I need translated. (It's definitely older than '94, since it has the stupid internal slave).

 

Also, when going to order a pilot bearing for a transmission, say the manufacture date was 1990, would you order a bearing for a '90, or a 91? I ask because of how vehicle manufacture seems to work. Even if it's manufactured in 2013, it's considered a 2014 vehicle. Or am I wrong?

[cruiser54]

9 is the second digit of 89 and 02 is February.

 

What's the mfg date of the truck?

[Geonovast]

Pilot bearing for the AX-15 in 90 and 91 was the same.

[Oddmodman]

I don't know the date of the truck's manufacture. This transmission I had gotten ahold of after it was stripped out of something, I don't even know if it came out of a Comanche or a Cherokee, let alone the year. Geonovast, thank you for that, I did need to know that actually. What I was really wondering though was in general, if you have a trans manufactured in a year, say 1988 this time for example, would you want a 1988 pilot, or a 1989, since it was likely put into next year's truck? 

 

According to Cruiser54, I'd guess my tranny was built June of 1990? 006? 0/06?

[Geonovast]

Most things on our trucks have a generation of years, not being changed every year, unlike some vehicles.

 

There were only two sized pilot bearings used for manual 4.0s.  87-91, and 92+.  The transmission was changed halfway through 89, from the BA 10/5 to the AX-15, but they used the same pilot bushing, and didn't change until 92.

 

Measure the end of the input shaft on the transmission you have to put in, if you're not sure.  If it's about 1/2", you need the 87-91 bushing, DORMAN Part # 690044.

 

What year is your truck? (MODEL year)  When it comes to most things, model year is what's important, not manufacturing year.  I ask because, when they changed the size of the bearing on the input shaft end, the hole in the crank was also changed, so mounting a 92+ behind an 87-91 4.0 needs an oddball bearing.

[Oddmodman]

Ah, that's what I was curious about, the Man. date vs. Model Year. The truck that the tranny is being installed into is an '87, and originally had a ba10. The tranny itself, if I'm correct about interpreting the date, has a manufacture date of 1990. I've fitted it up and it seems to fit the pilot that the ba10 had, so I'm fairly confident I'm correct about the man. date of the tranny.

[Geonovast]

If it went in just fine, then yes.  Since the newer transmissions had a bigger pilot tip, it wouldn't have bolted up to the motor.

 

Did you happen to get the crossmember with the AX-15?

[Oddmodman]

Unfortunately no, however I simple modified the ba10's crossmember with some cutting and welding. It fits the tranny, I checked, and I believe it will be strong enough to support the tranny once it's installed.

[Geonovast]

Excellent.  I'd be interested in seeing your modification if you happen to have taken any pictures.

[Oddmodman]

Well, I haven't installed it yet, so I can take a few pics before I install it. Had I more time I would have done it more professionally, make it look like the ax15 xmember, but Dad had to take the welder back with him. I can give you a quick rundown though before I take pics today. 

 

As you know, the ba10 xmember doesn't have the drop-middle. So I measured the dimensions of the drop from an ax15 crossmember, since I had one (didn't simply use that one because it's for another project), and I used a cutting wheel to cut down to the flare level. After I had cut out the rectangular hole, I found that the xmember is made like our truck's unibodies are; that is to say, made up of multiple plates pressed together, in this case two-stacked. I ended up with two plates, one fitting inside the other, with approximately an inch hanging down on either side (picture the outline of a square, 4 sides, one square fitting in the other, and then remove the bottom lines of both squares, so now you simply have a rise within a rise). I cut off the one inch sides so that I had two flat rectangular plates. They were the same width, but the outer edges, where they met the flared out sides of the xmember, were about 1/8in off from each other (picture the bottom two levels of a pyramid from a sideways view). So what I did was weld the uniform sides of these two pieces together, making sure the other two sides retained their 1/8in differences. Then I put the new plate back in the hole, with the widest piece on the bottom, making the top piece level with the flare of the xmember. This gave me a level drop, just like the ax15 has, with two 1/8in valleys on either side of the plate. This I simply filled in with weld, which I ground down to keep level. It turned out to match the drop and width of the ax15 xmember, omitting only the sloping sides the ax15's has (where that slope should be I simply left open). It holds my weight of 250lbs, even with a bit of bouncing, and the wings that attach to either side of the Comanche I believe will support the middle without issue, even with the two openings I left. Had I more time I would have made the sloping sides the ax15's has. Make sense? It's a bit long winded and confusing even to me, but I'll get a pic up sooner rather than later.