4WD to 2WD swaps?!

[xjblue]

:shock: I know of somebody slapping a 4.0 in to something interesting, I want to say it is a Gremlin IIRC. :D seriously though, This individual developed swap kits for other vehicles so it's right down his alley.

 

I gave him info on XJ/MJ transmissions a few weeks ago along with links that were posted here that he found quite helpful, anyway....

 

He called me today saying he found a possible doner for parts, a 4WD 98 XJ with an AX15 and he is not interested in 4WD and wanted to know what would be involved making it a 2wd tranny. My mind just went blank and hasn't recovered yet. It's just completely backwards from my way of thinking :P

 

Is it as simple as removing the tcase and swapping a 2wd tailcone on?

 

Thanks in advance for un-blanking my mind.

 

I may just take that t-case off his hands among other things for my own project but he is going to have plenty of stuff left over to part out and I'm sure some of you are closer to him so I'll keep ya posted.

[mjeff87]

In short, it's possible but not as "simple" as that. The output shaft would need to be swapped out for a 2WD version as well. The 2WD extension housing is longer than the 4WD rear section, and takes a correspondingly longer shaft. That pretty much requires full case disassembly to do :(

 

Also, the spline count is different at the output shaft end on the 2WD shaft, so he'd need a 2WD driveshaft yoke (and a longer 2WD driveshaft).

 

I'd advise just finding a 2WD case to swap in. There's one in the 'yard down here sitting in a 95 right now, but that's a bit impractical considering location.

 

Jeff

[Eagle]

Too bad you're almost on the opposite side of the country from me. I have a 2WD 5-speed that I would very happily trade for a 4WD version. Actually, I have three of the damned things ... and two of them are locked in reverse.

[xjblue]

He is closer to you than I am Eagle but not much, Texas. I'm sure he will look locally first but if he can't find anything I know where to send him! Having spent some time in Texas it comes to my recollection that the ratio of two wheel drive to four wheel drive is pretty high there. Thanks for the Info guys I'll pass it along.

[mjeff87]

Too bad you're almost on the opposite side of the country from me. I have a 2WD 5-speed that I would very happily trade for a 4WD version. Actually, I have three of the damned things ... and two of them are locked in reverse.

 

There's a little spring loaded check ball that fits into an indent on the shift rail when shifted into reverse. I bet that's your problem on those two. There's a plug fitting on the rear side of the case that you remove to access the mechanism. Pull the plug and remove the spring, then fish the checkball out with a pencil magnet. You should be able to then get the case out of reverse.

 

I've got a .pdf of the AX15 service manual somewhere on this PC, but I can't find it now. I got it off BillaVista's tech pages on Pirate.

 

Jeff