Pkh5695

Hey everyone, I have a 14 yo daughter that wants a jeep Cherokee, I have owned several jeeps but never a Cherokee, what ever jeep I get her I would like to put a 3 1/2 inch lift and maybe 33's just to change it up some also I would be adding after market bumpers and nerf bars on the sides and maybe a rack on top, in the summer we send a lot of time at a family cabin nothing to extreme to get to but it's always nice to have if needed, in the jk's I owned I got the i6 engine which had plenty of power, would the i6 do well in the Cherokee or be sluggish with the mods above? My jk,s had no problem with power even going up hills or off road and the were all set up similar to the mods above, being a first time car and jeep I am not looking for a lot of hp but I don't want it to be a dog either and struggle getting up the hills on the road on the way to our cabin, I have never had any real issues with the i6 in my jk's and one of the have almost 250k on it
Thanks for the help guys

XJwonders

Welcome to the forum. Almost all the Cherokees came standard with the 4.0. The best engine ever made

Pkh5695

With the extra body weight, lift tires, and bumpers does i6 still do well or is it sluggish ?

XJwonders

Thousands of cherokee owners and operators drive highly modified rigs through anything and everything with 4.0s

It's like chuck Norris of engines

JN88

That Pretty much sums it up If you want to do any engine swaps the 4.0 i6 Is what you NEED!!!

The Aristocrat

Very quick in the 0-60 mph sprints from red lights, thats saying alot since I just moved from a Lexus SC430 V8 with 325 lbs of torque. But, pushing it down the highway is a completely different story, you have to consistently feed it gas to keep it at 70-80 mph.

225 lbs torque is good enough to push a 3400lb vehicle at lower speeds, but the aerodynamics at higher speeds kills that power.

Very durable though, maintenance is a breeze, from oil changes to spark plugs. Coming from the SC430, when a headlight bulb burnt out, I had to remove the entire front bumper and headlight to replace it. Was about a 3-4 hour job.

andrewmp6

If you regear it to match the tires the power will come back.

Ianf406

Hey man first off, welcome to CherokeeForum!

To answer your question, adding more weight and not increasing power output will of course slow it down a bit. With just the above mods you wont have any trouble going the speed limit/going up a hill/passing people etc but its take off will definitely be effected. It will be sluggish on the bottom end and take awhile to get to the top end. Still sufficient to drive but might not be all that fun. Re-gearing will return your take off but will make going highway speeds (75-80) chug gas. (high rpm)

It's not something you would really have to worry about. I would imagine probably 1/3 of guys on here run a rig like the one you described as their dd. Some probably regear and some don't.

For myself, adding more and more weight and with long 70-80 mph trips to wheeling locations/anywhere I want to go (I live in MT) I decided to get a stroker motor. I need it to both have power on the bottom for wheeling and to be able to go highway speeds without watching the gas gauge fall every time I go to work. Of course I have a lot more weight on mine that what your talking about...

In any case, It is a great vehicle to start off with. As others have said, those engines are tough to break. You can add a larger throttle body/bore yours, add a cold air intake (check out the cowl setups) and a 2.5" exhaust and gain a few ponies. Also you did not say what year but if it is older, get a HO motor from one of the newer ones and there a few more to be had there.

Ianf406

Also just some numbers for ya-

2007 JK (not sure what year yours is) has a rated HP of 205 and 240 torque. Curb weight= 3760-5300 (2-door/4door sahara/rubicon etc)

1999 XJ (not sure on year again) has a rated HP 190 hp and 225 torque. Curb weight= ~3300lbs dependent on trim.

So it would probably very very close to your JK maybe even a little peppier if you have a 4-door jk with the same type mods.

Pkh5695

Thanks for the info,

1ATony

I'm a die hard 4.0 guy too...lol We have 4 grands all with 4.0s. I have a 4.0 in my 97 ZJ with a 3.5" RE lift and 31' muds.

I can do 70-75 on the highway, no problem with that setup. If you lift it, get an adjustable front track bar. I have the RE one, and its real solid.

Tony

Hjkjohn

I have a 1997 2wd jeep XJ with the 4.0 high output that's been rebuilt within 5k and 32's and a 3inch lift and it is quick, powers up hills at speeds above 90 and can do about 106 on flat ground. Granted going 100 MPH in a Jeep is quite terrifying hah. Not something one normally would want to do. The 4.0 is powerful and built to last.