This makes no sense to me at all. My AX15 is showing some age, I have been looking around for a good used unit and the prices are crazy. Yards around here want $850-1000 for used ones, some with as many miles as I have one mine. I find good used NV4500's for around $700-800 all the time. WTF gives? It is almost cheaper to convert to a NV4500 than it is to replace a worn out AX15. I dont get it? I mean I already have a advance adapters bellhousing for a NV4500 (left over from a diffrent project) seems all I would need to do is find a dodge trans, swap in a chevy input (witch I already have also, from same project) and buy a 29 spline input for my NP231 (cause most NV4500's have the 29 spline outputs, the 23 spline ones are way to hard to find) work up a trans mount and transfer shifter and I would be pretty mutch set. Only thing that keeps me from doing it is I am afraid it wont clear the floor boards, and I do NOT want to install a body lift and do NOT want to drop the skid pan lower. Thats why I have been trying to find another good AX15, that way I wont have to go through all the conversion stuff I really dont want to go through right now. But its also real sad when I can get a rebuilt AX15 with a 12 month unlimited mileage warrenty for cheaper than I can get a used one from a junkyard. I just dont really want to get a rebuilt one cause I have to give them my old one (its not completely gone) I want to keep it as a spare. I just dont get it, conversions are supposed to cost more.

You seem to be in the classic bind. Probably the price differential is caused by many factors. One of the most important is supply and demand. Common sense says the most failure prone parts are the most wanted, so they're priced the highest. Since you seem to have the ability to do your own mods, you'd probably be well served by doing that.

And you might be able to put the 4500 in without lowering the skidplate, but you might have to modify it a little.

I never had any problems with may AX15s. It seemed like a very stable tranny, unlike the French fuggit (pugoet or whatever.) Part of the shortage of good trannys was caused by that BA or whatever it was that failed so fast.

I had a NV3500 or 3550 that had all kinds of trouble under warranty. They fixed it and I sold that jeep. But that was a mini-version of the much stronger 4500. And as I understand it, the 4500 comes in different versions/gearing. You might want to do some research to see which will fit your needs better.

Honestly why would you want to keep an old worn out transmission as a "spare"?

If you can have it rebuilt for <$800 that seems like you best choice. (or look at swapping in the new 6 speed).

Keeping worn out parts around to replace worn out parts just does not make sense to me. If it fails, you either replace it with a good one or have it rebuilt again. What is the chance of needing to replace it agian? My AX-15 has 145,000 on it and works fine. It has TONS of wheeling miles on it too.

i think your a bit backwards. a used ax 15 is in the 600-800 range. stay away from the ax15 they are junk. i am stock with 35's and im on my 2nd and thats going. either slightly step up to the nv3550 which is pretty direct swap, do a nv4500 which takes some fabbing but is rock solid, or just hang in there and get the new ng370 6spd sd manuel tranny. thats the way to go. go to www.car-parts.com and look up a tranny. you'll be suprised. where are you located?

200k on my ax15 and the main shaft cracked so now looking for a used ax 15 they seem to be around $1000 from most juck yards. A rebuilt for $900. Any idea when the 6 speed will become available and prices?

The one that is in it now is pretty mutch fine other than the scryos getting wore. What I was wanting to do was find a good used one, put it in, then keep my old one and rebuild it myself and be able to take my time. This is my DD so I cant really have it down for longer than a day or two. So attemping to rebuild the one in it now is out of the question. But converting to a NV4500 is not gonna be a day long job either. So like ya said, I am in a bind.

I know my way around a NV4500, I have one for my fullsize cherokee. I had to replace the counter shaft and 3rd gear in it, and I did all the work myself. I also have a shop manual for the NV4500 and can do about anything on it. There are several diffrent versions, early chevy with 6.34 first gear and 5.125 index, later models with 5.61 first gear and 5.6 index, dodge with two diffrent diamiter inputs and two diffrent outputs and all kinds of diffrent stuff like that. I know all of them and know what to look for.

As for the AX15 vs NV3550 vs NV4500 vs the new six speed. The AX15 is not a bad trans, it actually holds up pretty good, but does have its problems. I have heard lots of stuff about the NV3550 not being mutch better than the AX15. As for the 6 speed. Too many gears to shift through if you ask me. Basicly its like a NV3550 (or AX15 for that matter) just a diffrent brand. Just take a NV3550 and add one more gear between 3rd and 4th and you have the new six speed. I have no need for the extra gear. I would actually like to have one less gear. Thats why the NV4500 keeps getting more and more better looking to me. Because you dont use 1rst for normal driveing. You can get up to speed quicker with only 4 gears. Its not a race car, so you dont need 6 gears. (in my own opinion) And the granny first is a plus for off road

As for car part.com, thats how I found a couple of the places I called, and they were the ones with 100k+ AX15's for 850-900. My AX15 is not to the point of being un driveable, so I can run it for a good while longer untill I sort things out with what exactly I want to do.

i say just keep looking. the only problem is shipping. you can find great deals but the freights are what kill most deals. if you can do the nv4500 thats a real upgrade but it be pretty low in gears if you say your a DD.

im in the process of stroking my 4.0 to a 4.6 and i KNOW my ax 15 wont last long. its not the strongest motor and its a horrible tranny in way of sycho's.

man i dont really know where your from but im in so cal and i can get a good ax 15 w/about 70k for 600 and a nv3550 for about 750. install is a breeze we both know that.

i know that the nv4500 isnt so breezy..
ever consider an auto?

Wish I could find a 70k AX15 for 600. I am in alabama, and around here they are high. They might be cheap there, but shipping a trans from CA to AL would kill me on $$. A auto is out of the question. I hate autos. I would really like to find a 95-99 model with the external mounted slave cylinder and do away with the internal one I hate so mutch.

I am putting a lot more thought into trying to rebuild the one I have, and swaping on a later model front bearing retainer and use the external slave cyliner and cross arm inside the bell. One side of the arm attaches to the slave, and the other side piviots on the passenger side of the inside of the bell. And when I put a new clutch in this thing about a year or two ago I could have swore I saw the point where that arm piviots, even though I have the internal slave. I wish there was some way I could peek inside the bell without pulling the tranny to confirm, cause if the piviot point is there, then I wont have to find another bell. All I would need is the bearing retainer, cross arm, throwout bearing, and slave cylinder. I emailed one place about a rebuild kit and the bearing retainer. I will see how mutch they are.

I hated my AX15. When it was cold it shifted like it was full of mud. Money wasted on syncros did no good at all. I finally threw it away and put a new 3550 from Advance with a B&M shifter. It's a joy to shift and has given me zero problems for 2 years.

I came close to putting in a 4500, but it would take major floorboard work to get it to fit. I never saw a need for the granny gear. I was already over 100-1 in 1st gear with the 3550, and drove most sections in 2nd or 3rd.

or you could do the AW4 swap

BTW: my AX15 is still doing great

I think I have decided to fix the one I got. I am gonna be ordering the rebuild kit and the guy also has the front bearing retainer I need. So I am gonna change this thing over to the later style external slave cylinder. I also found a late model bellhousing for cheap incase they are diffrent. I guess I will just start early one sat morning and work all weekend, then just drive my cherokee for any days the next week it takes to finish. So hopefully I can get it done quick and not have to drive my cherokee too mutch. (79 fullsize with 401 and t-18) can we say SUCKS THE GAS?....lol My drive to work takes about 45min one way, almost all highway. And my cherokee will eat about the whole tank just driveing to work and back. A tank of gas every day would make me broke fast...lol I think I would be better off takeing some vacation days.

Wow those prices are high.
I am buying a AX 15 plus transfer case with 80,000 miles on them for $500

Guess it depends on supply an demand in your area.

i agree that the ax 15 is a dog. the nv3550 i hear isnt a whole lot better. shifting is much better and i believe that it's a lil stronger but its a noisy sucker from what ive heard and read.
the aw4 seems like a GREAT tranny but have you looked at stu's site? although its a dang good write up (as always with stu) it looks like a PITA.

when my tj blew its ax15 due to a F#$#$ tard "TRANNY" shop doing a clutch job for me. (they screwed it up and then put back my stock unit) about 2 days later my tranny blew up. i had hicks4x4 in pomona (no longer there, now in arizona) he found me a 40k ax15 for 600.00. that included install to. nice guy vince is!. he put it in in 2 days to so i could get my butt to TDS that yr.

if i had a choice, i'd do an aw4. auto, ive never had but seems nice.

The AW4 is not a bad trans, my mom used to have a XJ with one. When compared to other autos I have driven (chevy,ford,etc..) I think I liked the feel of the AW4 better. But I just dont want a auto in my YJ. Just never have liked autos.

every vehicle ive ever owned, (82 cj5, 92 yj, 89 ford probe(sorry) and my 97 tj) have all been sticks. i really dont know any different. only auto i drive is my gf's toyota. i have zero wheeling experience with an auto. after driving my gf's sister's 04 rubi thats auto i was like WTF this thing drives nice as hell!.. made me contemplate.


i'll soon have close to 300 hp under my tj and with the ax 15 im sure it will keel over. until then im just saving loose change for the inevitable. like i said that stu aw4 write up is complete to the last bit, and it looks hella PITA to. i think id rather do a nv4500 for the pain to pain variable.

Brokenujoint: Interesting views. I went with an automatic on my 2003 and now on my 2006. The deal I try to make with my jeeps is that I can put up with most anything on road as long as it goes where I want it to offroad. While my opinion of automatic offroaders wasn't good in the first 25 years of my experience, I'm a changed man.

It takes a very good driver with a stick to keep up with just an average guy that has an automatic. When driving ability is equal, or even close, the automatic driver will just drive thru stuff. I personally prefer stick, or have up until now.

Other issues: Way back in the dark ages, when I was driving a CJ with a T5, I was told that there was no way that tranny would hold up to a 360 transplant. They were wrong, as usual. Even with the Holley FI and the aftermarket 50$ flywheel, it was still going strong. Tranny death is as much or more a function of driver and driving style as ultimate strength. During the early years, I switched to AMSoil 90w, against the recommendation of my dealer (really the service manager, who later became a very good friend.) I went for years with lousy shifting. We later learned that the stuff was so slick that the synchronizers couldn't work because they weren't getting enough friction from the cone's on the gears. Didn't matter, the tranny lived on.

That jeep, with its T5, drove to Moab and back 11 or 12 times, and to Colorado about 10 times, all the way from Kentucky. And I've stopped believing what others say about tranny strength or durability. MY AX15 lasted until I sold it.
My NV3550 died and early death with only commuting type of driving. Maybe I got a bad one, but I don't like them one bit.

i hear ya Mr Burg. The only reason i hate the(my) ax15 is that i already went through a DD ax15. it just plain stopped shifting and did nothing but scream when i tried to do anything. had to stall it out, shift into second and drive it home.
i thought it was the clutch. hopefully. when i drained the fluid it looked like tin mans blood. i mean you could barely even see the tranny fluid. and it wasnt just flakes, there were bits of aluminum chunks.. it was dead.. pulled the clutch and yes it was worn. it had 105,000 miles on it. amazingly though it was still in excellent shape.

im now on my second ax15. it probably has about 60-70k on it not sure cuz its used. ive had it in for 2 yrs now. it just doesnt shift well and i still have the taste in my mouth of wondering if its gonna go today or tomorrow.

i'll be going to red line mt-90 here in a few days so hopefully that will help my shifting probs.

with all these jeeps and the 3-4-5 manuel tranny choices, it really isnt which is superior, its which is the lesser evil. compaired to toyotas, and most modern suv's the jeep tranny is still pretty crappy. maybe its time that jeep made there own tranny and put there name on it and were proud of it. hint hint.

Believe it or not, I have actually heard (and read) more bad stuff about the NV3550 than I have the AX15. My rebuild kit and bearing retainer should be comeing soon. I also won a external slave bellhousing off ebay that should also be here soon. When I rebuild this thing I am gonna give it the most heavy duty cleaning it has ever seen, then fill it back up with redline MT-90. Hopefully the external slave will give me fewer problems than the internal one I have now.

im gonna order up this redline mt-90 and see if all the hype isnt snake oil rant. 41.00 hopefully well spent. its coming out of my stroker fund.

I hope it is as good as everyone says it is too. I actually got some from the local advance auto for like 8-something a quart. (cheapst I have found online was 10 a quart)