AX15 Swap

[abarnett]

For a baseline, I've got a 65 Chevelle with a factory 4200 and th400. tight converter and 308 rear gears, so definitely lacking in power delivery, notably off the line. Once above ~15mph, it starts to pick up and gather steam. Pulls ~2400rpm at 60mph, so putting 373s in isn't viable for a car that is only going to see street duty hauling myself and my 3 kids around. 2wd AR5s are unobtanium where I live, so I picked up a 2wd AX15 from a 90s dodge dakota. Similar gearing to an ar5. Got a 4wd ar5 to steal the bellhousing, front bearing retainer, and slave cylinder. Ordered an emtech flywheel and slave cylinder spacer. Got a 4l60 slip yoke which fit the output shaft, but the seal is too big; gear oil will be pouring out and debris flying in if I try to drive it like that. Hoping my driveshaft will work after I get the slip yoke/seal situation figured out, but we'll see.

[SSG Pohlman]

would it be handier to make an ax15 swap thread outside of the AR5 thread? if so i can make that happen. I figure only so many transmissions will bolt and that will keep all ax15 talk on the ax15 and not mixed with the ar5? let me know

PS thanks for the first legit post by anyone, makes me feel good that at least i got a post on board lol

[abarnett]

I wouldn't bother making a separate section for the AX15. I don't think it'll be busy enough to warrant it.

[SSG Pohlman]

I???ll keep watch, forum is barely two weeks old lol

[abarnett]

I think I'm at the point of regretting my decision. Should've just paid out the nose for a 2wd AR5, or converted a 2wd unit and dealt with the lack of speedometer. Slip yoke seems to be NLA entirely. Contacted Denny's, they swear up and down that it should be a 26 spline output shaft. It is not, it's a 27 spline shaft, I've counted it several times, and th350 slip yoke slides right on and spins the output shaft. They sent me a link to a dodge pickup transfercase slip yoke, and I nearly ordered it ($130!) and decided to check the specs again. Thankfully I did; it's still 10 thou undersized. So I'll be going back to the junkyard that I bought the trans from and paying another $100 to hopefully get the driveshaft from the same truck. I'll bring some calipers to make sure it's the right size.

[SSG Pohlman]

If ya don???t mind, make a rundown of what all you acquired and from what (year) so that others going the same route know from the get go:
Ax15 from this and that
Driveshaft from this and yr
Tried told from C and not correct spline and so on. Then we can go back up to first post and add it all at the top as a TL/DR bc you know some people don???t like to read lol.
I???m facing the challenge of sourcing a drive shaft to go from 8hp70 to Dana 80 in my 55??? but gotta get it all in first.

[abarnett]

AX15 is from a 99 Dodge Dakota V6 2wd
Driveshaft is a factory 65 Chevelle driveshaft. Currently still in the car hooked up to the th400.
Output shaft of this ax15 is 27 splines. I bought a th350 slip yoke, expecting it to fit. It slid right on, but the OD of the slip yoke "barrel" is too narrow. TH350s and the other usual suspects use a standard 1.50" OD. This application requires a 1.565 OD on the barrel. I looked at using a Speedi Sleeve, but those only come in .01 thickness. That would be a total of .02 (.01 on both "sides" of the slip yoke) but that would still be .045 too narrow, and likely not touch the seal, let alone keep gear oil in the case.

I'll go back to the JY and see if they have the driveshaft from the truck and buy it. $100 is a lot for just the slip yoke, but i've got no other option at this point short of welding metal on the yoke and turning it on a lathe, and that'd be hack as SH!TE.

[abarnett]

Picked up a driveshaft from a 2wd 99 v6 manual dakota earlier this week and got the slip yoke. Of course they let it sit in the rain for months on end, so I've got some rust to clean up. OD of the shaft cleaned up pretty good, but the splines are not happy. Spent considerable time with a wire brush trying to clean them up, and still only getting half an inch onto the output shaft before it binds up. Going to either soak it in molasses for a few weeks or do some electrolysis to try to get it to clean up without ruining the sealing surface on the yoke.

[SSG Pohlman]

Stayin with it!, I hate when the yards do that to things. some keep it all covered while others just throw it in the mud pile for later. Keep us posted, eventually everyone else will show up to the forums lol.

[abarnett]

Took a month off to drive and work on my C10.

Took a break from the truck to go back to the AX15 yoke. Electrolysis didn't do much for me. I ended up taking a rattail file to the points on the slip yoke splines, and used a slotted screwdriver to clean out the valleys. Took a solid hour to do that. It's over halfway on the output shaft now, but still needs some more cleaning. I'll get there eventually. Thankfully the swap will be a winter project, so these tiny details are just gravy work to make things easier later.

[SSG Pohlman]

Maybe get a photo up here so we can also see what you are running into. I get the idea of it, just not fully sure of it and how it plays into what you have going on.

I to plan to work on things come winter time. Gotta figure out how to get the bed off the truck too. That would save a bunch of room in the shop when the truck is in there but then again I could also use it as a spot to put everything related to the truck. then all parts are in one location. Could even lay them out in order....

Im sure youll get it eventually, just as we know, some things take more time than others unfortunately.

Keep at it!