Without rehashing the entire ordeal for the umpteenth time.....
Yes I had a 4.6L Stroker.
Yes it was built right.
Yes it generated more tq and HP than a stock motor
Yes it fell on it's face on multiple occasions and cost me an arm and a leg to rebuild it numerous times.

The reliability was terrible, and I'm not the only person to have had problems with a well built stoker. Take a look at the problems JP Magazine had with theirs.

So after wasting a lot of time and and a lot of money I wised up. I spent thousands of dollars on the 4.6L and I sold it for penny's on the dollar.

Now sporting a stock 5.3L Vortec motor that puts out more Tq and HP than the Stroker did.

Spend your money the way you see fit, but please research all options before spending a cent on anything.

YMMV

 

so frank, was that vortec motor install easy? did you use the LS based computer? did you use the wiring harness from the truck, or do you think EZ EFI is the way to go. i would love to have one of those motors in there...and they would make 25mpg! what do you get in MPG on your rig? power wise how is it offroad? if you have a build thread for it just direct me there so you dont have to repeat yourself.

 

http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=1007477

 

+1 and -1. I'm a Ford man through and through (I work for Ford...)! But the truth of the matter is that the 5.0 crate engine is EXPENSIVE. I'm a part of ModdedMustangs.com and a gentleman on there just swapped a 5.0 into his 2001 Bullitt and it ended up costing him close to $10k for the swap. For $10k, I could have bought a gently used Mark IIIV DOHC 4.6, forged the entire rotating assembly, and twin-turbo'd that thing with 60mm turbos and made close to 600hp to the rear wheels for the same price as the new 5.0 swap. HOWEVER, everything about that engine is just badass and I think now that the new 2011 F-150 5.0 is on the market, you'll see the costs come down on the crate motor and used motors will become cheaper and easier to swap on certain things. Plus, the idea of using cast iron exhaust manifolds on the truck's 5.0 was really smart IMO.

Anyways, I say V8 all the way.

I also say pick up a cheap, used Ford 3v 5.4 or 3v 4.6. Both are cheap motors that are really reliable and easy to work on. The 3v 5.4 makes 310 HP to the crank, and the 3v 4.6 is rated at 300 to the crank. Plus the heads on the 3v 4.6 breathe almost as well as the 4v 4.6 Cobra heads, and those heads have been known to push over 1000hp reliably in stock form. With both of those motors, you'll get near your 270hp target...pushing at your rear wheels though, and not just at the crank. Not to mention you'll save money. It's not uncommon to find used 3v 5.4's and 3v 4.6's with under 50k sold as full motors for under $1,800. Not that anyone with a V8 cares...but those motors actually get pretty good gas mileage! I have squeezed as much as 29mpg out of my 2v 4.6 in my Mustang with near full bolt-ons and 3.73 gears! Modular engines in general are fantastic motors!

 

some interesting input here and i appreciate it. it appears that a V8 is the way to go. i am a chevy man and have been for years so i will head that direction. one of you suggested replacing the whole drive line which is what i would do, engine, trans and tranfer. by the way the cherokee is a 2001.

i am not looking at building a monster hp motor here i just want the added power and torque that the V8 will provide. i am also imagining that i could improve on the gas mileage or am i dreaming? additionally will the standard jeep axles take the power ok. again im not racing it and beating it up. i use it to go fourwheeling here in colorado and pull a off road camp trailer up a mountain. i like to go where no one is :-).

is there a tech thread on a chevy V8 swap or a write up some where that i might find. no i havent looked for it yet. the mechanics arent really a problem for me put im not too much up to speed on the new electronics these days. how things will intergrate with the existing jeep wiring and such. so any help in making sure things fire up and work properly would be great.

again thanks for the input.

 

I would not recommend running stock axles under a V8 equipped XJ. Yes there are guys out there that are, but it's a fools errand.

My milage is roughly 17-18 on the highway, but then again I'm sportin' 35's, lots of armor, a roof rack...all on one of the least aerodynamic vehicles ever produced.

There are Plun-n-Play harness' available from Howell, Painless, etc but your gonna pay premium dollars for those. The wiring looks intimidating, but patience and attntion to details can save you some coin.

For those considering a GM V8 swap, this might help your decision.
http://www.powerblocktv.com/site3/in...22&ep_sea=1001

 

Actually a 5.3L makes some 325lb-ft. Varies depending on what you pull it from. A 4.6L Stroker , that is how much torque they make. It should make 260hp which is 20~40hp shy of the 5.3L V8.
They can be expanded to 5.0L, so I'd think that 4.6L and even the 4.7L should be very reliable. You can take the engine up to 4.5L without any machining work and still make 260hp and 320lb-ft. Though if you have an engine with some mileage, you'd want to bore out your cylinders a touch, which would take you to 4.6L. I don't see how an engine can be so unreliable with a small standard bore like that, or even no bore at all.
What would be happening to you? Internals fall apart? Through a rod or brake valves?

I'm a big I6 fan, so I'd rather rebuild the 4.0L into a 4.6L engine. If I went V8, I'd want at least 350/400 power wise.

http://www.ajeepthing.com/stroker-motor.html


Would a nicely tuned Magnum V8 be an easier swap than doing a GM V8 swap?

 

You could always do a power adder setup. My 4.0 loves the nitrous, i spray a 100 wet shot on it when needed.

 

Got any pics of the setup? It's very rare to find another person willing to spray there xj

 

I will have soon, I'm painted now so it's in my parents garage for the next week or so.

 

this should answer any questionshttp://www.streetfire.net/video/fast...res_132254.htm

 

the guy i just sold my yj to is going with a 5.3..they are everywhere and great motors..and i guess pretty easy to adapt to the ax-15..i don't know about the aw-4

 

I just watched this video today for the first time. WOW maybe a sbc and bottle is the way to go!

 

yeah i'm with N2O and what kind of internals you running thats a whole lot of squeeze for a stock bottom end.

 

Well I ran a little bigger shot than that on a stock bottom end renix motor, about 6 years ago. Them motor will handle it for a while as long as there is no detonation. I'm just questioning what he's doing for fuel and spark control.