Why a v8

See it all the time guys pulling the 4.0 out of rangers/explorers and even after a swap puling them from B2's. And i see the same thing all the time, i want more power. The 4.0 just can't turn the 35's and it lacks blah blah blah. Really crunch the numbers. A stock 5.0L from most donor years esc carbed really isn't that better then a 4.0L power for power. Is it the cool thing? Hey i got a V8 in my ranger/explorer.

Its called gears, rings and pinions. Upgrade your truck with them. I'll take a 4.0L Distirbutorless engine any day over a distributor v8. i run 4.88s and a 4.0L on 36's and i get asked all the time at large events what kind a v8 i have in my truck. Everybody assumes v8 cause i usually make the guys running moderate v8s with 35's look like asshats with their 3.73 gears. I'll just do the v8 swap instead of a gear swap which is what is really needed.

I have always said if i ever put a V8 in any of my RBV's, it'll only be one motor to ever grace my truck and that'll be a Explorer 5.0L cause it distributorless.



just tossing out $.02

I like my 4.0

Because my friend's '79 Fairmont with a stock 5.0L HO 3.25 gear rear end w/ AOD will strait smoke the shit out of my friend's '98 4.0L SOHC Explorer?

Pete

because my mild carbed 302 in the ranger with 3.55 gears at the time would run a low 13 1/4mi on 33's, and theres alot less togo wrong on a carbed 302, and when it does go wrong its alot cheaper to fix. and if u do the v8 swap and the gears then what do u have to say??

mild 302
350whp
4spd
np205
4.56's
d44 moly shafts
9" moly shafts

i think i have a pretty stout combination for a guy that is doing a v8 swap........

and as far as why i did it instead of a 4.0 swap.....becuase a oppritunity came up for me to buy my old truck that i built for just 800 clams, and it was a deal i coudlnt pass on(sold it for over 3k) they cracked the frame and lost the title so there loss is my old parts back

I put mine in because the tired little, 208000 mile 2.8(carb'd and distributor'd) engine just wasn't gonna cut it. I put 4:56's in and it still wasn't enough. It was also available, I had all the parts accessible to me(where there were no 4.0's). I love the 4.0 in my Explorer(yes I run the 4:88's as well) and won't ever change it unless it's for a re-built 4.0. The question that always gets me is "What kind of mpg will I get out of a V-8?". I didn't build mine for mpg so I don't have a clue, and if you want mpg, do a tune up/take the off-road parts off and leave it stock.(check out my post in showoff/I spent 6 weeks working on this, if you want to see mine and yes the coolness factor is great)
And just having the biggest engine or deepest R&P will mean you will beat everyone. Driving skill has a lot to do with how well people do( I was always told driving is 10% machine-90% driver).....Just my thoughts

I am going V-8 because it is much easier than putting in a 4.0, which would require the same work on my truck to install as a fuel injected 5.0. After I get it in and running I plan to go GM TBI fuel injection, which has the same basic requirements as a carb but with only 3 or 4 sensors.

Not to mention V-8's actually sound good with an exhaust as well.

Pull out on the road behind me and try to go around me and you'll find out why I WENT WITH A V8......

BLOODBANE said:

I put mine in because the tired little, 208000 mile 2.8(carb'd and distributor'd) engine just wasn't gonna cut it. I put 4:56's in and it still wasn't enough. It was also available, I had all the parts accessible to me(where there were no 4.0's). I love the 4.0 in my Explorer(yes I run the 4:88's as well) and won't ever change it unless it's for a re-built 4.0. The question that always gets me is "What kind of mpg will I get out of a V-8?". I didn't build mine for mpg so I don't have a clue, and if you want mpg, do a tune up/take the off-road parts off and leave it stock.(check out my post in showoff/I spent 6 weeks working on this, if you want to see mine and yes the coolness factor is great)
And just having the biggest engine or deepest R&P will mean you will beat everyone. Driving skill has a lot to do with how well people do( I was always told driving is 10% machine-90% driver).....Just my thoughts

Click to expand...

http://www.therangerstation.com/forums/showthread.php?t=16263

lol, to make it easier, god i love that sound, ill get a vid clip of mine when its runnin in a day or two

8 cylinders are better than 6

But 4 with some compressed air is better than 8 or 6

not really, it costs alot more to make the same power with a turbo 2.3 then a mild 302

mhughes165 said:

because my mild carbed 302 in the ranger with 3.55 gears at the time would run a low 13 1/4mi on 33's, and theres alot less togo wrong on a carbed 302, and when it does go wrong its alot cheaper to fix. and if u do the v8 swap and the gears then what do u have to say??

mild 302
350whp
4spd
np205
4.56's
d44 moly shafts
9" moly shafts

i think i have a pretty stout combination for a guy that is doing a v8 swap........

Click to expand...

mhughes165 said:

not really, it costs alot more to make the same power with a turbo 2.3 then a mild 302

Click to expand...

Your head been up yer arse since the 60's?

350 Whp with a mild 302??? Are you serious???

Pound for pound a 2.3T Mustang setup will smoke a stock 5.0L mustang. Get a good boost controller, up the PSI to 20 or 25 and the 5.0L guys will be seeing fading taillights.

I've driven a B2 with a warmed over 302 w/C4 and 15 min later drove my 4.0L/5 speed and I'll tell you that it'll be a close race. May have to take my buddy on before his B2 comes off the road.

John I agree completely with you. My buddy regrets spending the time and money into his 302 swap. for 9 Mpg is it really worth it for the gas prices are not looking like they are going down.

My first Car was a 75' Nova SS. 350, 4 barrel, 4 speed, posi. That is where I learned to lust for V8's
If I had a 4.0 available to me then I may have put that in, but *knowing* that I could get away with a nice power, glorious sounding V8. The choice was easy for me.

Anyone who truely believes that they can get even HO power levels (225hp)
out of a carb'd 302really needs to swear off their use of opium.

even an HO engine isn't really happy in a Ranger/bronco2 unless geared carefully with moderatly sized tires.

I've driven a couple different 302 swaps.
The carb 5.0 in a 4x4 was an absolute dog.
The guy had dilusions that his essentially stock 185hp lincoln engine (originally EFI)
suddenly was making 300hp because he put a Holley manifold and 4bbl on it.
What did do well was run PIG RICH at all times, ran like crap and got crummy mileage.
Frankly I've driven strock 4cyl trucks that would accelerate better.

The other one was a 2wd with an EFI 302 and 3.55 gears and it's only problem was finding traction, it was a freakin missile.

The part about the 302 that nobody seems to understand is that yes, it makes 70-80ft/lb more torque than a 4.0, but it has to spin to a considerably higher rpm befvore the torque comes on.

the simple numbers are grossly misleading...
Yes, the 4.0 is specified as producing peak torque of 225ft/lb at 3000rpm
but that's mostly because the SAE ratings generally specify the torque peak at the highest rpm in the torque band, in point of fact the torque is ~220ft/lb as low
as 1900-2000rpm ojn some calibrations.

OTOH the 5.0HO makes it's peak torque at 3400rpm and generally speaking
it's worthless and weak below 2500 or so.

the 4.0 starts producing useable torque down around 1100rpm
(or to be more specific at 1200rpm a 4.0 is making more torque
than a 2.9 can make)

I'm actually regearing my 4.0 powered '87 S-cab
from 4.10's to 3.73's because with the tires I'm running (235's)
4.10's are just "too much"

I have traction issues on pavement and the engine just spins
too fast at highway speeds.

Just how much do you really need?

The truth of the matter is that the 4.0 is much more than the 2.9
than the numbers would suggest.
While OTOH the 5.0 isn't as much more than the 4.0 as you'd think by looking at the same numbers.

what the difference is isn't the power.
People keep talking about "power" when what they really want is torque.

More important is where in the rpm band the torque starts.
In the case of the 4.0 it is making 170ftlb somewhere just below 1200rpm. Remember that the 2.9 makes 170ft/lb at it's peak
(at 2600rpm) the 4.0 has a torque curve that looks like a flat line
and anywhere between 1200-rpm and 4000rpm it's making more torque than a 2.9 can.

Compared to a 5.0? geared the same a 4.0 will pull a 5.0 away from a traffic light (provided the 4.0 driver doesn't shift at an excessive rpm) but the 5.0 driver will blow by at the top of second gear. that's great for traffic light bingo useless most other places.

But what they really don't understand is that the 5.0 is not nor will it ever be a "torque engine"

If you really want a V8 engine "for torque" you don't want a 302, you want a 351.

And if geared conservatively (3.27's orr 3.55's) you probably can get decent mileage out of an EFI5.8 in a ranger.

My brother managed to squeek a high 19's out of a 5.8EFI engine in a 5sp 4.10 geared F250 running on 33's, imagine what a ranger with it's smaller frontal area and being the better part of a TON lighter could do on the open road....

I've toyed with building a Ranger with a 5.8 and 3.27 gears
a 5sp Mazda trans and an AWD Explorer T-case in a 98-up
frame with a Gen2 body (Title and emmissions reasons) on
top of it.

No not an offroad truck but a highway runner.

a big engine turning over slowly... just slowly purring
across the plains...

AD

CopyKat said:

Your head been up yer arse since the 60's?

350 Whp with a mild 302??? Are you serious???

Pound for pound a 2.3T Mustang setup will smoke a stock 5.0L mustang. Get a good boost controller, up the PSI to 20 or 25 and the 5.0L guys will be seeing fading taillights.

I've driven a B2 with a warmed over 302 w/C4 and 15 min later drove my 4.0L/5 speed and I'll tell you that it'll be a close race. May have to take my buddy on before his B2 comes off the road.

Click to expand...

Of course apples are better than oranges.

A 2.3T with a boost controller will obviously make more power than a stock 5.0, because it isn't stock anymore with almost double the boost it had from the factory.

Your 302 vs 4.0 comparison is also a 3-speed automatic vs a 5-speed manual comparison. If they were both 4.0's the 5-speed would walk all over the automatic.

CopyKat said:

Your head been up yer arse since the 60's?

350 Whp with a mild 302??? Are you serious???

Pound for pound a 2.3T Mustang setup will smoke a stock 5.0L mustang. Get a good boost controller, up the PSI to 20 or 25 and the 5.0L guys will be seeing fading taillights.

I've driven a B2 with a warmed over 302 w/C4 and 15 min later drove my 4.0L/5 speed and I'll tell you that it'll be a close race. May have to take my buddy on before his B2 comes off the road.

John I agree completely with you. My buddy regrets spending the time and money into his 302 swap. for 9 Mpg is it really worth it for the gas prices are not looking like they are going down.

Click to expand...

its easy to build a 302 for under 1k to make 350hp, can u build a 2.3 turbo for under a grand do that sort of power reliably, now beleive me, i know u can get alot more power out of a 2.3t then most people realize, weve been building a race 2.3 turbo for my buddys ranger, his goals are 700 whp out of it, so far he has well over 4k tied up into engine management, and engine components.

and idk why anyone would put a bone stock 302 into a ranger, first thing i did was build this motor, high comp pistons, gt40 heads, decent cam, good matched intake and carb. i did that for under a grand, if u know where to shop its easy todo it, sure i gotta run premium in it, but so what. u have to build the motor to get power where u need it, mine is desinged for low end grunt, and with the 4spd in it its a animal in first in low gear for crawling. ill have to take some more pictures as im puttin it together.

if ur gonna do the v8 swap then atleast have it be a 302 with some work done to it

and yes, mine is a mild 302 in the world of small blocks, the performace shop near me has a 347 stroker puttin out 800whp in a foxbody