I am curious as to the many engine swaps that have been done to cherokees. I have heard of some v8s and of 2jz swaps. What others are there?

 

4bt Cummins swap.

 

TDI, Hemi, LS, 4BT to name a few.

Also the GM 2.8L V6

 

VW TDI is a great swap for power and fuel economy.

 

I would rather stick with an American made engine.

 

TDI is roughly half the weight of 4BT, anyone swapping an engine likely wants performance and/or MPG, weight kills both.
I love America there are better options for this scenario

 

There is a much larger aftermarket to get better performance out of a 4bt. With just some injection pump tuning, larger injectors, and a turbo off of a 5.9, you can have 300 HP and 600 ft lbs of torque, and still get 25 mpg or more. Not to mention the engine will run forever as long as you change the oil regularly and don't overheat it.

 

That heavy of a motor is hell on a unibody. My plan is vw TDI when I do a motor swap. There's tons of aftermarket for them, with the right motor you can put a mechanical pump on and have no electronics, or if you want you can keep an engine computer and get a little better performance out of it. If you've seen some bleepin Jeep videos the TJ on 40s has a tdi motor and does great and there is a yellow Cherokee they're doing a tdi swap in now. It may not be for everyone, but it is one of the best diesel options.

 

I have a ISB 170 (comon rail 4BT) in my 08 Dakota. Its a big, tall, heavy (700+ lbs) engine.
Great for a truck that pulls a small 5th wheel but I would not want that 700 lbs over the front axle of my XJ.
Here is the Cummins next to the tiny 4.7 V8.

Cummins ISB 170 next to Dodge 4.7

 

The 4bt is only about 250 lbs more than a 4.0, and who wouldn't want one of these.

 

I am glad someone posted that vid. To me a 4BT is out because of the noise and how tall it is. Notice how far it hangs down. All that noise would drive me nuts. Not a good motor in spite of torque numbers, and can be expensive to procure