- City
- Dexter
- State
- MI
So I've had a plan for the postal forever to do a stroker motor as the long-term "final" powerplant. That's why I swapped the 4L in, so going to the stroker became just a simple motor swap.
However, the taste of forced induction that I got with the supercharger on the LJ really opened my eyes. Unfortunately, they never could get the tuning right and (as I now know) they had a flawed design trying to use the stock IAT sensor after the intercooler that caused it to run way too rich on road/highway. I ended up pulling that off (and the company stopped selling them due to tuning issues like mine) and I lamented the fact that there were no practical tuning methods for the late-model TJ/LJ ECU to try to properly tune that setup.
Well, a couple things came to my attention today. Boostwerks Engineering has finally got their cast turbo 4L manifold through production AND HP Tuners just recently announced support for tuning these ECUs.
This is a GAME CHANGER for 4.0L owners (particularly the HP Tuners news). There's been what I'd call "brute force" supercharger/turbocharger setups with piggyback controllers on the ECU, but that's never the "right" way to do things. The whole reason I gave the supercharger on the LJ a shot is because they sold me on the idea that they had come up with a way to properly burn tunes on the ECU that made everything work the right way.
HP Tuners is the gold standard for tuning engines, naturally aspirated and forced induction. I have a good friend locally that is an HP Tuners guru and he actually wished he could work on the LJ for me, but there was nothing HP Tuners could do...
So now I'm ALL ABOUT going with a basic, solid 4.0L as a base, adding this manifold, a turbo and tuning with HP tuners to a nice, healthy, but not obscene HP. Lots of choices to make but I love this idea with a nice, small turbo that spools quickly. Possibly could use the Edelbrock 4.0L head for better flow, but I don't even know if that's really necessary.
Obviously I could build a 4.0 to handle more boost and make bigger power, but I actually like the idea of keeping the block and guts stock because that will force me to limit the power I try to make. Boostwerks owner has been running an XJ (with a fabricated manifold that led to this cast iron unit) at 300 HP for 50k miles as a daily driver with a stock 99 4.0. I think the 4.0 is overbuilt sufficiently to handle a lot of additional power.
There's also a comment on the Boostwerks manifold post that Megasquirt is planning to develop their standalone EFI controller specifically for the Jeep 4.0L. THAT is another fascinating possibility.
Anyway, my mind has been reeling since seeing all of this earlier this morning. Figured it would be worth a share.
And the "just LS Swap" it guys can save it, this one is staying Jeep
However, the taste of forced induction that I got with the supercharger on the LJ really opened my eyes. Unfortunately, they never could get the tuning right and (as I now know) they had a flawed design trying to use the stock IAT sensor after the intercooler that caused it to run way too rich on road/highway. I ended up pulling that off (and the company stopped selling them due to tuning issues like mine) and I lamented the fact that there were no practical tuning methods for the late-model TJ/LJ ECU to try to properly tune that setup.
Well, a couple things came to my attention today. Boostwerks Engineering has finally got their cast turbo 4L manifold through production AND HP Tuners just recently announced support for tuning these ECUs.
This is a GAME CHANGER for 4.0L owners (particularly the HP Tuners news). There's been what I'd call "brute force" supercharger/turbocharger setups with piggyback controllers on the ECU, but that's never the "right" way to do things. The whole reason I gave the supercharger on the LJ a shot is because they sold me on the idea that they had come up with a way to properly burn tunes on the ECU that made everything work the right way.
HP Tuners is the gold standard for tuning engines, naturally aspirated and forced induction. I have a good friend locally that is an HP Tuners guru and he actually wished he could work on the LJ for me, but there was nothing HP Tuners could do...
So now I'm ALL ABOUT going with a basic, solid 4.0L as a base, adding this manifold, a turbo and tuning with HP tuners to a nice, healthy, but not obscene HP. Lots of choices to make but I love this idea with a nice, small turbo that spools quickly. Possibly could use the Edelbrock 4.0L head for better flow, but I don't even know if that's really necessary.
Obviously I could build a 4.0 to handle more boost and make bigger power, but I actually like the idea of keeping the block and guts stock because that will force me to limit the power I try to make. Boostwerks owner has been running an XJ (with a fabricated manifold that led to this cast iron unit) at 300 HP for 50k miles as a daily driver with a stock 99 4.0. I think the 4.0 is overbuilt sufficiently to handle a lot of additional power.
There's also a comment on the Boostwerks manifold post that Megasquirt is planning to develop their standalone EFI controller specifically for the Jeep 4.0L. THAT is another fascinating possibility.
Anyway, my mind has been reeling since seeing all of this earlier this morning. Figured it would be worth a share.
And the "just LS Swap" it guys can save it, this one is staying Jeep