I bought the donor vehicle today. You mentioned a tune. I saw you mention "flying ryan" earlier in this thread. Is that still who you would recommend?
I have read in several places that the 5.9 has "a small cam." I'm not looking for a race motor or anything but if a cam swap will get me more low and mid range I would do that before dropping it in the jeep. The intake seems to get a lot of attention as well but with low end a priority, I think I am fine with stock, but if there is something good out there for this application I would consider it.
or maybe I should just ask, do you have any good upgrades that I should consider? I would spend up to 3K on building the motor, but I don't think I need that much. it is a jeep after all, not a race car.
What are you running in the way of gearing and tire size? I have ended up with two jeeps. both 99s, 1st one with 4.56 gears and 33s. The 2nd has 5.13 gears and 37s. I am wondering if the 5.13 will be too much gear with a more powerful engine. Oh, both have AX15s. I am trying to decide what jeep gets a 5.9 first. 2nd has more aggressive suspension and an atlas 4.3 and is where I want the 5.9, but I may be sorry given the gearing. Though with the bigger tires final drive ratio is very similar.
The second jeep seems to have the motor raised and the transfer case lowered... Kinda like they pivoted everything around the front of the transmission. motor mounts are different, the belly plate that mounts the trans is lowered by about 1.5 inches with bushings. I suspect this is because the transfer case is bigger and needs the room. I was thinking that a body lift would allow me to correct this geometry. Have you or anyone you know done this swap with an atlas?