Titan stroker or stock replacement 4.0L?

[Rubicon]

Heres the dilema, my jeep is my DD and my current motor went kaboom, i hydrolocked it, blew out the first rod and it made 2 nice holes through the oil pan. Its been like that since friday, with water still sitting in the cylinders. Im waiting on my insurance to send out an appraiser to take a look at the jeep, so im stuck until then. My problem is i need a jeep that moves under its own power as quickly as possible. Titan is real close to me (1 hour) and for about 500 bucks more then a jasper i can have a stroker in my jeep. I know they don't have a great name around here but the guys i talked to that have them in their trucks seem to not have problems, the only issues i have heard of have been on this website. I would love to build my own but time constraints are a problem. What would you guys do in my situation?

[PolloLoco]

If you really do want that stroker then buy a used engine, throw it in your Jeep, and build your current block into a stroker (if it's still usable). Once the stroker is done swap it in and sell the used motor. That's just what I would do. If you just want a functional Jeep then I would just get a replacement motor, but I wouldn't trust any company's stroker.

[Jeep4xb4u]

Being one who has helped start a reputable business from the ground up with some great people, I know what little places like this can do to your reputation both for better and in some cases worse. People who are generally happy with there purchase almost never contact the company back that they purchased it from and only a small fraction of them hit the web and praise it. This isn't a bad thing just the norm I guess. The unfortunate thing about it is that when news like that hits a small community such as this one the word spreads, news leaks out, and opinions change. Its sad because its only a small % but that's all it takes.

I'm sure that Titan has built some "functional" engines. And apparently the failure rate is still small enough for them to stay afloat. Keep in mind they build more than 4.0's. Most of the guys on here including myself are going far and beyond functional. Titan would not fit most criteria's on this board.

There are a couple guys on here that will give you there word on their exact situation I'm sure. And a group of people with a wealth full of knowledge fine tuned to this particular application. I strongly advise you to consider there opinions.

Mine if you care:
Save your $500 dollars and buy a crate engine, take that $500 and start buying parts for a stroker to either build yourself or take to a LOCAL reputable shop that you can deal with hands on and see the internals to your engine and know exactly what your getting spec for spec.

*EDIT*
I like Pollo's idea better than mine, leaves more cash for the build.

[PolloLoco]

Members on the board here have stated that Titan has sold them an engine not as described. Integrity is vital, if you don't have the integrity to tell the customer that they are receiving a different cam them you are WRONG. All it takes is one incident and your integrity will forever be questioned.

Then there's Hammerhead that doesn't have their facts straight:

OE Jeep 4.2 rods 6.125" Rods have beed mag tested, reconditioned

If I am spending a couple thousand dollars on something as important as the engine of my vehicle then I want to be damn sure that I'm getting what I pay for and I know for certain what exactly it is.

[SilverXJ]

You will be sorry if you go with a Titan. Wrong parts, work not done correctly or as they say, and just a crappy job over all. Search on naxja.org for experiences there are a few other guys over there that have problems with Titan. I gave they many opportunities to make their engine right and they never could. So I have a pile of parts that use to be an engine.

And Titan and Hammerhead are the same company! Why would one need to have a different name for the same company? I wonder...

http://www.titanengines.com/index.php?a ... d06f09e950

http://www.jeepstroker.com/index.php?ac ... oc&docId=2

[dwg86]

If you really do want that stroker then buy a used engine, throw it in your Jeep, and build your current block into a stroker (if it's still usable). Once the stroker is done swap it in and sell the used motor. That's just what I would do. If you just want a functional Jeep then I would just get a replacement motor, but I wouldn't trust any company's stroker.

I agree...or buy a Hesco Stroker. They are more expensive, but have a great reputation. Thier strokers also come with a warranty.

[PolloLoco]

When I first heard about stroking the Jeep I was going to do it myself for kicks and giggles. Then I looked into it and found it to be too overwhelming. Next thought was to buy a stroked engine, Titan was the least expensive and at the time they seemed decent. Then I entered active duty Army, went to OBC, PCS'd to Ft. Lewis, and lived in an apartment where I could not work on the Jeep easily. My Jeep runs like absolute ass now, so I've taken this deployment as an opportunity to do lots of research. I'm still undecided if I'm going to buy a block, stroke it, then swap it in or pull the current motor and stroke it. Either way,I will be stroking it myself. I got myself a copy of the BoxWrench Basic Engine Building DVD and along with the help of this forum I am ready to tackle this project. That DVD is freakin' sweet! This way I also build my engine with my recipe.

I did not once use the word "just" in this post. I hate it when my text is quoted with the word "just" used three times in two sentences!

[Cheromaniac]

And Titan and Hammerhead are the same company! Why would one need to have a different name for the same company? I wonder..

Me too. Could the fact that Titan and Hammerhead have exactly the same address and phone no. be purely by accident?
I like Pollo's idea and if you do eventually want a stroker, either build your own or save $7000+ to buy one from Hesco that you can guarantee will be bulletproof (you get what you pay for).

[Brian E]

I have been fighting with Titan as well since 2006. I am on my fourth 4.6 motor and I made them pull it the last 2 times. I even went to pick it up one day and I had to get it running my self because they do not know how to tighten a battery cable. Well I found the info on Hammerhead interesting so I joined here.I will be interested to see what they have to say on Monday when I call them on this. You may find it interesting to go to the Hammerhead page and click on engine blog! this leads you to endless porn sites and chat rooms. This was even made more interesting because just as I clicked on it my wife entered the room and try telling your spouse you are on a jeep site when the HEAD LINE READS Jamaican Girl F!!K on bed! I have had three cams, god knows what is in there now I paid for a Comp Cam up grade and it failed so he says he installed an Elgin cam. I went to Elgins web page and they do not show Jeep cams so I am going to grind his as! on that. One cylinder head the 0331 cracked. I asked him not to put another one on there I wanted a 0720, I went to pick it up guess what was on there! The bottom end went out the first week and they blamed it on me. The cam that failed at 200 miles and they asked what oil I used, it sheared the distributer gear off and took the teeth off the cam. The next cam failed about 75 miles latter. Yes I used Zinc additive and Rottela. I have since gotten it back and no real issue I can drive it as long as I do not go over 4000 rpm, if I do not mind oil pressure below 20lb at idle, my bell housing bolts falling out after I got it back, my new starter came loose only to find they heili coiled it after they stripped it out, my new factory ground cable with the end broke off and a crap looking end smashed on it, the top bell housing bolt missing, the main cap gurdle missing when I pulled the pan top check on the oil pressure...................................... On the bright side they built me a good 2.5 for my friends jeep but that was before mine crapped out or I would never called them. I do not know if they know how to tell the truth, it would not supprise me if his name is not really Chuck! My back ground is a Ford tech for 10 years a GM tech for 3, I worked on and off for Toyota, I was certified on Kubota, New Holland and Briggs. I have run my own shop for eight years now and I am the head of equipment maintenance for one of Mcdonalds Largest supply chain distributors. I am also ASE certified. I am no stranger to the engine world but I needed a motor and did not have the time to build one so I paid these idiots. And I have paid for it every day since. Sorry to all i have had it with Titan! And now when I am ill and have barely the ability to work on it I am really p!ssed!

[Brian E]

Titan, Hammer Head and now a new name old yeller on ebay. Watchout people buyers beware.

[1bolt]

Thanks Brain, I feel for you, there was a point a couple years back when I was salivating over a 1699.00 Titan stroker on Ebay (at the time that was their opening bid price, but people weren't finding their auctions because their title made them hard to find (20-30 page hits) so a couple people were getting them for the opening bid)... I was thinking about it instead of building what would be my second stroker build glad I didn't and ended up building #2 , sometimes the best deal is the one not made Especially considering a friend bought #2 off me shortly it was built. if I had sold him a POS titan I would never hear the end of it.