Alright fellow Jeepers! I used the super search machine 2000 and still couldn't find what i was really looking for...so time to beat a whole heard of dead horses! i want to make the ultimate all purpose Jeep Cherokee! so here is my plan get and old Cherokee XJ with lower miles (under 125k) and i wanna stroke the hell out of it! (maybe supercharge it if it's not pretentious) and figure i have 7k-8k to spend...
Okay here are a list of questions and i would be super stoked to get alot of opinions and advice! Thanks in advance!

-I wanna go fast, so would a 4.9 stroke be overkill? is that even in my budget? would a 4.7 stroke be better? or even a 4.7 supercharged?

-which year/model is a good year to do it on? i see a lot of 94's get stroked...i was thinking a 87-90 with tow pkg (dana 44 rear end) thoughts?

-what needs to be beefed up to prevent face ripping explosions?

nobody show up to my house and murder me for this but i don't want it tall. i'm thinking a high quality 2.5"-3.5" lift (good handling and stability to compensate for increased power)
FEEL FREE TO ADD ANYTHING I HAVEN'T CONSIDERED!! all i know is what i want to do, not the best way to do it! Thanks a ton!!

 

but that would require a little bit of research

 

Have you thought about dropping a whole different engine in there? I see alot of guys (on other forums) that drop LS1s in them.

 

i would agree entirely. but i trust experience, wisdom, and a fellow Jeepers advice over whatever some random website says...

 

i have actually and its WAAAYYYY out of my budget...12k to do it right and well. Also i'm kinda partial to the straight 6 and would rather beef it up

 

where do you want to go fast? offroad? desert sand whoops etc? rock racing?
I'm all for going fast but with more horsepower and high speeds a strong cage would be at the top of my list
complete frame stiffeners, 8pt cage that is also tied into the body in multiple places, or even more than that if you want to jump it
harnesses, suspension seats, and a quality (expensive) suspension to match. otherwise why even bother with a good engine if you cant even use it to it's full potential offroad

 

first off thankyou, that all obvious stuff i didn't even consider. i have zero problem strengthening the frame. that's wise just with the extra power. I want to go fast on the sand, dirt/open fields (not mud so much) i'm really into rally/trophy truck/ Baja racing type of stuff. i DO understand i cant rally, it is a lifted Jeep not a lowered Subaru but definitely that flatter/mild trail type of terrain. i'm not into crawling at all...also it would be kinda cool to smoke whiney little imports off the line nothing extreme, this is not going to be a dedicated toy. it will be more than likely a DD but i want the capability to be there if i want it. there is little to no chance i would ever do anything as extreme to need a cage,5 point harness, or suspension seats.

 

sounds like all the stuff you want to do, you can do, in a stock cherokee

 

I "COULD" but it would be more FUN with an extra 80hp haha also it would be easier and safer if i do what i want to do with the proper equipment.

 

Have you looked in to jeepspeed?

 

I have heard the cylinder walls get awfully thin around the 4.9 mark. Id stick to the tried and true 4.6 If it was my project.

Regardless, $12,000 for an lsx swap?

Have you looked into the truck motors? The 5.3L lm7 puts out decent power and has plenty of potential for cheap. If you wanna spend a bit more you can look into a 6 liter lq9 or lq4.

I'm in the middle of a LQ9 swap and it looks like I'm going to have MUCH less money into the entire swap than your average bare crate stroker longblock, with significantly more power.

Granted I'm bolting it to a chevy transmission, so I don't have an adapter bellhousing to worry about, but that should only be a couple/few hundred bucks more.

 

drop a HO 4.0 in there and stroke that. it will be even faster! hahaha

 

that's understandable. crawling is for babies I see the fun in it but personally thats where I draw the line for cost vs. use. I'm not gonna do much engine related unless I'm really gonna be able to hoot dang it through some whoops then huck it. you'll probably have more fun with some traction devices, gears, and a loud exhaust. and you never know when a rollover is coming.. it happened to me at 7mph. even at that speed I wish I had a cage because it was enough to ruin my jeep. and suspension seats and harnesses arent just for safety. they're also good for your back. frame stiffeners arent ever a bad idea

 

After some correspondence with Chad Golen from Golen engines, I'll be going the 4.6L route with their warranty. I'd like to one day build my own stroker, but in the meantime having someone else's expertise (esp. someone like Chad) and an established business supporting their product makes me more confident in my rig. They also have a supercharged 4.6L longblock so I bet if you got some conversation going with Mr. Golen he'd have some good pointers in setting up a stroker worthy of a supercharge down the road.

360 ft/lb of torque at 4k RPM.

 

You think you cant rally with a lifted jeep? lol if you wanted bang for your buck the cheap way would be a small block converision plus if you went to a modern one you could get alot better MPG than a stroked 4.6l. but then again i would focus on getting the rig set up right and safe before adding more power. brakes, cage, suspension, axles, tire and wheel setup. build those to handle more power than youll use. power can always be added later. with more speed your window for error gets smaller and smaller if you dont have a safe rig and miss your window bad things happen.

personal oppinon if it was me to save cost i would find a wercked donnor truck for its drive train. then spend my budget on getting the jeep up to par.

a standard xj has enough power to get yourself in some trouble.