Power upgrade

[backwoodsjeepin]

So this is the issue.
I have a little money saved and Im tired of the power Im getting from my 4.0
It has 168,xxx miles on it and Im planning on doing an engine swap or rebuild.


My question is what to go with that will give me the most bang for the buck.

• Fuel injected 350 Chevy swap
• Supercharge with stronger internals
• 4.7 liter stroker
• Cummins 4bt swap
• or just rebuild the 4.0 and do the basics like port and pollish the heads and put in a more agressive cam.

My ride is a daily driver that I wheel every chance I get. It has 4 inches of lift, 35 inch tires, pacesetter header, custom exhaust, ford 8.8in rearend, dana 30 front, and everything else is factory. Should I even worry about the engine when its giving me no problems? Just work on other upgrades?
Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[spectac]

Maybe just re-gear the axles? I don't know enough to say but that might be a good option.

[backwoodsjeepin]

I have 4.56 gears. Maybe go to 4.88? Just wanting a little more umph out of it.

[spectac]

4.56 should be good. I guess engine upgrades are the answer but I don't know enough about that to offer any advice.

[FrankZ]

There's only so much power to be gained from a stock 4.0L and Idoubt that you'll get a lot more out of yours.

Had a stroker........never again. When it was running it was fine, but after multiple rebuilds I finally learned that it just wasn't reliable.

Ditched the stroker and went with a Chevy 5.3L Vortec in my XJ......best thing I could've done!!

[backwoodsjeepin]

@frankZ Ive also heard that reliability is low in the strokers. There is a lot to do with a swap, but im beginning to think its worth it. Thinkin about getting a Vortec 350. Found a lot of info at http://www.novak-adapt.com/knowledge/tj_swap.htm
sounds expensive, but worth it. Now I just have to rule out the Supercharger idea

[FrankZ]

I spent less money doing my 5.3L swap than I did on my initial stroker build.

The 5.3L puts out just under 300HP in stock form and with a good tune (PCM) that number can rise dramaticly without any work done to the motor itself.

[backwoodsjeepin]

Wow that sounds very impressive. Did you have to swap the transfer case, tranny, or anything else. I know that the NP231 tranfer case and tranny are tough, but in low range I think 300 HP would demolish my front dana 30. Think a 30 spline axle swap would be enough? what are you running?

[FrankZ]

Engine is from an 03 Tahoe as is the tranny (4l65E). Transfercase is a bastard-case built from NP231 C, J, & D components.
A brief write-up here:
http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=1007477

[FrankZ]

Rear axle is an XJ D44 with alloy shafts, front is a Ford HP D44 that I narrowed a few years ago.

A 30 spine D30 would be okay, but a stronger axle would be a wise upgrade.