The tired little 2.5L in my Jeep is finally starting to wear on me - I'm not even able to take on a highway ramp in 3rd without being run over, and that's pushing it. Forget highway driving in 5th with me, a passenger and a load of camping gear etc. not to mention keeping up with 70mph+ traffic.
I have before me multiple options - swap engine, keep engine w/ power adders, re-gear, and so on.
Obviously the most cost effective would be to keep the engine I have now and just add whatever I can to it in the form of bolt-on power. My mechanical ability is very advanced when it comes to nut and bolt modifications and maintenance - but stuff like fabricating and welding and all the fun stuff I stay away from.
Keeping the above in mind, the next would be to do some type of re-gear. Since I've got the AX5 the one gift I was given is factory 4.10 gears. Bumping up to 4.56 seems to be the next progression, as I currently have 31's. However, if I go larger than that, say to 33 or (gasp) 35, I'm going to need much steeper gears, again. Would it be worth it to over-gear now to something higher than 4.56?
And the 3rd option - the engine swap... I honestly do not understand why Jeep made it so hard to swap in an I6 when it's a factory option??? From everything I've read and heard, you can't just take a wrecked TJ or XJ and pull all the engine and drivetrain parts to make an easy swap out of it - or is it that easy if you have a donor? With my aforementioned failure as a fabricator something like a 5.3 swap might be too much for me to bite off.
Just fishing for some ideas and some counsel here - thanks!
I have before me multiple options - swap engine, keep engine w/ power adders, re-gear, and so on.
Obviously the most cost effective would be to keep the engine I have now and just add whatever I can to it in the form of bolt-on power. My mechanical ability is very advanced when it comes to nut and bolt modifications and maintenance - but stuff like fabricating and welding and all the fun stuff I stay away from.
Keeping the above in mind, the next would be to do some type of re-gear. Since I've got the AX5 the one gift I was given is factory 4.10 gears. Bumping up to 4.56 seems to be the next progression, as I currently have 31's. However, if I go larger than that, say to 33 or (gasp) 35, I'm going to need much steeper gears, again. Would it be worth it to over-gear now to something higher than 4.56?
And the 3rd option - the engine swap... I honestly do not understand why Jeep made it so hard to swap in an I6 when it's a factory option??? From everything I've read and heard, you can't just take a wrecked TJ or XJ and pull all the engine and drivetrain parts to make an easy swap out of it - or is it that easy if you have a donor? With my aforementioned failure as a fabricator something like a 5.3 swap might be too much for me to bite off.
Just fishing for some ideas and some counsel here - thanks!