I appreciate you chiming in, it's good to hear your info from the source...
I suspect that isn't entirely true since my position is well known on the AW-4 and I know you read it otherwise you wouldn't have characterized me as hating them which again, I don't.
Yep this isn't something that seems to be quantifiable or really even mentioned, other than the heat generated. Which I guess must be a by-product, and though you can manage it, it's solving a consequence of the problem, not the problem itself?
I don't see any other way to look at it. I also strongly suspect anyone telling you they don't run very hot isn't running a gauge. Lest we forget, one of the most highly recommended trans coolers on here was installed by someone who still doesn't run a temp gauge and yet the recommendation is taken as gospel.
I do agree that I need some perspective - not just on the aw4, either. Sounds like if I drove one of my buddies XJs with an AW4, it wouldn't give me a meaningful example? Did you ever find out why the aw4 seems to "fall on it's face" in the TJ?
No, it would not. We don't know why, we are still working on it. Sadly, Novak's website on trans swap candidate evaluations got redone somehow and the section on the AW-4 went missing. I could have written it.
It does suck that all the research you can do, just can't really give you the whole story. Cos there are a lot of positives to the AW4... on paper.
What positives on paper? There are very few that are true. It is longer than the NV3550, the pan hangs down lower than any other TJ auto and all the manuals. You want a raised custom belly skid, get ready for the trans skid to be an inch lower. It runs very hot. It is horribly inefficient. The OD ratio is less than stellar at .75. To put that in perspective, that is one gear step better than the horrid .69 in the 42RLE. One gear step.
It has 2 positive things. It is reasonably reliable, it has an OD. Not a great one, but it has one.
That length over the 3550 doesn't seem like much. Here is the perspective on that. I built a rig for a guy over some years. As he found things he wanted, I did them for him. First on the list was a 241 to help his manual. Then some outboarded shocks. 12" rears biased 50/50. Then he decided he wanted an AW-4 swap. Okay, you want a center limit strap or dump the 241? Why's that? Well, you already max out the double cardan at full droop. If we make the driveshaft 2" shorter, we have to stop that from happening and the AW-4 is 2" longer.
My buddies tell me all I have to do is swap to a yoke style double cardan instead of the flange mount to fix that. Just have your buddies call Tom and ask him or you call and ask. It is 1/4" difference, not 2" which is what you need. They said it works. You call or they call, I'm not touching nothing until ya'll learn something. He finally called and dumped the 241, went to a 231 with a SSSYE to keep a longer rear driveshaft. Not long after he ran it around for a bit, yep, sold it off.
Our current TJ with the AW-4 has been at the trans shop for almost 2 years trying to get it to not be so much of a piece of shit. But, how a rig works matters to me and based on what I see folks say about that mechanical piece of poo, I am in the minority. (the trans is a sub 10,000 mile 98 AW-4 which is in the more desirable year spread for the swap) It was also swapped in with all NEW parts except the flex plate and stiffener for it.
