wannabuildajeep wrote:Hi guys! Special shout out to Cheromanic. I've been reading your post for the last couple and years and really enjoy all the information you have managed to put together on the Jeeps.
I would like to start planning a build for my 2001 Grand Cherokee and have a couple of questions. I live in South Florida and have met several machinist through a buddy of mine. We did a 3.5L swap into a Nissan Sentra. Crazy fast little car!! So getting machine work done shouldn't be much of an issue. I would like to build the 4.8L stroker. My jeep has 165k miles on it. Still runs great but is starting to feel a little "tired". I have decent mechanical knowledge but would definitely consider myself a novice. Since I would like to run this jeep into the ground a new motor seems like the best option. Why not have some fun with it along the way!
1. The factory 4.0L doesn't have much "get up". Will the 4.8 make this jeep a much faster vehicle? I drive on the highway most of the time and would like to have maximum passing power.
I suggest you do something different from Tobias' build along these lines:
4.7L medium-buck stroker
Jeep 4.2L crank offset-ground to 3.915" stroke
Jeep 4.0L 6.125" rods
Keith-Black UEM-IC944-060 pistons
10.0:1 CR
CompCams 68-235-4 210/218 degree camshaft
CNC ported HO 1.91"/1.50" cylinder head
Mill block deck 0.018"
Mopar/Victor 0.043" head gasket
0.043" quench height
Flometrics F&B 68mm billet TB
Accel 26lb/hr injectors for '96-'04 engines
281hp @ 5000rpm, 337lbft @ 3700rpm
It isn't a 4.8 but it's pretty close and it'll definitely make your Jeep much faster. It's likely to need premium fuel but hey, a high performance engine should get the best brew available.
Keep in mind that if you have the crank's rod journals offset-ground to a 3.915" stroke, you'll need 0.040" undersize rod bearings (the maximum undersize available). Otherwise you can keep the standard stroke, settle for slightly less displacement (4657cc instead of 4681cc), and mill ~0.028" from the block deck instead of 0.018" to get zero deck clearance. The difference in power will be too small to notice.