more power??

[predator]

ok so i want to get a little bit more power out of my 4.0, right now it is completely stock with the exception of a drop in k&n air filter...a friend of mine is porting and polishing a throttle body for me, what else should i do? the stock exhaust just got replaced and i dont want loud exhaust anymore anyways..is a chip worth it?? do they make your mileage go down? what other parts are out there to get a few more ponies out of it?

 

[AllanD]

While you may have the urge to "mod" things most mods are somewhere between turd polishing and mechanical masterbation.

The chips, ported TB's oversized air meters etc are a waste of time and money.


They are like the fishing lures that are designed to catch fishermen
(or rather their money) instead of fish.

What does work tends to be more expensive, headers, Blowers, nitrous,
camshafts or simply a larger engine.

Now for a philosophical question... do you really want "power"
or is acceleration what you are seeking?

If you want acceleration, the easier path to get it is torque, or more precisely
torque at the wheels...

And if I read your public profile correctly you have an early explorer.
From my meanderings in junkyards you most likely have either 3.55's
or 3.27 gears.

Upgrading your gearing gets an immediate absolutely guaran-damn-teed
improvement in acceleration.

Going from 3.27's to 3.73's will improve acceleration by 14%.
Going to 4.10's will gain you 19%
If you have 3.55's then switching to 3.73's are good
for 5% (hardly worth doing), but 4.10's are good for 15%.

Of course this comes at a price, engine rpm at any given road speed
will increase by a similar ammount, but this is usually a good thing because
the 4.0 (like a 2.9) tends to get better mileage at slightly higher rpm.
It's important to know that at higher rpm less throttle opening is required,
so the engine while spinning faster isn't working as hard.

So changing gearing is usually a win-win situation.

My last full tank of gas included a round trip to NJ deadheading
my tow dolly to Essex Fells, NJ on I-80 and I-280 in traffic to pick
up a saturn with a dead clutch, towing the saturn back to PA
in traffic, again on I-280 and I-80.

I drove a total of 428miles on 1gallons of gas for 20.38mpg.
this in a 4x4 ranger supercab with a 4.0, 5sp and 4.10 gears.

Yes, that's right I got 20mpg while TOWING another car!

then again, I do have headers on my 4.0 which undoubtedly help.

How does your explorer do?

AllanD

 

[predator]

i dont think i have actually taken down the milage, right now it is in the shop being worked on and i was wondering if there was anything i could do for it in terms of power while it is in there....after i get it back on the road i will take down what it gets for milage

 

[predator]

so a gearing change and some headers would bump my numbers up??

 

[MAKG]

Any engineer who can walk without drooling will tell you to define the problem before you define solutions. Tell us what you want to accomplish and maybe we can help you. "More power" for its own sake is penis comparison, so there really is no technical answer.

 

[Hershey]

You guys are getting too technical, you know what he wants you just dont want to give it to him straight.

He wants HP, torque, acceleration, all of it, and he wants it as cheap and easy as he can get it.

 

[AllanD]

I did give it to him straight.

He's got an early explorer, which to means a 60/30/10 chance
that he's got 3.55/3.27/3.73 gears.

If he's got 3.73's the next thing to do is buy a set of JBA's for it.
Yeah I have Borla headers, but Borla's are discontinued and essentially
identical to the JBA's anyway.

He can gain SOME if he can find a gen2 (Disc) Explorer axle with 4.10's
which on an EXPLORER is an EASY installation.

All the "engine mods" that don't cost $500 installed and running
are a waste of time.

AD

 

[MAKG]

He wants HP, torque, acceleration, all of it, and he wants it as cheap and easy as he can get it.

If it were possible, sure.

It ISN'T possible, so now we have to trade things off.

OK, go.

 

[Hershey]

I was being cheeky...

The best way to get maximum power out of your 4.0 is to sell it and get a new truck!

 

[predator]

well i was planning on getting an 8.8 out of an explorer with disc brakes and 4.10's, so it looks like i got some saving up to do for headers, found some sets on ebay....thanks guys!!!

 

[Hershey]

Can you tell me where you found the sets? I cant seem to track any down, and the ones I have found seem ridiculously over priced.

 

[AllanD]

Considering that before they were discontinued the borla headers were ~$675(MSRP)
and would typically retail for around $100 less than that.

JBA's are priced similarly.

Anything much cheaper are... well... worth what you pay for them.

AD

 

[kyle.h]

MPG, for the real world!

Hey AllanD, I am just amazed at your 20MPG!

I am in a stock 1994 Ranger XLT SuperCab, 4.0L, Auto, 4x4 with normal P235/75R15 tires, and 3.27 non-LS axles. I get 13MPG on a good week! Is this normal for a truck this old, and of these specifications, or am I missing something? According to the NEW EPA calculators, this is probably about right, but if more is available MPG, I am interested into how!

Granted, my foot could have something to do with it, but your posts in this thread gave me hope. Even when I tried for a few weeks being light on the throttle, I got 16MPG at best, and I do mostly city driving, with little highway, maybe 25% of it. I use a fuel system cleaner yearly, and have a clean MAF, clean IAC, and a newer fuel filter. Also, I use E10 fuel primarily, as it is cheaper here in the Midwest, and though I did notice that regular gas gave me a little better economy, it didn't seem worth it for me at 10-15 cents more per gallon, with only gaining like 1MPG on my normal weekly drive. (I could be wrong about the cost versus output, but I have never actually done the math on it, and when I do, I will probably be more disappointed!)

I have been thinking about the gears for some time now, and considering either the 3.73s or 4.10s, maybe with a rear LS. I have also been thinking of how to get better MPG out of it, and headers and exhaust seem to be what people recommend, but I have a few questions after looking at the JBA stuff.

Is there any real reason to get the coated headers? Will headers and CAT back exhaust hurt my torque output? If so, what should I look for? Also, I am not a guy who likes a loud vehicle, even to the point of not liking loud or annoying exhaust notes, especially during normal driving, and highway driving type engine speeds. Any exhaust systems out there that you know of that get a performance increase without sacrificing OEM sound levels?

Any other suggestions on where to find more MPG on a stock ranger? I am not throwing any codes, or showing any sides of a problem. Any stock in changing out the probably original O2 sensors, or any other sensors or components?

How about a CPU upgrade for economy, one for regular gas, and not Premium!

Basically, I am with you on your: "Anything much cheaper are... well... worth what you pay for them." I am not willing to spend $200 on a MAYBE fix, that MIGHT do something, but I am willing to spend $500 or more on a something that is known to work. I just hate being nickel and dimmed to death, with possible solutions, only to find if I would have bought the real fix in the beginning, I wouldn't have had to deal with the headaches that come from cheap solutions that don't live up to their promise!

Thanks for any suggestions,

Kyle

 

[AllanD]

(Warning! Guarded trick question!)
Why would a free flowing exhaust hurt your torque?

(Warning sarchasm alert!)
have you been getting your automotive theory from Vin Diesel Movies?

20mpg isn't only possible, but it's not even that hard to do if properly setup
and driven. I think significantly better is possible.

as for different computer setups?
There's a whole lot of snake oil being sold...

Coated JBA's? more rust resistant.
Unless JBA is making stainless steel...

But in either case the coating will make them stay "pretty" longer.
My stainless headers aren't rusting but they look anything but pretty.

as for the rest of the exhaust cat back? I'm running stock exhaust for a 1994 supercab on my truck.
Will a cat-back help? I don't know, I'm not running one.

My exhaust is quiet.

AD

 

[MAKG]

As for cheap mods for better mileage, here's one.

Get a small piece of scrap wood around an inch thick and glue it under your accelerator pedal.

Computer mods that increase mileage using regular gasoline? Try to THINK about that for a moment. What do you think the factory's goal was? Hint: emissions and mileage correlate. A lot.