Motor mount bracket differences?

[tmaxx411]

So I've hit a bit of a conundrum.  I have an 86, with a 2.5L. It originally came with a 2wd 904 3speed.  When that blew out, I put an ax5 from a wrangler in, and reclocked the tcase to not hit the floor.  It was difficult to mount up, but I finally got it mounted, with a cross member drop to allow the shifter to clear the center console. Is there a difference in the brackets that bolt to the engine between a 2wd 904 and a 4wd ax5?  It seems the motor is an inch or 2 too far forward, also possibly a little too much toward the drivers side.  Is there an easier way to move the motor an inch or 2 back? 

[Jeep Driver]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Engine-Mount-Brackets-all-iron-84-through-mid-90s-2-5-4-cylinder/283449954368?pageci=1d129860-f365-4e46-a153-8701eb10f9d7&redirect=mobile

[mjeff87]

Did you have the engine out for any of this work, or did it stay bolted in with all the OEM hardware?  The actual motor mount brackets shouldn't change, but the transmission mounts/cross members/crossmember locations most likely would have.  You shouldn't have to rig up a crossmember drop for the shifter to fit through the tunnel into the cab.  Each transmission option has a different cab side cover plate on the trans hump to accommodate a specific shifter, and the trans crossmembers are specific to different transmissions (as well as the transfer case shifter parts).  Its very likely that you're using the wrong transmission mounting parts for the AX5 and that's what is causing your problems.  Even if the 904 crossmember is the same as the AX5 (it probably is), you might need to move it farther back on the frame rails to mount it correctly for the AX5 to line up correctly.

[Eagle]

There are two sets of holes in the frame rails, to accommodate two positions for mounting the cross member.

[tmaxx411]

The crossmember required a new trans plate (the part that bolts to the trans and the top of the rubber mount).  The shifter is physically a little too far forward in the hole, so all the top gears (1,3,5) hit the center console if it doesn't have the tcase drop.  Now that I've blown out a motor mount I need to figure this out instead of bandaiding it.  I'll take pics tomorrow

[tmaxx411]

The motor did not come out for this work.  It stayed bolted up the whole time

[Jeep Driver]

8 hours ago, tmaxx411 said:

It seems the motor is an inch or 2 too far forward, also possibly a little too much toward the drivers side.  Is there an easier way to move the motor an inch or 2 back?

What I posted is the correct brackets, do yours look like these?

 

Do you have a pic of your current mount brackets?

[tmaxx411]

I can get a Pic tomorrow

[gogmorgo]

If you can find a shifter for an XJ instead of for the wrangler, that could solve your problem. The shifter hitting the dash is a thing that people report happening after sourcing an ax15 out of a YJ or TJ to put in an XJ/MJ, and using the XJ shifter with it instead of the YJ one solves the issue. I imagine the ax5 shift lever would end up in the same place, causing the same problem. 

[tmaxx411]

I'm using an xj shifter.  It's not hitting the dash, it's hitting the center console. 

[tmaxx411]

Sorry for the delay.  Here's a bunch of pictures of the current engine mount setup and bracketry, as well as the transfer case drop, transfer case/ceossmember mounting positions, and a close up of the shifter clearance issue