Power Gains

[sidepipes]

I'm hankering to do some power mods to my 2.9. I was wondering how much horsepower and torque gains I could except for the $1000 to $1500 over the stock figures? Does anybody have any dyno numbers or some other method of achieving the numbers?

Thanks for a great site.

Dennis

 

[Gotta_gofast]

With a budget like that, you're best bet is to swap in a 4.0L V6. Check out the TECHNICAL LIBRARY section of TRS. If you still have questions after reading, ask. But we ask that you read and search a little first as this topic has been covered endlessly over and over...

 

[Will]

Well, upgrading to a pushrod 4.0 is only good for 10-15hp. But the torque goes up by 50 or so ft#. It feels like a totally different engine at truck revs--it's like having a V8. In the quarter mile, there won't be much difference.

Getting your hands on a cammer 4.0 will net you a good 70hp.

These motors are all pretty maxed out. What I mean is they are going to detonate if you try to press much more torque out of them. Torque is cylinder pressure and more cylinder pressure is going to mean the fuel goes unstable and detonates before you want it to start burning. That means you need rpm to make power and that torque can't be increased much. The SOHC (cammer) 4.0 makes much more power than the 4.0 or 2.9 because it can spin faster at the same torque.

You can't squeeze more out of your 2.9. You are better off swapping it for a pushrod 4.0 and enjoying the huge boost in torque. But it won't be fast. If you want to go fast, the 4.0 SOHC has great heads on it. Extremely straight shots into and out of the cylinders and a good round port section. These motors ar 12 years old so they are obtainable and they will bolt to your tranny. Your $1,500 toward a 2.9 will be completely wasted. Best to find a real motor to work on.

 

[snavelyj]

I think that if you switch to the SOHC engine, there is something with the timing belt that goes after about 100,000 that you need to pull the engine to replace, I am not entirly sure about any of the detials, you may want to look into that a little bit though if you do decide to swap over to a SOHC 4.0

 

[Beanmachine7000]

You could turbo it if you really wanted to...