opps

[thumpin_xj]

i now have a massive crack in my bellhousing and no signs of it gettin hit so i guess its toast , does anyone make steel bellhousings for teh aw4 ? and is the ax15 any stronger than the aw4 ? my rigs d44 front chrom shafts toyv6 8" rear chrome shafts full spools in boths an 38 tsls , and im tryin to figure what set up will be best

 

[Slug 369]

My understanding is the aw4 is light duty and the ax15 is medium. Therefor the ax15 would be a better choice of the two. Novak conversions has a good breakdown of a bunch of different trannies on their web site.
I would imagine Adanced Adapters has bell housings to fit your need or maybe even Novak. If you end up wanting an ax15, I have a complete unit for sale. Rebuilt a few years ago with only a few thousand miles on it. I'll sell it with all the clutch stuff, bell housing and trans. Let me know if you are interested.

 

[ashmanjeepxj]

How good are your motor mounts and tranny cross member mounts?

Cracked housing are mostly caused by bad mounts if you didnt hit it on a rock.

If you motor mounts and trannymounts are made of the same material and the same seperation it will help prevent bellhousing cracks. my setup uses 1.5in polly joints for the motor mounts and the tranny-case mounts pluss I have supported the output of the last transfercase.

Id keep eht aw4 and upgrade you mounts to help prevnt cracking the housing.

 

[Goatman]

AW4's can handle pretty good power, easily anything we can throw at them in an XJ. One trans is an auto, and one is a stick, so don't know how you'd get a good comparison of strength. It shouldn't be hard to find a used AW4.

A cracked bellhousing is mostly bad luck, and is likely from bad or wrong motor/tranny mounts.

 

[Fryphax]

If you intend on doing a manual swap, why not put something in that is gonna be stouter than the AX15. If you do decide to go through with the swap, send me a PM and I can give you some guidance as I am just finishing up a np435/D20 swap.

 

[tealcherokee]

AW4 is about 4 times stronger than the AX15

and my AX15's bell housing was cracked to all hell, i just left it, never caused any problems, but none of the cracks were near the bolt holes.