Rebuild or SOHC swap

[PhdNPrerunners]

I am thinking of getting my 96 4.0 rebuilt cause it seems a little sluggish. The previous owner said it was rebuilt 56k miles ago but I don't believe her cause she had no proof. Do you guys think it would be worth it to rebuild it or swap in a sohc 4.0? The previous owner also swapped the rear end and I don't think they matched up the gears cause originally it 3.73s in it but on the freeway I am at 2700 rpms at almost 80 with 31s

 

[legoms013]

Thats what my RPMS are and I have 373's with 31 tires doing 80 mph.

 

[4.0 power]

i personally want to do a SOHC swap on my truck. but all the sudden trying to find a sohc and tranny around here has become difficult.

 

[shane96ranger]

I agree, with 3.73's that's where I'm sitting with rpm's at 80 mph too. I have 31's as well. If they were wrong, you would notice big time when you were in 4wd; assuming it is 4wd.

I am not a big fan of the SOHC motor even though it has more power. I don't consider it to be any more reliable, in fact I personally see more Rangers and Explorers with bad SOHC's than the OHV here in the classifieds. From what I can tell, there were more OHV's put in than SOHC's too. I would vote for a rebuild and maybe get some performance upgrades like a cam or port/polish the heads.

Then again, it's all a matter of opinion.

 

[legoms013]

I prefer the OHV over the SOHC.

My OHV v6 4.ol has just under 200,000 miles with no major problems and runs strong. If im light on the throttle its gets 17.61 MPG too.

My mom has a 99 explorer with a SOHC with 161,xxx miles on it, and it has been sent to the shop twice now for repairs. She consistantly gets 16.7 mpg. It has had a bad lifter since 33k miles on the odometer. The check engine light has been that long as well and its a pain when its time to smog because of it. Im pertty confident its not going to last 200,000 miles like my OHV. Moral of the story is, Im extremely biased towards the SOHC cuz my experiences have been bad. To me the extra 40 hp and 18 ftlbs of torque are not worth the lesser longevity of the motor. IMHO id say rebuild the current OHV.

 

[Twizzler09]

The OHV 4.0 has proven itself a reliable beast time and time again, I say rebuild it.

My OHV has 218,xxx miles on it, and it still runs very strong, all original parts even besides plugs and wires. Matter of fact, it runs strong enough that I dont think it'll need a rebuild till closer to 300k miles.

 

[RangerSVT]

To give a little fact to fiction on the 4.0L SOHC...It came out in 1995 in the explorer only, Rangers still ran the OHV. With a new design motor, naturally it has some flaws and bugs to work out. From 95-00 the main problem with the SOHC engine was the cam's chain tensioner prematurely wearing, and with the close tolerance engine, a failed cam chain proved catastrophic. In 2001 when the SOHC was introduced into the ranger, this problem was resolved. IIRC the rest of the SOHC engine shares the same components with the OHV engine. the SOHC and OHV blocks have the same bellhousing bolt pattern, so tranny's can be swapped from one to the other. I currently run a 5R55E from a 99 explorer in my 96 Ranger 4.0L OHV and use my 96 ECU and have all 5 gears operating normally in my trans...I plan to do the SOHC swap soon, that is if I don't have all the parts for my V8 swap firstHope this helps and clears up some misconceptions
SVT