supercharger or turbocharger?

[Dmill1369]

So my 2.9l ranger is finally primed for a 4.0L swap (just put a m50d-r1 in, and upgraded to dana 35, an 9'' possi rear, both geared 5.29).

I plan on basically starting with a block and building it with performance parts (not to race it, but purely for extra strength), and I'd love some input on whether I should turbo it or super it. It would be nice to have that extra power, and i can basically build it to suite which ever i go with.

turbo is great as it takes wasted exhaust power to make power, while a super steals some power to make more. It looks to me though that a super would be easier/cheaper? Thoughts???

 

[Mark_88]

Although I'm leaning towards a bunker and a few boxes of ammunition, I think supercharging a 4.0 is the most common...from what I've read.

Turbo seems to widen the amount of room needed to fit everything comfortably but a supercharger sits on top of the engine out of the way...

 

[JoshT]

If you are looking for that kind of power, and are doing an engine swap anyway, why not just go to a bigger V8 motor. It would probably be easier and cheaper than building a 4.0L that is built for a Turbocharger or Supercharger.

 

[RonD]

Couple of things that make one better than the other.

Super charger has a lower upper limit of boost, but not really an issue in street vehicle.
Super charger does use engine horse power, but ...........you still get a gain of power so moot point.
Super charger has a specific power increase through RPM band.
Super chargers run cooler
Super charger is less expensive as an add on to non-turbo models.

Turbo charges have higher boost limit
Turbo chargers are cheaper to add when designing a vehicle, but more expensive to add to non-turbo models.
Turbo chargers run hotter, bearing failure is not uncommon to add on turbos
Turbo chargers have unpredictable power changes as boost increases, and waste gate can be an issue with that.
Turbo chargers use exhaust pressure, so scavenge power.

An inner cooler is best for either but almost required for turbo

Because of the predictable power stability, looks and cost a super charger, IMO, is best choice as add-on.
If you can build the engine bay from scratch then dual turbo would look very cool, but when you just add the pipes "where they fit" I don't like the look, for street vehicles.

 

[broncobuckinaround]

Where's the LIKE button when you need it. I would s/c.
If I can't fix my issue with my tcc in the a4ld I'm swapping to a modded 4.0 #1 because it's bolt in and matches the m5od bolt pattern. Really it's just wire's after that. Plus what you can do to a v8 I can do to a v6. Better fitment imo with the 4.0

 

[willy]

What you can do with a 5.0 over a 4.0 is the cost parts are much cheeper for the 5.0 despite having 2 extra cylinders the lets say you have a 6 grand budget with a 4.0 yo u will net 250 to 300 hp with a 5.0 and the same budget you can get from 500 to 1000 with boost asuming its not all new parts

 

[adsm08]

I'm not sure how practical a 5.0 swap would be for him. Check his location, Commiefornia.

 

[RangerSVT]

His is an 88, his swap, whether a 4.0 or 5.0, has to be the same year or newer than the truck, MUST contain all the emissions equipment of the donor engine, and pass smog testing. After that is done, then supercharging/turbocharging can be done. Since its a 4wd vehicle, supercharging is better since off idle boost is needed.
My vote, supercharged V8 swap...

SVT

 

[willy]

California emissions arnt the terrible monster everyone makes them out to be imho i have more issues with the indiana emissions now that im back home. In sandiego they just did a sniffer test and pluged it in as long as all the emissions parts are there he wont have any issues and would most likely have better emissions with a 5.0. Indiana on the other hand is not so friendly at the check station. So farm plates are in my rangers future. O and pass the referee with out boost first then put the blower on there.

 

[Blown]

What you can do with a 5.0 over a 4.0 is the cost parts are much cheeper for the 5.0 despite having 2 extra cylinders the lets say you have a 6 grand budget with a 4.0 yo u will net 250 to 300 hp with a 5.0 and the same budget you can get from 500 to 1000 with boost asuming its not all new parts

I got a differing opinion, you can get 250ftlb of torque and 216HP with an Eaton M90 at only 5lbs of boost on a stock 4.0 SOHC for around $2,500, with tune and do it in a day. Torque is what gets you moving. Add an intercooler, more boost, performance heads and performance exhaust all of which can be bolted-up and you can get much more in a lighter package. Your figures are way off, high on the 302 and to produce that upper number you better have a racing block and those higher HP numbers are at the expense of torque. I built a blown 302, 349, 351, and then a 393. You can get some good HP at high rpm but not without ruining the daily drivability. Torque is where it's at to get a heavier truck moving around town not HP. Then there is the solid 8mpg's I got out of the 393 and the best I did with the 302 was 12. I get 17mpg at 6lbs of boost with my current build.............If I wanted to drag race, ya, a built blown 347 would be under the hood.

Then your running gear has got to be up to the power as well. I blew the pinion and a good chunk of the case right out the front of a stock ford 9" and then it got expensive to rebuild it with a nodular case.

I am happy with my Banshee kit. I'd go with an M90 supercharger kit, keep it simple, and spend more time enjoying it than building it.

 

[Dmill1369]

As far as emissions go I'm pretty clear. In Cali smog is by county, in mine (El Dorado County [Rubicon trail area, for my crawlers], i only smog on owner change, since that is done I can do ANYTHING to engine/emissions and not have to pass EVER AGAIN).

As far as V6 vs V8, I want to do the 4.0l since its it the same block as my 2.9l, and is a very straight forward swap, which is appealing as this would be my 1st engine swap.

As a Daily Driver (~1k miles/ month) I want something fun but reliable, hence spending 5-6K on the build for quality parts that would hopefully withstand much higher HP/TQ/RPM than I plan on running.

I am beginning to lean more towards the super charger, if nothing else than for the lack of needing to re-pipe the engine bay. I will probably be bumping up the exhaust size (depending on what headers I can find)

Any and all input is appreciated everyone. I have not so much as replaced a head gasket on an engine, so I plan on making this a learning experience, and just having the "Built not Bought" mind set on this engine would be a nice ego boost.

 

[Mark_88]

It's good that you have that leeway, especially considering where you live. Canada has pretty much copied a lot of stuff that happened in California over the years and if I didn't know better I'd swear Arnold had much to do with it all. There is even a place in California called Ontario and a place in Ontario called California...now how crazy is that?

Anyway, sounds like you know where you want to be and are researching this before cracking your nuts, so to speak...which is a good approach as long as you're not overly cautious to the point of not doing anything...which is where I'd be if things were a bit different.

Most of what you want to do is pretty much remove and replace (R&R) from the sounds of things and you won't be doing anything new or original so there is plenty of information on this site to help as needed...and many experienced people to ask questions if you run into anything unusual...just a matter of gathering parts and having them on hand when you decide to go ahead...

I'd be interested in your build thread if you decide to make one...I'm considering a 4.0 install with auto tranny for my 96 frame and I have smog to worry about for a long time by the looks of things...so I can't exactly modify it too much...unless I go the "rebuild" route which would make mine a 1980 model year...meaning no more testing for me too...and that supercharger would be a nice addition to mine too...in fact...it would pretty much give me my dream truck...so let the build begin!

 

[Dmill1369]

If/when i do the build ill be sure to do a nice write up for you all. Dont expect on over night one, my plan with my finances is to tear a salvaged engine down to the block, and as i can afford to put it all back together. I love the internet for the help/knowledge, and im blessed with a father who was a GM mechanic for 35 years, who is usually happy to provide what help he can over the phone.

I do know i will be upgrading to roller valves, might bore/ stroke it, but may keep stock displacement just for shits and giggles.

Keep the input comming guys, im really curious as to what ya'll would do in my situation.

 

[fixizin]

Since you said it's a 4WD and it's going to be primarily street vs. off-road, I'd investigate swapping your 4WD transfer case (which is OFF-road only) for a full-time AWD (i.e. streetable, front-to-rear diff/slip action) xfer case from an Explorer--more power to the ground...

... unless "burnin' rubber" and squealing tires be your thaaang...

 

[Dmill1369]

I'm keeping the 4x4 as is, burning rubber is totally my thing. lol. I may consider converting to AWD once I can afford another truck and turn the ranger into a full time toy. Not to mention I love being able to drop out of 4x4 in the snow and play with the 2wd.

The old lady has an '04 Cherokee with AWD, maybe I should do something to that for her. ;-)