Stroke or not to Stroke

[WJ 2000]

WoW'' Mans Perilous Question''
Frist of all I would like to Thank all of you, who spends hours after hours, Answering all the awesome questions, Ive read
here'' and Ive learned a lot. Thank you! You guys are Awsome !!
So from all that have learned, taking my WJ 2000 4.0 engine to a machine would be no problem and just Stroke it
1# this Big Grand Cherokee, weight's alot, like 4.000 lbs, and I dont even have my steel bumpers, front an rear w/
tire carrier, wench, spear gas, Well you see ! It's starting to weight alot'' she's got 193.000 plus miles an the speed'O
She's kind of an expedition vehicle an part time rock crawler, We drive from Ridgecrest,Cailf to Moab,alot .
So here's the Dilemma, Shes due for a much needed rebuild, so this is what I have right now 4'' Tera Flex Long arm kit, Bilstine 5150F, 5100R, Tom wood front drive, 33 x 15s KM2s, Bassett 15'x8 , fully addjustible Tera flex Track bar, EBC Dippled & sloted front disks, EBC green stuff pads, Iceland off road fender flairs'' and she's had replaced 1 head gasket
- water pump, but nothing major, She's a very nice Jeep''' . So I would like a little more power, like a stroker would offer
but I need 100% dependability, I'm looking at this list of parts, some from 505 performance, it looks good
or a Scat crank, sealed power pistions, 707 rods, crane cams, morpar performance high lift springs,or behive, 24p injectors
and the list go's on an on, and this truck has to drive long distances, and I dont need any PCU problems, or electrical and
no failuers. So'' with all that said'' what do you guys recommend , I really Appreciate any Ideal's and your Thoughts to Help
me on this Rebuild '''' Thanks Man''' your experts with any 4.0 question I would ever have, Thanks again
WJ2000

[Cheromaniac]

What's your budget for the stroker build?

[WJ 2000]

Let's say 2.000

[Cheromaniac]

That's not much so I suggest you try to copy one of the low cost stroker recipes from my site, maybe even the poor man's (the cheapest of all) that I'm running in my Jeep.

[WJ 2000]

Thanks Man'' I'm allso interested if someone has done a more recent rebuild like the years from
2000 - 04 engine and stroked them 4.0 to an 4.5 these are the Modern engine's from Jeep
I wanted if they had any PCU problems, O2 problems, Over heating and what they did to over
came these problmes. I'll most likey do your short rod 4.5 stroker, Allso wanted to know what's
the advantage to the long rod set up''' I mite be looking at the long rod too !!


Thank's WJ 2000

[kf_chris]

I have a 00 and it's the same inline 6 that's in the WJ's I'm pretty sure. I went with the 4.2 rods because of some issues when we (builder) ordered my parts (pistons) and bored it over to be a 4.6 now. I did go with a nice cam (I'm sure you can find my build thread or pm me and I can tell you what it is) and a pricey header but you really don't need to do either I think. I had NO issues at all with the PCM or anything, it was a straight swap and we used Ford 26 pound injectors, runs good. I haven't had a dyno pull to see my A/F ratio but the plugs looked good when I pulled them out to inspect so I think it's alright. Lots of low end, like whoa. Plenty of power the engine stays the most, from idle to 3 grand or so. Good luck with the build!
Also try to get a 0631 (I think that's it) head, not crack prone like the later ones are.

[dwg86]

This combination worked good for me... I built a .040 over, short rod for my 2003 TJ. I used an engle 214 dur @ .050 / .501 lift cam, crower roller rockers, 62mm bored throttle body, 24# injectors. I had the pistons dished and zero deck with 9.25 scr and 8.75 dcr. I could run 87 octane with no detonation and got a little better that 19mpg. The engine was running great with 18,000 miles until my Jeep got totaled.

My advise would be don't try to go too cheap on your stroker. Use quality parts and come up with a good build plan that is going to suit your driving needs. If it's an everyday driver, and you are looking to run 87 octane and get good gas milage...don't overcam it, keep you dur @ 050 lower that 216 keep your quench between .040-.050 and keep your static dcr below 8.3:1(that is the DCR I have seen and still run pump gas).

On my next stroker I will probably run a long rod with forged pistons and raise my compression a little. I don't know if roller rockers are worth the money for the performance gains. I have seen stock stamped rockers go over 350,000 miles (personally from a friend at work).

This is all my opinion, take it for what its worth.

[kf_chris]

My other cherokee has 380K on it and still runs strong...so the stock parts must work pretty well!

[WJ 2000]

Cool, I'm planing to add some tuqure to the eigine, and driving below 3k , I have 3.73s with over drive
and the RPM is 70.mph @ 2.200 rpm, if I take it out of over drive, its 65 mph @ 2.800 and this is my
sweet spot, where I like to drive, so driving up the hill, I lose power badly so I dont'''' even try to pass -
any one, So what I'll like is more tuqure So no bodys passing ME. Thanks for the spcs'' do you have
any more Ideals ?? Ho'' yea'' my tire size I'm running 33's on my WJ, and @ 70 mph an 2.200 rpm
thats whey the rpms are so low'' and I like it''''' just need some more tuqure''' and some Ideals how
to build it Thanks WJ 2000''

[Cheromaniac]

I have seen stock stamped rockers go over 350,000 miles (personally from a friend at work).

That's with a stock valvetrain. A higher lift cam and stronger valve springs place a much greater demand on the rocker arms so it's better to swap out the stock units. I like the shaft-mounted rockers 'cause they're inherently more stable and won't deflect at high rpm.

[WJ 2000]

The guys at 4 wheeler mag used Crane 753905/26 cam for good mid range, and high end HP
and this cam sounds like it added a little more bottom end torque
What did you guys use for a cam ?

[WJ 2000]

OK, guys I just went to Cam school, and this is what I came up with COMP 68-231-4 , John said
Basically I find it acts like a factory cam with improved breathing. and if it give's me more bottom
end torque, @ 1500 RPM then I, like it'' . I all most got it all figured out''' Now I need some help !
with the, Valve springs, valve retainers, ''''''stock rockers'''' ? or rollers''''' ?

Thanks, Kf_chris'''' John'''' Donator '''' and Cheromaniac'''' WJ 2000

[WJ 2000]

Here's some pics of my big jeep, ''Big Jeep Needs More Power !!

[SilverXJ]

Those flares look nice. But maybe less lift or larger tires... but thats just my opinion.

[Cheromaniac]

The guys at 4 wheeler mag used Crane 753905/26 cam for good mid range, and high end HP
and this cam sounds like it added a little more bottom end torque
What did you guys use for a cam ?

I used the same Crane cam when I initially built my stroker, and I liked it until one lifter collapsed and another decided to get stuck and wiped out a cam lobe after 34k miles (lifters were Crane items). I swapped my old stock cam back in with new lifters and I've been running it ever since. Didn't really notice much difference performance-wise (I'd say less than 10rwhp) but with the stock valve springs back in, the valvetrain was much quieter. The stock cam makes more bottom end (<1600rpm) torque.