AW-4 Swap into a 97 TJ

[Tim]

i started gathering parts for this swap quite a while ago and i will make a list of what i have so far. as many of my friends that visit other jeep forums know, i have been thinking of this for quite a while.

what i want to do here is clean up my swap thread and make a more straight forward one here for you guys and gals. i did a little search and did not see a whole bunch of info about the swap. i think some will benifit from this adventure of mine that i hope to complete in the next two months.

there are a few great resources that can be found in one place. Stu Olson's website: STU-OFFROAD.COM there you will find a couple of write-ups for this swap. read them all as each one has something to offer.

• STU'S SWAP
  SCOTT'S SWAP
  BIFF'S COMMENTS

here is a list of things i have accumulated so far:

• xj aw-4 from 2000 w/ 20k
  xj drive plate and spacer
  xj dust shield
  xj shifter bracket that bolts to trans (gold color)
  xj tcm out of 2000
  bellhousing bolts
  torque converter bolts
  tj/xj shifter cable & TV cable (kick down)
  tj/xj shifter assembly
  tj indicator panel
  xj shifter tub plate
  xj shift indicator panel P-R-N-OD-3-1 2 - i used a tj one for parts to make what i wanted
  tj automatic brake pedal
  26 pin plug
  grey and black 8 way plugs - i was not able to find these
  tv kick down cable
  xj dipstick and tube
  assorted bolts for stock cherokee items
  xj alignment dowels J400 5148 DOWEL, Transmission
  rear seal 8350 4055
  10 quarts ATF
  filter kit and gasket
  temp gauge
  weld in bung for gauge sensor
  wire and heat shrink tubing
  extra plated transmission cooler - did not get this yet
  b&m forced air tranny cooler
  lines and fittings for coolers AN-6

here's something else that will eventually go into the swap:

• AWSHIFTING.COM

onward....

xj brake pedal


xj tcm


there it is! out of a 00 xj with 20k

when i was gathering parts i put together a few lists and they looked like this one. some have my own coments. this is a clip from another thread i started somewhere else:

here is a list i am starting to put together.
so far i have referenced materials from stu olson, scratch and scott k

also i have been looking through some reference material of my own:
97 tj fsm
97 to 99 tj parts catalog
2000 xj fsm
2000 xj parts catalog

what i am finding is that depending on which tj parts you choose (or xj parts) will determine what you need for the swap. right now i am looking at the drive plate (flex plate) and it seems if i use a tj plate i will need to get the right bolts (for a wrong torque converter).... i believe the xj is different in that respect.

here is the list from the xj catalog:

2000 XJ AW-4 part numbers:

Fluid Level Indicator (dip stick)- # 5210 4146
Filler Tube – 53002 870AB
Converter Cover (dust) – 53004 907AB
Transmission Dust Cover – 52118 078AB

Hex Head Bolt M 10 X 1.50 X 14 (torque conv. needs 4) – 3420 2497
Drive Plate – 5211 8551
Drive Plate Backing Plate – J321 4094
Hex Head Bolt .50-20 x .56 (drive plate needs 6) – J315 1407

i don't think i will post the tj part numbers at this time but i will say that the drive gear backing (spacer) plate and the bolts that attach it to the engine are the samey-same.

perhaps the drive plate for the 32 rh is drilled differently for a different torque converter. based on my own findings and assumptions i think i will stick with the xj parts here. i found this to be a very good idea. they are different

i also have printed off shifter assembly information for both rig types and haven't compared them yet. but here are a couple numbers that may be useful.

Bezel and Dial (shift indicator and cover)
5511 5570 -for 97
55115 570AB - for 99
(there are also part numbers for you right hand drive guys)
i used a tj and xj indicator, one each. took them apart and made what i wanted

Gearshift cover (tub mounting plate) 5300 0704 same number for xj and tj

pictures like this always help (me)

below are part numbers for the image above, the xj numbers are on the left and the tj numbers on the right. i did this to show some differences.

1) 5210 4028 Gearshift 5210 4028
2) 5300 0211 BUTTON, Gearshift Knob 5300 0211
3) 5300 0865 LEVER, Gearshift 5300 0865
4) 5300 0866 SPRING, Button Return 5300 0866
5) 5207 7561 CAP, Gearshift Handle Button 5207 7561
6) 5EK03 LAZAB BEZEL, Console PRNDL 55115 570AB
7) 5210 4144 CABLE, Park Interlock 5210 4144
8) SEAL, Shift Housing
9) 52104 005AB HOUSING, Shift Lever 52078 551AB
10) 52077 532AC CABLE, Gearshift Control 5210 4142
11) 5300 0704 COVER, Gearshift 5300 0704
12) J400 1701 SCREW, Hex Self Tapping, .19-16x.50 J400 1701
13) 3420 1788 STRAP, Tie 4641 780
14) 5300 7746 BRACKET, Transmission Control Cable 5207 8255
15) 1150 2850 BOLT, Hex Flange Head, M8x1.25x20
16) 5300 7747 LEVER, Gearshift
17) J420 0046 NUT AND WASHER, Hex Flange, M8x1.25
18) SPRING, Pawl Return
19) SCREW, Hex Head, M8x1.25x18,
20) GAUGE, Transmission Shifter

more parts: lamp for shifter, floor plate, dip stick and golden shift cable mount..


dust shield, for the torque converter and drive plate. drive plate spacer


xj aw4 drive plate and the other half of the dust shield


b&m cooler, autometer gauge and a weld in bung for the sensor.


ok, too many pics. time for the next post...

[Tim]

one thing i had to do is clock the t-case. the aw4 leaves some room for this and mrblaine was kind enough to let me borrow his clocking jig for this manuver. i am very grateful for his offer to help. here's a few pix:

first the last pic


mrblaines jig


i should have used c-clamps for this. but, it worked just fine...
as you can see there is a bolt that lines up the jig with the old holes and it is centered with the main shaft.

[Tim]

i wanted to have a gauge with a indicator light and a switch to turn the fan off if i had to ford some water. unlikely anymore but you never know.



i have a led light that fits perfectly into the hole on the left. a pollak metal switch with a dust shield will also be installed in my new pod.

i started my wiring harness by using stu's wiring guide found in his swap write-up. this was the most helpul thing yet! without being able to find the right plugs, i used some from radio shack.

most of the guys used one color of wire, i opted for many it really helped keep things straight.




here's something i have never heard of before but i am willing to try it. it is pro-tube. it is steel line, double walled, somehow fused... anyways it is not supposed to kink when bent. i am all for that. i chose not to use hose on my install and if i do it will only be short runs less than 10".

going back a bit, i wanted to show the difference between the xj and tj shift indicators.. plates... bezels... whatever you wanna call'ems..


stock tj on top, xj bottom


the xj indicator i put in the tj shifter's


there ya go!

more to come soon. timmy's got a boo-boo and i am about ready to restart the project. if you want to see comments so far and more pics you can go here:
my first aw4 swap thread from ju

[Tim]

AN-6 fittings came today, here's a few of them. i ordered swivels by accident.... guess that's why they were so expensive

[safarimike]

nice, I got an aw4 to replace my 3 speed auto, just haven't gotten around to it yet.

[Tim]

well, guess what???

i made it three months without messing with my jeep.. now it's been messed with some


the wee lass was practicing lifting and lowering the new transmission jack that came from brown. she is a little upset that her jack is now occupied with the old tranny.


saying goodbye to probably the first mod to my jeep. the $7.00 hand throttle.


i used a long extension to get the E-12 bolts out


there ya go. they were pretty tight in there. i had to resort to a long breaker bar on many of the bolts so not to pull too hard on my arm...


it took a lot of wiggling and one armed pulling and finally a little prying to get it loose.


pile-o-stuff. dont think i will put the skid back on. got other plans there and i may replace the o2 sensors too.


the clutch looked great for 99,999.9 miles. i think the hand throttle had something to do with that...


i tried this bearing remover just to see if it really worked, it didn't...


there it is, ready for its new inhabitant. i need to clean up the end of the crank a bit. it was a pain getting the spacer out. i was about to try some left handed kung-fu...

well, hope to have this thing going before a month...

tomorrow i want to get things cleaned up and cut the input shaft on the t-case.

[v10king]

This swap looks so familiar to me since I just did this about 6 months ago to my 99tj. The hardest part for me was removing the bearing as well. I think I nicked the end of the crankshaft slightly with my air chisel and getting silly with it after it wasnt coming out as fast as we wanted it to. You will love the aw4. Jeep runs fine with no issues whatsoever now. I have an re long arm and the combination of my 1"MM and new 1/4" custom tranny mount added enough that it pushed my transfer case linkage up into the tub. I would get a mean knocking sound everytime I started out. I finally bit the bullet and bought the skyacker relocation bracket and now no knock.

[jeepfreak4life7]

Crawled.

I plan on doing this to my TJ when I get the money. How much has it been costing you?

[Tim]

the tranny cost $225. it has 20k on it
the rest really depends on who you buy it from. i bought a lot of new stuff from the stealership, rock auto.com and mopar parts america.com. some was found in bone yards too.

once i sell the ax 15 i think i will be into it only about $300 to $400 dollars.

[cmoore]

You're going to love that tranny in your rig. My friend John swapped an aw4 into his wrangler. Coupled with an atlas that thing is amazing. If you read crawl magazine, his rig (Project Sublime) is in the current issue (#17).

[Tim]

this summer i was eyeballing john's crossmember he made. im not going to do what he did but it is one of the best i have seen in a swap like this. i have a clayton cradle and skid. i plan on modifying the cradle to fit the new mount.

[Tim]

got out there and did some more work.

i took care of the brake pedal i almost had to go "bakersfield chimp" on that thing to get the old set out. the way the york air is plumbed required partial removal to get the booster moved a bit.

also i learned a little about the brake switch. i wont go into details but i wound up doing some exploritory surgery on it. i hope it still works!

heres some pics of progress so far and one of the helpers (yeah, she's a ham) :




here you can see the differences between the ax-15 and the aw-4. the aw-4 appears to be 1.25" longer than the 5 speed..


not going to need this anytime soon. i took it out in one piece in hopes of getting a few bucks back towards a cheaper build-up


don't forget these. i have one infront too...


here is the xj pedal over the tj. it is centered pretty good. now, someone told me it was much different than the tjs. it may stick out a little more i think but it bolted up just fine with its bracket. after sitting in there for a few minutes, i decided i will be fine with the pedal.


side by side holes are samey-same.


the old partial xj switch comes out with a 15 degree twist on the base.


it looks good to me!


now for the obligatory ham shot... she is a real good tool getter, i may give her brothers tools to her instead... mario cart won today...

[Stu Olson]

I don't know Tim, that factory brake pedal is highly overrated, IMHO.

[Tim]

i know.. but, my big feet will thank me for the extra room laters

i was looking at what a pain it was going to be to get the assembly out and almost went with your get-up. i really wanted the extra room bad...

[Tim]

last group of pics for today.
cut the end off the tera 4 to 1, dresses up the crank a bit and fitted the t-case to the trans. maybe i can get it bolted to the engine tomorrow.



this stud puller kit has come in handy many times in the past.


getting ready to start cutting. my dad (Dome) turned the yoke while i cut with a grinder sporting a cutting disc.


made a decent cut i think, within 1/32" of stu's cuttage length


tiger paw cleaned it up nice.


thought i would let them get to know each other before i bolt it up tomorrow.