I know this topic has been covered before, however I got this idea from a mixture of threads, and figured let's have a poll full of opinions.

Simple question: What should one install into their XJ when the ever reliable 4.0 gives up the ghost? Build a stroker from the ashes? Or swap in a meaty v8?

If you do vote, please offer an opinion, and most importantly (if you have it), your experiences with whatever you have chosen. Offer opinions on the merits of each replacement; costs, potential, reliability, etc.

And please, no crazy arguements. This is an informative thread to offer a recorded number of votes for each type, not a boxing ring .

a 5.9 out of a zj.

I've wanted to do this for a long time. But Instead I'd rather find a 5-speed V8 Dakota and swap the transmission and engine from that into the Cherokee. I want to so very badly but $$$ is everything.

I'd rebuild the six, no extra weight or complication. I dig the power of V8's and all but just K.I.S.S.

i vote rebuild because i just finished rebuilding my engine a month ago. Didn't stroke it but we found out it was already bored .060 over. but just doing the rebuild was so much fun. https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f46/bl...ebuild-102233/

I would rebuild what you have with some mods to make it run better not much for power.The money for a v8 could be spent for better axles or a atlas 2.

Good opinions here. Even though I voted V8, I still walk that thin line between the two choices. Personally, I was every bit ready to grab a '98 Tahoe drivetrain and go to town. The engine, wire harness, pcm, accesories, etc plus tranny would run me about $1000 from the person I was getting it from..and I can prob talk him down. Add the $700 worth of stuff from Novak, and then another $400 in mods to the engine, and I would estimate a 300 hp / 345+ lb ft monster. This is going by dyno's Ive seen in the same drivetrain with various mods. Estimate the $500 in random little things as well as a speedo and tach, that brings the investment to $2600. Can a good stroker be built for that money? Absolutely, but not a 300 hp stroker. Plus, I'm not gonna mention any names, but one forum member on here is the guy who really swayed my decision to go v8. Chevy powertrains are reliable, their harnesses are pretty much self supporting, and nothing would look cooler than a "5.7 Vortec" badge on the back of the jeep.

But still, I ride the line because I still wonder... do I really need that much? But the big plus with the V8 is the gas mileage. Right now, I get about 19-20 highway with my current old 4.0. The 98 tahoes can sometimes squeeze 19+ on the highway. Considering the tahoe weighs pretty much a ton more than the XJ, I figure fuel mileage would be pretty damn good... if I could keep my foot off the pedal.

I guess a couple things you need to think about are how much $$$ do you have to burn, can you do the work yourself, can you fab up your own mounts or will you have to go to the aftermarket, and what are your goals with your rig?

Some approximate engine weights:

Jeep 4.0 = 515#
SB Chevy = 575#
Ford 302 = 460#
Ford 351W = 500#

I'm planning a V8 swap into my '86 this year, but I have the luxury of having about 10 different good motors on hand I can grab. If you decide on going with the V8, I'd purchase a donor vehicle, grab what you need and part out/scrap the rest to recoup costs. Some will tell you to stick to EFI or TBI, but I'm a carb man for reliability issues. Keep in mind, different years put out different stock HP/TQ numbers, so do your homework before you buy something.

As for reliability, my buddy had a 500k mile Chevy BB in his '77 C30 car hauler. Same motor it was born with, last bored .060 over, and it's currently powering a C60 dump truck now. I know another guy with a million mile SB FE motor in a '71 Ford highboy. We have V8's that play roundy round because they outlast the truck their currently powering and so we toss them in another. The only non-V8 thing I drive is my Jeep, but we'll see how much longer that lasts. So maybe I'm a little biased, but I'd go the V8 route.

302 is lighter to start with, more simple and reliable and get better gas mileage. With aluminum heads it would be around 100lbs lighter with that weight also set further back and more room in the engine bay. Oh yea, and easily 100 more hp and tq isn't bad either.

You can buy an all aluminum 4.0 liter inline 6 which is even lighter than the 302.

Yes lighter than a stock 302. But around the same weight as an aluminum headed 302 if the 4.0 is using an aluminum head as well. Seeing how hescos aluminum head is over $2k the price of this block will be completely ridiculous. You can build a 350hp aluminum headed 302 for the price of just that hesco head.

But if you take the Jeep Inline 6 out of it you might as well take the Jeep badge off too.... That's like taking the heart of someone you love and putting someone else's heart back in, it's just somehow not right.

You're right! Everyone should swap back in their D30/35 combos because dammit, a D60 under a Jeep isn't right. It's nice to beat the Jeep drum, but just because something came factory doesn't mean it's the best option. And you are aware that the Cherokee was made by AMC... the company that would source parts whenever it could.

So wait... I thought earlier XJ's had a gm v-6 in them?

So that means they weren't Jeeps?

Lol trust me, I've done the homework. I probably look up new info everyday about potential swaps, current swaps, engines, etc. An L31 can easily obtain near 300 hp, and has a nice low torque peak, even with the upgraded intake I'd get. I think the dyno peaked at 3000 rpm, and stayed up there through 5k rpm. The reason I'm going Chevy is because I can't fab my own mounts, and plus I followed FrankZ's like a hawk, and the Novak mounts just seem perfect minus the fact they only allow one type of header (theirs, of course). Toss in a good aluminum radiator and good e-fan setup, and cooling is taken care of. Plus, the 20+ mpg potential is nice to think about since I still DD my Jeep, which is why I opted for EFI. But I think if Novak did offer 302 mounts for the XJ, I'd opt that direction. Something about Ford engines grab my attention... just not their transmissions.

Edit: From the sound of it, you've also had a good amount of dealings with these engines. If so, could I ask a question or two?