Im trying to decide the best route to go. I have a 99 xj w/175k on the motor its starting to knock. Im thinking about buying a stroker kit and having it rebuilt, will this cause reliabilty problems in the future? Or should I just buy a new Long block?

rebuild

any recomendations on a stroker kit?

replace rod bearings, and or main bearings and keep on keeping on. Ever replaced bearings with the engine still in the block? fun stuff, not hard to do, just takes some patience.

Or just drop the crank get it reground, and install some oversized bearing to match.

Knock coming from top or bottom end? If its the top end might as well just take it out and rebuild it. Knock coming from top indicates "piston rock" from when the taper in the cylinders has gotten great enough that the piston literally rocks in the bore creating a knock. Must bore taper out and install oversize pistons if that is the case.

Knock is coming from the top. I was leaning toward just doing a 4.0 to 4.6 kit and putting a new head on it. I just want it to be reliable cause its my DD.

I know this is going to sound crazy but remove flywheel cover and look at the flywheel for a spider web crack close to the crank if it's there it will show up as black lines.

Ok and if there is a crack what does that mean?

You need a flywheel.

Knock up top could be sticky lifters.

That's what was wrong with my '87. Pulled head, put in new lifters, knock disappeared.

I would not do this , if you are going in there you might as well replace everything. If the crank journal is that worn out ,its just going to chew those new bearings. Thats like changing a wheel bearing without a new race. Band-aid fix in my opinion, if you need the car as a dd order a long block. These i6 motors are not that expensive, but if you can afford to be without it for a couple of weeks then rebuild it yourself as long as you know how. Even rebuilding one of these motors since they are pretty cheap to build compared to getting one ready to go, i think you would only save yourself 400.00 to 500.00 with no warranty. Assuming your core is accepted, If they reject your core you are probably looking at being another 400.00 lost out of your pocket.

good luck

you will have problems with the stroker if you dont take the proper steps and make sure your air/fuel ratio is ok. Other wise reliability with it tuned properly should be no issue, as long as you know what compression ratio the motor is set up at. Use the proper fuel and injectors will also need to be upgraded. There will be lots of more surprises and money needed for a stroker project.