My AX-15 is starting to get really noisy and I think it's on its way out. I know so little about automatics and it's interesting reading your thread, because if I go with an auto then there's a lot of stuff I have to figure out too and you seem to be having troubles, that I'm going to face if I go to an Auto. Of course having the TJ with such a short wheelbase, I'm a bit more limited in options. I've been thinking about increasing the wheelbase, but it's just a bigger project than I want to tackle right now.
I've been waiting for the AX-15 to bite the dust, but I was hoping it would take a bit longer, since I've been undecided on what to replace it with. However I've been wanting to get it tuned and the 400 ft-lbs tune is very interesting IMO and it limits some transmission options as well. I've been thinking about 1 of these 6 speed autos, but I just know so little about getting them to shift right, how to get it to work with the R2.8, what Tcases will work, cooling issues, torque converter, etc.
I'm kind of just thinking of going with the TR-4050 and though a very big transmission (and expensive, since I think I have to buy them new), at least it's a fairly known quantity. And my wife and I can both drive manuals, though she really doesn't prefer them and I've been really hesitant to let her drive the Jeep with the R2.8 because she is always heavy on the throttle and I knew my AX-15 was old when I started the build and didn't want to break it for awhile.
In any case reading your struggles is kind of scaring me away from an AI uto, especially since I either want a 6 speed Auto with granny gear and 2 ODs or a manual transmission with a granny gear and OD. Are you able to manually shift the auto? I've always known I don't think I could get 1 of these to ever shift just right and thought maybe I could just manually shift it. Heck I don't like how OEM autos shift, so I'm picky, but it's just that I'm used to always picking gears.
So I believe you have the Cummins R2.8 and people have done the Cummins to the 6r80 before so there is help out there not only for the tune, but also the torque converter specs as well which I feel like is huge! I believe QuickDraw is the company that makes that adapter.
As for the question on manual shifting. Yes I can I manual shift both the Quick6 for 6r80 and the CompuShift for AW4. You can actually do some neat things like engage torque lock up when in manual mode, I believe they call it an offroad mode, so it behaves like a manual transmission. The manual mode is great, I've really enjoyed it both on and off the road when I don't have the tune just right.
I think the 6r80 would work well with your R2.8, if only because it's been done before. It also helps that your R2.8 is putting out similar power the modular Ford V8 as well. Make sure to get a 6r80 from a 2014 or newer Ford. In all my research I learned that they did a refresh on the transmission to fix several of the issues with it.
I'm getting dizzy trying to keep up Grant! Did I get this correct? You're moving to a AW4, based on the operating range of 3000 - 3500 RPMs. This will then simplify the controller wiring, using the CompuShift, to four wires.
I worded that poorly, what I was trying to say is I'm not going to have the issues I had with AW4 and the Kubota because of the Kubota's limited operating range. The AW4 is a better match for my TDI in terms of power output compared to the 6r80 meaning my TDI and the 4.0l make similar power. With the Ford 6r80 I made way LESS power than the modular V8, which was causing my torque converter to be way off which hasn't been helping my issues.
Yes going to the AW4 will simplify so many things and the CompuShift is a great controller for it, much easier to tune as well. The other thing I have learned this weekend about the CompuShift is that it can communicate via CANBUS with my TDI ECU, so it will get RPM, TPS, and bunch of other data over CANBUS. What's neat about that as well is in talking with the guys at CompuShift, they have mapped out the TDI ECU so that can do torque vectoring on the engine during shifts to soften the shift and they can do other neat things as well since they will be able to see how much boost the engine is making as well.
I think it will be 4 wires minimum, ground, key switched power and the two CANBUS wires, but I'll probably have a few more wires for my shifter for manual mode and for the switch on the transfer case so the controller knows when I'm 4Lo as well.
Did you look into CotyBuilt or what they have to offer? I believe they sell an interface to utilize the original gauges.
I did a long time ago and ruled it out at the time. Their kit only works for manual transmissions and you can't decided where you want to mount the engine either. Because my Jeep was automatic, their interface wasn't going to work either, at least this was the case back in 2018 when I was researching all of this, that could have easily changed in the last few years.