California specific engine swap vs stroker
- Thread starter Rec_Rider
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I love my russ spec 4.6. It has the power you expected from the 4.0l to begin with.very torquey,4.10s, 33s are great together
My brother has a 5.2 swapped tj on 36s,4.88s.fun but heavy and very little highway/outback range due to fuel economy.
If i wanted to go to 35s I'd gear down some and be very happy with the 4.6 and the fact california can't tell its under the hood
My brother has a 5.2 swapped tj on 36s,4.88s.fun but heavy and very little highway/outback range due to fuel economy.
If i wanted to go to 35s I'd gear down some and be very happy with the 4.6 and the fact california can't tell its under the hood
great turbo jeep engine which makes 500 rwhp with a china turbo!!
8 pounds it easy and safe if everything is tuned and working as it should
My fuel economy was equivalent to others with a 4.0 compared to my 5.2.
And the Dodge V-8 isn't much heavier than the 4.0. That I-6 is a boat anchor
.
The reality is the magnum is quite a bit heavier. You can see it in how the chassis behaves on the trail.a 5.2 on the trail gets terrible fuel economy.better bring a lot of fuel cans for those wheeling or adventure trips. Not to mention the smog side of things.i was in the same situation as the o.p. in california and have experience with both swaps. I'm not disappointed
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Sorry got to disagree with you.
I'm not in a place to get you numbers but they are close in weight.
I had a 5.2 in my TJ and the guys I ran with when we got back to camp would put the same amount of fuel in their tanks as I did.
As for how it handled off-road? I never had any issues.
And for smog requirements my swap is 100% legal. It's not rocket science even for California to do smog legal swaps.
EDIT: Jeep 4.0 dry weight is 483lbs
Dodge magnum V-8 5.2 is appropriately 500lbs.
Not a HUGE difference in weight compared to what you get.
My 5.9 stroked to a 6.7 I'm sure won't be as fuel efficient as my 5.2 was but I'll take it.
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Transmission,transfercase,driveshafts, mounts,headers that aren't smog legal if you don't want the v8 pushed way forward and up from optimum. Using a hodgepodge of parts to replace pretty much everything under the hood. Going through the smog process and hoping it works the first time.
Vs just dropping in a long block and some injectors? No thanks
Vs just dropping in a long block and some injectors? No thanks
So glad I found this thread, I plan on saving up for a 6.0 LS swap too, the 4.0L in my tj is ok I havent wheeled with it yet but I do know I cant resist a good V8
An LS3 weighs about 430 lbs. 42RLE and 6L80 weigh about the same. Win win.
OK I'm slow but how does the transmission/transfer case/ driveshafts and all the other stuff effect if it's smog legal?
You've lost me as far as any of the comments here.
Doing a engine swap if any kind isn't for the faint of heart but you'll get what you put into it if not more.
I also realize engine swaps aren't for everyone. But I don't agree with giving out incorrect or misleading information.
A Dodge magnum V-8 swap is pretty straightforward. No custom dash needed or multiple PCM's either. For 1997-2002 it a fairly inexpensive swap and imo the returns are well worth it.
But to each their own.
Yes i know. Unless you are in california and did a smog legal swap recently i ask you not to mislead the o.p. as to how wonderful and easy magnum swap is.
He asked about getting more power for hills and remaining smog legal. Replacing his entire drivetrain is hardly the easiest way to do it. That is the point of my last post.
There are other downsides to a v8. If you use your jeep for hunting you'll find it almost impossible to fit a quiet exhaust system under there. I for one find loud jeeps obnoxious.
Are v8s fun? Yes. but it definitely isn't a situation where they are better in every scenario. I've put a 5.2 in a tj before. Not doing it again. When driving slow in summer they want to overheat. They DO use more fuel when idling around. Been there, not drinking the coolaid for my uses
Are v8s fun? Yes. but it definitely isn't a situation where they are better in every scenario. I've put a 5.2 in a tj before. Not doing it again. When driving slow in summer they want to overheat. They DO use more fuel when idling around. Been there, not drinking the coolaid for my uses
I'm NOT misleading anyone. There are enough people on here from CA who have done V-8 swaps.
Yes CARB is a huge PITA and the OP was looking for other options also.
The BIG thing is that the magnum V-8 was only used til 2002. Anything newer and you need to go Hemi.
But you were trying to make the 5.2 sound like a very poor option as a swap which it isn't.
And if you're starting with a 4.0 there isn't as much that needs to be changed as some think.
Well again we'll have to agree to disagree. You can put a factory quite exhaust on if that's what you want.
Hunting for a rig? Nope never have and so a throaty exhaust works for me.
It isn't KOOL-AID if it's true. My results may have been different than yours but my V-8 used roughly the same amount of fuel that my buddies with 4.0's did. So again that is not a disqualification IMO.
But we all have different needs and ideas for what we want from our Jeep.
Agreed on the last part.
And with 40"? Tires he'll probably like the v8 more.but break more stuff.
California and the epa as well have rules that are rapidly changing in a terrible direction.
The best advise so far has been to talk with the actual person who would be certifying the jeep about exactly what v8 he'd want to put in. It would need to come from another light truck and altering the ecm programming is now illegal so that could make things very difficult indeed.
You need to weigh that against spending a weekend drinking beer swapping in a stroker longblock,injectors and being done....
And with 40"? Tires he'll probably like the v8 more.but break more stuff.
California and the epa as well have rules that are rapidly changing in a terrible direction.
The best advise so far has been to talk with the actual person who would be certifying the jeep about exactly what v8 he'd want to put in. It would need to come from another light truck and altering the ecm programming is now illegal so that could make things very difficult indeed.
You need to weigh that against spending a weekend drinking beer swapping in a stroker longblock,injectors and being done....
Sorry missed that question. The v8 swap headers are not legal. Anything including an air intake that aren't factory on the motor need carb certification. Even more draconian rules are coming soon that say only factory parts will be allowed.NO modifications of any kind
And as far as a muffler have you ever tried to put a truck or grand cherokee muffler under a tj to make it quiet again? Where exactly is there room for that?
Yes CA has it's many issues and yes I know all about it having to have a EO# if you want to install it on a vehicle. But there are even headers that meet these things. Now none of the companies make a header that they say WILL fit a TJ but they do fit a GC or Ram truck so there is a chance that they could also fit in a TJ since the stock manifolds will.
I just bought some CHEAP short tube headers that I'm going to use to see if they will work in the TJ frame with my V-8 and if they do then I'll get some brand name headers instead. Since I'm not having to deal with CA and all their stupid BS I don't have to have CARB approved headers.
Depending on what you choose to use in your swap in you are doing the magnum V-8 and use the auto tranny you don't have to move the transfer case which means you don't been new drivelines. If you choose to keep the manual transmission then yes you'll need new drivelines.
As for a muffler that is as quite as stock it doesn't have to be the same size as a stock GC or Ram truck.
I know many guys who bought a wrecked truck or GC and used all the parts off it and then sold off the rest and when done had done the whole swap for under $1K. How much does a stroker engine cost? You might be able to do the engine swap of the stroker engines in a weekend but for not much longer you can do the V-8 swap also if you have everything ready before hand. Of course the wiring harness is the biggest hurdle in all that.
I started with a SE TJ so I didn't have the option of going to a stroker 4.0. And so it was just as easy to do the V-8 swap as it would have been to try and do a 4.0 swap.
If I lived in CA still and was looking at doing a V-8 swap I'd either do a Hemi or LS swap just becasue of the support that is now available for both those platforms. But back in 2005 when I started my swap both a Hemi or LS was so costly that I couldn't justify the expenditure which is why I did the magnum V-8.
Some of the guys who have done the magnum V-8 swaps over on JF have said that they have seen 18-21 MPG after doing their swaps. I can't claim to ever have had those numbers but I was fighting other issues with mine for a long time. I never had any cooling issues with mine until I had other engine issues. Mine ran at 210* all day long even when the outside temps were 100* or higher. My overheating problems were finally diagnosed as a cracked cylinder head that didn't show itself until the engine was at operating temp.
But I'd picked up a 5.9 core engine and lucked out and traded it for a stroker SB after I'd rebuilt it.
Now with my 6.7 stroker I have decided to have a little fun and have a FI 6pack manifold I'm going to be running on top of it.
I just bought some CHEAP short tube headers that I'm going to use to see if they will work in the TJ frame with my V-8 and if they do then I'll get some brand name headers instead. Since I'm not having to deal with CA and all their stupid BS I don't have to have CARB approved headers.
Depending on what you choose to use in your swap in you are doing the magnum V-8 and use the auto tranny you don't have to move the transfer case which means you don't been new drivelines. If you choose to keep the manual transmission then yes you'll need new drivelines.
As for a muffler that is as quite as stock it doesn't have to be the same size as a stock GC or Ram truck.
I know many guys who bought a wrecked truck or GC and used all the parts off it and then sold off the rest and when done had done the whole swap for under $1K. How much does a stroker engine cost? You might be able to do the engine swap of the stroker engines in a weekend but for not much longer you can do the V-8 swap also if you have everything ready before hand. Of course the wiring harness is the biggest hurdle in all that.
I started with a SE TJ so I didn't have the option of going to a stroker 4.0. And so it was just as easy to do the V-8 swap as it would have been to try and do a 4.0 swap.
If I lived in CA still and was looking at doing a V-8 swap I'd either do a Hemi or LS swap just becasue of the support that is now available for both those platforms. But back in 2005 when I started my swap both a Hemi or LS was so costly that I couldn't justify the expenditure which is why I did the magnum V-8.
Some of the guys who have done the magnum V-8 swaps over on JF have said that they have seen 18-21 MPG after doing their swaps. I can't claim to ever have had those numbers but I was fighting other issues with mine for a long time. I never had any cooling issues with mine until I had other engine issues. Mine ran at 210* all day long even when the outside temps were 100* or higher. My overheating problems were finally diagnosed as a cracked cylinder head that didn't show itself until the engine was at operating temp.
But I'd picked up a 5.9 core engine and lucked out and traded it for a stroker SB after I'd rebuilt it.
Now with my 6.7 stroker I have decided to have a little fun and have a FI 6pack manifold I'm going to be running on top of it.
B00mb00m
The Church of Cutting Brakes of Atlas-Front Digs
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Wow would love to hear it run some year.
People kind of loose their minds when they talk about swaps in California. A replacement is fine no matter what you do with stroke and bore. It is not considered an engine change. It's totally normal for replacement engines to be larger bore and absolutely not regulated and that means larger displacement engines are fine if they are the same general test group. If you are really worried grind and stamp the block the same as your original. Don't worry about the color of your block or the valve covers, that makes no difference. You don't need to hide what is perfectly legal.
I'm just glad I'm not having to deal with the crazyness there anymore. I owned a 76 Corvette when I was stationed at Ft Ord and had all kinds of issues because it wasn't stock. Had bought it out of state not thinking about the RULES at the time. Cost me a pretty penny to get it legal.
When doing a stroker on the 4.0 if you aren't allowed to "TUNE" the PCM will it pass smog? I haven't had to smog a rig now for years since I moved to eastern WA. They use to smog rigs on the westside of WA but even stopped that 2 years ago becasue they said it wasn't needed anymore.
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