Do I need to strengthen my engine for a supercharger?

Cwcarp59

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Hello, I have a 2001 Jeep Wrangler 4.0 that has roughly 165k miles on it and I want to supercharge it. I have been doing a bit of research and I’m not sure where to start. I don’t know if I can just get a stroker kit and hope it doesn’t blow up on the first start up. Any ideas on forged internals for a decent price or any other way I could strengthen my engine so something bad doesn’t happen.
 
@Chris , who is the administrator on my days off, actually had one in a TJ. He's a true car guy too, so he can tell you all about it.

You will also see me on here using the avatar @Jerry Bransford ..I'm wearing a hat and looks like I live in California. I'm mildy schizophrenic. I'm way smarter when I wear the hat ...and so am I.
 
I'd advise against a supercharger personally. I've owned a supercharged TJ with the Boosted Tech kit and I don't care for it that much. If I were to do it again I would go with the Banks turbo kit, which is a much better option than a supercharger for various reasons.

That being said, you don't need to strengthen your engine at all as long as you are running a low enough psi and a good tune.

The only reason you'd need to strengthen your engine would be if you plan on running very high boost numbers, in which case I would advise you plan on spending a ton of money on this.
 
@Chris , who is the administrator on my days off, actually had one in a TJ. He's a true car guy too, so he can tell you all about it.

You will also see me on here using the avatar @Jerry Bransford ..I'm wearing a hat and looks like I live in California. I'm mildy schizophrenic. I'm way smarter when I wear the hat ...and so am I.
And the award for most creative post goes to......
 
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I'd advise against a supercharger personally. I've owned a supercharged TJ with the Boosted Tech kit and I don't care for it that much. If I were to do it again I would go with the Banks turbo kit, which is a much better option than a supercharger for various reasons.
Being nearly completely ignorant on superchargers and turbochargers, why is that?
 
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I havent had either but @Chris is right about running a low enough psi and proper tune to do no harm... while he chooses turbo over superchargers I have no idea, maybe because you might not suffer as much in MPG with a turbo since they spool top end? but if im not mistaken turbos generate more heat and give more power at the top of the powerband, while superchargers give you immediate torque/power all across the rpm range since they are belt driven(twin screw style) If I were boosting my TJ, I would supercharge it.
 
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I'd advise against a supercharger personally. I've owned a supercharged TJ with the Boosted Tech kit and I don't care for it that much. If I were to do it again I would go with the Banks turbo kit, which is a much better option than a supercharger for various reasons.

That being said, you don't need to strengthen your engine at all as long as you are running a low enough psi and a good tune.

The only reason you'd need to strengthen your engine would be if you plan on running very high boost numbers, in which case I would advise you plan on spending a ton of money on this.
Hello Chris, I notice that the Banks Turbo kit for the TJ seems no longer to be available?

Your views have changed over time...you waxed lyrically about the Magnum Powers supercharger....so wondered as a font of amassed knowledge what your latest views are?

Personally I struggle to see how you can really boost any engine turbo/super without an inter cooler?

i did an old Mitsubishi L200 truck here in the UK with a 28 diesel and bolted on a turbo kit without intercooler..on cold days and limited distances it was quite good but as soon as it got warmer (+20c) and sustained driving the heat fade was profound..
 
A diesel will run 3-4x the amount of boost. So heat soak can be an issue. To this day there are non-charge air cooled diesels.
In an aftermarket gas engine application, keeping the boost low, <~8psi; usually no structural mods are needed for the engine. As long as the tune can support it. Fueling and detonation are bigger concerns.
 
Being nearly completely ignorant on superchargers and turbochargers, why is that?
Superchargers aren’t nearly as efficient and they rob horsepower from the engine just to function due to being driven from the serpentine belt. Take for instance the Hellcat engine. I believe I read that the supercharger on that thing requires nearly 100 HP from the engine just to run it.

Turbos are much more efficient, cheaper, and ultimately more tunable. The usually take up less space as well.
 
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Superchargers aren’t nearly as efficient and they rob horsepower from the engine just to function due to being driven from the serpentine belt. Take for instance the Hellcat engine. I believe I read that the supercharger on that thing requires nearly 100 HP from the engine just to run it.

Turbos are much more efficient, cheaper, and ultimately more tunable. The usually take up less space as well.
But they don’t give you that cool belt whine in the Starbucks drive-thru line.
 
Hello Chris, I notice that the Banks Turbo kit for the TJ seems no longer to be available?

Your views have changed over time...you waxed lyrically about the Magnum Powers supercharger....so wondered as a font of amassed knowledge what your latest views are?

Personally I struggle to see how you can really boost any engine turbo/super without an inter cooler?

i did an old Mitsubishi L200 truck here in the UK with a 28 diesel and bolted on a turbo kit without intercooler..on cold days and limited distances it was quite good but as soon as it got warmer (+20c) and sustained driving the heat fade was profound..
And that’s just the thing, if you don’t want to use an intercooler you’re going to be forced to run some very low psi, something like 6 psi or less.

The Magnum Power supercharger is a great unit but it’s not a “kit”. The amount of extra work needed to get it running is quite a bit. At that point I think I would just piece together my own turbo, which really wouldn’t be hard, even with the Banks kit being out of production.
 
And that’s just the thing, if you don’t want to use an intercooler you’re going to be forced to run some very low psi, something like 6 psi or less.

The Magnum Power supercharger is a great unit but it’s not a “kit”. The amount of extra work needed to get it running is quite a bit. At that point I think I would just piece together my own turbo, which really wouldn’t be hard, even with the Banks kit being out of production.
Actually, you can run higher boost numbers ( above 6#)with a non-inter cooled roots type supercharger.
The critical factor with non- inter cooled superchargers is the EGT’s (exhaust gas temperatures).
For that reason it’s not recommended you tow with a vehicle that has a non-inter cooled supercharger.
I’ve installed many and if all the A/F’s (air fuels), and Spark (ignition timing) are properly set they are fine, however once heat soak occurs, your horsepower numbers drop dramatically.
 
Actually, you can run higher boost numbers ( above 6#)with a non-inter cooled roots type supercharger.
The critical factor with non- inter cooled superchargers is the EGT’s (exhaust gas temperatures).
For that reason it’s not recommended you tow with a vehicle that has a non-inter cooled supercharger.
I’ve installed many and if all the A/F’s (air fuels), and Spark (ignition timing) are properly set they are fine, however once heat soak occurs, your horsepower numbers drop dramatically.

I had a big discussion with Charles who owns and designed the Magnum Powers supercharger. He mentioned to me that once you start to run anything over roughly 6 psi on the typical Eaton M90 people are using, it becomes incredibly inefficient unless you are cooling the air. His supercharger of course comes with a water-to-air cooler, so it is a better kit for many reasons (including that one).

The bottom line is that those Eaton M90s people are using are old, outdated, and pretty archaic units. I'm not saying you can't make any power with them, but I am saying that compared to a decent turbo setup, there is no question as to which one is going to be more efficient and make more power.

I've heard Banks doesn't make their turbo kit anymore. I suspect you might be able to find some leftover stock, but even if you couldn't, most fab shops could build a turbo manifold, at which point you'd just need to figure out the piping, intercooler, etc.

I can also tell you that down here in the south west, you'd be silly to run a forced induction setup without some sort of intercooler setup. We regularly see 115 degree days in the summer, so you can be sure that heat soak down here is common place without a decent setup.