Youre gonna have a hard time getting your TJ to run low 12s in the quarter-mile. Lets get realWranglers are good at many things, but drag racing aint one of them. The torquey 4.0L is made for creeping over trails, not blasting down the strip. The slow shifting transmission is out of a truck, and youve got a bit of extra weight from the front axle, and the transfer case. But, hey, thats all right we wouldnt want you to try and turn your Jeep into a quarter-mile hero, we want you to turn it into a trail hero. But even trail heroes like to bang gears, and here is a way to tighten up that tranny.
Stock Shifter
Our test 01 TJ came from the factory with a 4.0L and NV3550 transmission. It shifted OK, but felt a bit loose and had a long throw between gears. Thats all rightit is a truck transmission after all, and its built to stand the abuse of off-roading, not short-shifting on the dragstrip. But if you can make it perform better why not do that? We talked to B&M Racing about trying out the new short-throw shifter for newer 2000-02 TJs with the NV3550 transmission.
Installation of the Shifter
When our B&M shifter arrived we rushed off to 4Wheel Parts Performance Center in San Marcos, California, to see about getting it installed. We drove the TJ around a bit to get a feel for the stock shift pattern, measured the shift-throw between gears, and allowed Jay Miller to toss the shifter into the Wrangler.
New Refined Sports Car-Like Feel
We must admit we were shocked at the feel of the new shifter. It made the Wrangler feel more like a sports car with nice firm, short shift points and less play in the stick, but dont get too excitedit will still handle like a Jeep.
Other Jeeps
B&M also makes short-throw shifters for earlier Wranglers with the AX15, and late-model CJs that came with a T-5 tranny. We would also bet that the same shifter would work on newer XJs and the new Liberty as long as they have the six-cylinder and an NV3550 five-speed.