Jeep Strokers

Hi All

Noobie from Wrightwood California here looking for advice on how to get more power from my '95 YJ.

Background and Projected usage:

I acquired this YJ in 2005 used with 88K miles. Since then I have put only about 30K additional miles on the rig.
The YJ has always been our backup car and was used to commute to work when I couldnt ride the motorcycle.

Two years ago, my wife and I retired to Wrightwood California, which sits a 6000'' elevation in the San Bernardino Mountains.
We no longer have to commute anywhere, and when we do have to run down the hill for groceries, we usually take my wife's car or my Ural sidecar.

Since we retired, we did want to start exploring the back roads of the desert and mountains of Southern California more often and this is now the primary use for our YJ.
We have a JumpingJackTrailer.com tent trailer that we plan to tow to places like Death Valley, set up camp and use the YJ to explore the area. The trailer can weigh up to 2000lbs when fully loaded with toys and equipment.

The base YJ has a 4.0 with an AX-15 5speed and stock axle ratios of 3.07 (I believe). Since the original springs were sagging, we added a 3.5" BDS suspension lift with 31x10.50 Mudd/Snow tires.
The rig is a soft top with no A/C and now has 120K on the clock. I did have an issue a few years back where the right side engine mount bolts fell out causing the engine to fall off the mount on the right side... destroying one of the three mount bosses on the right side of the block.

The main problem I have is a lack of power... even without the trailer, I have to sometimes drop into 3rd gear just to make it up the hill. Add the trailer and I cant even keep up with a VW micro bus.

I am looking for ways to increase horsepower in the most reliable way, I anticipate keeping this YJ forever and will probably only be putting 3000 mi/yr max on the engine. The only other mod I see is replacing the Dana 35 out back with a bolt in 8.8 from Eastern Gear... and at that point I will add lockers and regear if necessary to a better ratio.

It seems my engine choices are to swap in a chevy v8 ala a complete assembly from Novak Adapters, or keep and stoke my I6 or maybe turbocharge the stock engine. I think I can get around the broken boss on the block by going to these motor mounts....
http://browndogindustries.com/S2572-0-J ... g-Kit.aspx

My goal is a one and done engine... meaning, once I do the mods, the engine is good for the rest of my foreseeable life.... and I want to run 87 regular since we may be heading to Baja some time in the future. Dependability is the more important concern versus max power.

Finally, I would be looking for somebody to build this engine for me versus me doing it myself. I would plan to do all the servicing after the build was complete.

TIA for any advice.

Randy from Wrightwood

Randy,

I would suggest you look at a supercharger given you altitude. With 120K miles, you engine should be good for another 100K or 30+ years at 3K/year. That 3.07 rear end is a good part of your problem also. I suggest the supercharger over a turbocharger for low end response. The turbocharger requires more rpm to build up boost. Not so with a belt drive supercharger. If you want to get an engine built, talk to Russ Pottenger on this site. He is in the L.A. area - so local for you.

I would start with re-gearing your Jeep to 4.10 ratios. That alone will do wonders for drivability pulling your trailer and living at the high elevations. After you have the gears put in drive it for a couple months and see how it feels. If you feel you still need more power, I'd lean towards a stroker for two reasons; one to keep things simple (you want reliability in the Desert) and two to keep the heat down, forced induction will raise temps a lot when you're out in the Desert.

The Brown Dog motor mounts look great, I'm getting a set of those for my stroker build.

-Joe

I kind of agree with Joe. Even 3.55's would be a huge difference than a 3.07 gear

06-Rubicon wrote:I would start with re-gearing your Jeep to 4.10 ratios. That alone will do wonders for drivability pulling your trailer and living at the high elevations. After you have the gears put in drive it for a couple months and see how it feels. If you feel you still need more power, I'd lean towards a stroker for two reasons; one to keep things simple (you want reliability in the Desert) and two to keep the heat down, forced induction will raise temps a lot when you're out in the Desert.

Agree 100%. Gears first and maybe stroker later. However if the stock engine's still in good health, I wouldn't even bother building a stroker if it's only going to do 3000 miles/year.

Re-gear. What size tire are you running?