William Posted August 27, 2018 Share Posted August 27, 2018 Ok so I have a 89 Comanche and want to do a 4x4 swap need to know what doner jeep xj I could use to do the swap thas would be easiest way possible Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted August 27, 2018 Share Posted August 27, 2018 what drivetrain do you have now? what do you plan on doing with the truck when it's finished? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
William Posted August 27, 2018 Author Share Posted August 27, 2018 Rock crawling wend Don and was seeing what xj I could use to do the swap Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted August 27, 2018 Share Posted August 27, 2018 what engine/trans do you have now? how big of a tire do you want in the end? do you plan on using Jeep axles from the donor or just the trans/t-case? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
William Posted August 27, 2018 Author Share Posted August 27, 2018 4.0 hight out put and automatic transmission and 33s I was thinking a 96 xj for the swap Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted August 27, 2018 Share Posted August 27, 2018 so you're looking for a whole drivetrain swap? or are you saying the engine and electronics have already been changed out for the 91+ HO stuff? 96 is nice because it'll give you OBD2 but in a package that more closely matches the old MJs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
William Posted August 27, 2018 Author Share Posted August 27, 2018 No nothing has been changed in the comanche Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted August 27, 2018 Share Posted August 27, 2018 ok, then you have the original Renix ignition. the Chrysler HO is 91+. in order to get HO, you need to plan on swapping everything. There should be a few swap threads in the link in my signature that will give an idea. 91-95 are OBD1 electronics. 97+ will require more work since there were plenty of changes with the new body style. But there are threads about that too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
William Posted August 27, 2018 Author Share Posted August 27, 2018 I'm going to use ether a 95 or a 96 and what all do I have to change Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted August 27, 2018 Share Posted August 27, 2018 to use the trans and t-case? not much. there should be a link to swapping around the various years of AW-4 transmissions in my sig. You can also swap in the bare engine block pretty easy. But if you want the whole HO engine and electronics you should plan on stripping your truck clean and installing the whole XJ. It's been done plenty of times and it's 95% bolt-in, but it is time consuming so be prepared. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
William Posted August 27, 2018 Author Share Posted August 27, 2018 Ok bc I'm using everything out of a 96 moter then a ax15 transmission Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted August 27, 2018 Share Posted August 27, 2018 If it were me I would just park the 2 Jeeps next to each other, strip the MJ (keep all the parts to resell) and then start stripping the XJ and moving the things over. take lots of pics as you remove each thing so you'll know exactly where it goes in the MJ. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
William Posted August 27, 2018 Author Share Posted August 27, 2018 Ok man thanks for all the info Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eagle Posted August 28, 2018 Share Posted August 28, 2018 3 hours ago, William said: Ok bc I'm using everything out of a 96 moter then a ax15 transmission If you want to use the 96 engine and ignition/injection system, you need everything from the '96. The XJ (Cherokee) and MJ (Comanche) underwent a total revision from 1990 to 1991. Up to 1990 they used the AMC/Renault/Bendix ("Renix") injection and ignition system. Starting in model year 1991, they switched over to a completely different, Chrysler-engineered ignition and injection system. There's an old saying, "In for a penny, in for a pound." Once you say you want to update, you have to update everything. So you will have to strip out the entire wiring harness, in the engine room and under the dashboard, and swap in the harness from the '96 donor vehicle. The brake and taillights on XJs work differently from the way they work on the MJ, so you'll need to retain the MJ taillight wiring and make an adapter splice somewhere near the back of the cab. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
William Posted September 8, 2018 Author Share Posted September 8, 2018 How did you get the xj cross member bolt in to the mj bc the xj cross member is lil longer then the mj one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eagle Posted September 8, 2018 Share Posted September 8, 2018 8 hours ago, William said: How did you get the xj cross member bolt in to the mj bc the xj cross member is lil longer then the mj one No, it isn't. The cross members are the same length and can be swapped from an XJ to an MJ. What is different is that different transmissions and transfer cases use different rear mounts for the tranny or transfer case, and there are two sets of mounting holes in the frame rails, to position the cross member either farther forward or farther back. Be sure you're using the cross member and mount that correspond to your "new" engine and drive train, and check to see if you need to use the other set of mounting holes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HOrnbrod Posted September 8, 2018 Share Posted September 8, 2018 On 8/27/2018 at 5:01 PM, William said: Ok bc I'm using everything out of a 96 moter then a ax15 transmission If you are going to use an AX15 transmission, you will need to use the manual transmission crossmember. It dips down about 1" more than the suto tranny crossmember to allow additional clearance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
William Posted September 9, 2018 Author Share Posted September 9, 2018 I'm useing moter transmission and transfer case out of a 93 xj Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eagle Posted September 9, 2018 Share Posted September 9, 2018 16 hours ago, William said: I'm useing moter transmission and transfer case out of a 93 xj So use the cross member and tranny/transfer case mount out of the '93. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyComanche Posted September 9, 2018 Share Posted September 9, 2018 On 9/8/2018 at 10:42 AM, HOrnbrod said: If you are going to use an AX15 transmission, you will need to use the manual transmission crossmember. It dips down about 1" more than the suto tranny crossmember to allow additional clearance. You don't absolutely need to. Just be prepared to cut the hole for the shift tower larger, which I actually believe it was in later XJs anyways. And the tcase linkage might not work right, but that's normal since it's a garbage design. That said, unless you're trying to gain more belly clearance, I'd recommend using the correct crossmember. Also, he specifically needs the AX-15 crossmember, if he has a manual trans in the truck right now it is still likely the wrong crossmember. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HOrnbrod Posted September 9, 2018 Share Posted September 9, 2018 25 minutes ago, DirtyComanche said: Also, he specifically needs the AX-15 crossmember, if he has a manual trans in the truck right now it is still likely the wrong crossmember. Good point. It's possible he could have an AX-15 in his 88 since it came out in midyear 1988 for XJs/MJs. Not likely though... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyComanche Posted September 9, 2018 Share Posted September 9, 2018 3 minutes ago, HOrnbrod said: Good point. It's possible he could have an AX-15 in his 88 since it came out in midyear 1988 for XJs/MJs. Not likely though... It's midyear 89, so if his 88 is a 5 speed with a 4.oh it's got the Peugeot. Scanning the thread it looks like his is actually an AW4 auto right now. Which makes the swap more complicated because he needs the pedal box, and to drill the firewall for the clutch master, and I don't really know what else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HOrnbrod Posted September 9, 2018 Share Posted September 9, 2018 Should have known better than to quote anything from Novak. http://www.novak-adapt.com/knowledge/transmissions/manual/ax15 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyComanche Posted September 9, 2018 Share Posted September 9, 2018 3 minutes ago, HOrnbrod said: Should have known better than to quote anything from Novak. http://www.novak-adapt.com/knowledge/transmissions/manual/ax15 Yeah, they're wrong about as often as they're right. And their parts often don't fit, or have critical design flaws. It's unfortunate because a lot of what they have on their site is taken as gospel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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