Forced Induction and Stroker Combos ?

[gauss66]

All - I have been doing lots of reading the last month on performance increases for my 2003 TJ. My main incentive is the fun factor, as it is not a daily drive, but a secondary vehicle built for logging trails, some in town and highway driving.

Have already regeared to 4.88s with 32s and 32rle trannie

My initial research led me to a Hemi Swap - the Jeep Speed Shop has a TJ kit and they seem well respected. However their kit is only compatible for non VVT 5.7 truck Hemi’s circa 2003-2008. Plus finding a low mileage engine/trannie for these years is challenging. It seems the best all around choice of a swap is the VVT 5.7. Have not found a kit that exists for TJ

Another option is a 5.3 LS - a little more costly ( albeit lighter ), but more complicated. Two computers etc.

From conversations with installers who have done the above - the performance gains are not quite the Wow one would want given the investment. In fact, when talking with a few outfits that sell V8 kits – their feedback was it was not worth making one for a TJ anymore ( I guess I am not in their target price point ! ).

So IMHO, a stroker is a better choice than the above ( from what I have seen published on this list for performance gains ).

If one wants a to do an engine swap in a TJ - appears a late model Gen 4 LS 6.0+ is the way to . A corvette engine would be nice - but these seem to be $$$$

Oh – and a note on costs. For a TJ – I am not sure how one can do these at a minimal cost increase compared to a stroker ( which I have read this on several other boards ). Conversion parts alone are in the $5 – $6K range, not counting finding a driveline, fabing an exhaust etc !

My friend – who will help me with this, has a shop and has installed strokers before suggested this route and this site. So I joined. A few weeks of reading and lurking, and a couple of conversations with stroker builders has led me to the idea of a building a 4.6/4.7 stroker.

When looking at building a stroker - one can easily end up with forged components, a new cam and ported head ( with the latter being an Edlebrock if you want to go over the top ). As well as a new complete exhaust system ( headers back ). New injectors, TB and some custom tuning. Even a conical air filter .... All the things one has to do when considering forced induction.

A lot of the costs of adding an S/C or Turbo kit would already be covered by the above - so seems like a logical add on to consider, if one is looking for even more power. I would think a low boost S/C or Turbo would be an ideal complement to a stroker.

Now I have played with Superchargers and Turbos before. I had a 90s Miata that had over 300 rwhp. I started with the S/C - then ended up with a pretty aggressive turbo. Tuned on dynos and had a few engines built. Tried to hit that optimal combo of forced induction with as high CR as possible .. Somewhat finicky and had more time programming a TECII then I care to state ...

I have been reading up on forced induction for TJs and talking to a few of the suppliers. But the conversations have been pretty salesy, vs technical. Seems like they can quote from literature, but that is about it. Not sure if these guys know what a stroker is !

The technical knowledge of this group is pretty high - but have seen only minimal on F/I choices. The ones I have seen have been impressive DIY projects though !

So who on here has installed a turbo or S/C on your stroker. What were the considerations, was it worth it and things you might do differently ?

Thanks ! Dan

[FARMER]

You want to talk to TURBO TOM, go to the AMC section.

[xdark]

I built a 4.7 stroker for my 98 tj and love it. It could have been a low budget build but ended up getting aftermarket parts just to do a turbo combo. Just installed a AEM piggyback a weeks ago for the turbo upgrade.