I have a 96 4.0 with a 3'' lift. its my daily driver, the only off road it gets is driving in river beds and sand at the beach. what could I do with 200 bucks? cold air intake, programmer, ect?

 

Save your money, so you have it if/when something on your jeep breaks. Or invest in some good tools..

 

Tune up parts, filters and fluids

 

High flow Cat, performance muffler (flowmaster/magnaflow/etc) and 2.5" exhaust

 

Like stated above, tune up parts such as cap, rotor, plugs, wires, etc. Youd be surprised how much of a difference just a good tune up will make. But if youre dead set on something either exhaust work or a bored throttle body.

 

APN header + 2.5" catback. Then upgrade the rest when funds are available

 

Don't waste your money, the stuff out there for 4.0's is junk and the motor wouldn't respond well anyway. ECU programming isn't the bottleneck in this engine, airflow is, including intake, exhaust, and the basic head design.
The suggestions to first upgrade any tune-up items that are deficient is excellent.

 

Exhaust.

 

The tuners/chips don't really work on these jeeps.A cold air intake off road would suck on mud dirt water etc etc.Only intake changes worth it is a cowl intake or just get a drop in replacement type k&n filter.

 

I'd probably ditch the clutch fan get a second electrical fan and run it off a 30 amp relay that switches on with the primary fan. Maybe invest in mustang 5.0 injectors? Upgrade to a 130amp alternator and a second battery. Relocate the battery and build an aluminum air box in its place with a cone filter. BUT I've always wanted to try something crazy. Chop a hole in my firewall an route my intake to relocate my filter under my dash. Port and polish intake manifold. Try and figure out how to relocate my alternator to the top of the engine where my girlfriends 2004 GrandCherokee 4.0 is. Headers wrapped in thermo tape. Wrap intake with thermo tape. Rear disc conversion. 86 the AC Pump which I'm certain utilizes a pony or two. Oh oh oh Upgrade all your power and ground wires. I could probably go on.

Really disappointed in all the other replies that severely lack creativity.

 

www.stubhub.com

Just sayin...


In reality stick that $ in the bank.

 

You said this was a Daily driver and it hardly sees any off road. Cold air intakes like AFE or K&N don't really work for wheelin' because you are using low rpm most of the time. But in your case...you are reaching high RPM all the time on the streets. You could go for an intake or exhaust. I know your being told to save the money by a lot of people, but i also know what it feels like to finally have a chance to put some money into your rig. Make sure you look over the rig everywhere and check for preventative maintenance things first...then get an intake or exhuast. You will probably notice more of a sound change than anything but at least the pride points go up a little.

 

Speaking of... I just installed a spectre cowl intake yesterday. If you're gonna get an intake get a spectre or thor cowl intake. They're cheaper than most of thos short rams and will actually suck cold air. This was $150 from summit, free shipping. Then you have $50 left to put a muffler on and really wake it up.

And another thing, if you do turn and want to lift it and all that you already have a snorkel

 

Or you could homebrew for less than $30 and still have $$$$ left for an exhaust (performance curve kit is only $105 plus SH)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/unruinable/9885378673/

 

At the risk of sounding like a broken record you will get the most bang for the buck with a full tune-up, filter change along with other fluids and you may not have enough money to do even them. All the programmers, headers, cats are just things to take your money with a lot of hype on a stock engine. One exception to the programmers are for diesels trucks there you can find improvements.

I have tested a lot of different things in the last 40 yrs of drag racing and using engine and chassis Dyno's. Do I claim to know it all no quite far from that and little about the 4.0, but engines react the same with most changes. That facts shows up quickly on a Dyno but always start with the basics like the tune-up and checking the thermostat for proper temp as a lot depends on temp anymore for the computer to keep the engine running properly and have the codes read.

So I will shut up and move on, but please start with the simple things everything depends on them.

Fred