If I splurge on anything, it will be on that. Do you know how much lighter these heads are? That is always a plus, that these can be much lighter that the stock ones
5.3 Chevy or 5.2 Mopar?
- Thread starter skippymcg
- Start date
You save ~40lbs per set... I got mine since these flow ~260cfm right out of the box, but the weight savings (and ability to run a higher SCR common on stroker kits) was a big plus!
https://www.hotrod.com/articles/mopp-0510-edelbrock-magnum-heads/
That may actually put the fully dressed motor closer to the stock weight of the i6 for sure.
Yup it makes it damn close - I know a fully dressed 5.9 Magnum is right around 550 lbs.
OP
I know nothing about rear ends. I am a rookie to all of this swapping stuff. So you are saying I should get a Dana 44 with lower gears? And that I have a Dana 35 with 4 10 s right now. I think right now I am going to concentrate on this... Are all Dana 44s the same? I can pick up a Dana 44 high pinion for $300...is that what I need and is that a good deal? I live in ND.
Your Dana 35 can survive as long as you take it easy on the skinny pedal but be looking for either a Dana 44 or Ford 8.8 to swap into the rear ASAP.
No all Dana 44's are not the same. The easiest swap will be to find a TJ Dana 44 as all the brackets and everything will already be there. But they are super had to find and when you do most people want a premium price for them. You can also find a Dana 44 from a XJ or MJ but then you'll need to have all the brackets welded onto it.
The other popular(for some) axle is a Ford 8.8 found in 95-01 Explorers. It's about 1.25" narrower than your stock rear axle and you lose a little clearance under the diff as it is larger than either a Dana 35 or 44. But they have been used in Mustangs and Explorers with V-8s plus many other rigs so they are strong enough. But with them you have to cut the old brackets off and then have TJ brackets welded on.
A high pinion 44 was used in the front of Ford vehicles and is a good axle to swap into the front if you plan on running larger tires than 35". But depending on what vehicle they came out of they are wider than your stock axle by 5" or more. You also have to careful what year and model it came from since some have cast in mounts for the C bushings for the radius arms.
Here is a easy way to identify axles by their cover.
Also know that depending on which engine you choose to do the swap with and which transmission you might or very likely will need new driveshafts. And if you are going to do a axle swap many times you will also need your rear driveshaft modified so it makes more sense to have your new rear axle ready to drop in when you do the V-8 swap so you are only having to have one rear shaft made.
I know I dumped a lot on you but I'm just trying to lay it all out there for you so you know what you are getting into. IT's what we call the rabbit hole becasue as you modify one thing you now need to modify something else to work with what you just modified.
This is the time to really think about what you envision your usage of your Jeep and what you would like it to look like in 5, 10 & 15 years from now. I bought a High Pinion Dana 60 rear axle on a whim while deployed to Iraq. Then when I got home realized that my little 4 cylinder wasn't going to push that heavy axle down the road. Plus I wanted to tow a Off-Road trailer behind my TJ and you know a 4 pooper ain't gunna do that. So I got talked into doing this V-8 swap becasue at the time I was looking at putting a supercharger on it. I got my V-8 swap done but then had problems with the transfer case I'd installed. Then had to rebuild my transmission becasue it failed due to the bad transfer case. When I'd built my Jeep along with the V-8 swap I swore I'd never run anything larger than a 35-36" tire. Two years later I was swapping to 38" tires and then BOOM I start having overheating issues. So I chased them for another two years before I finally had to park it. That was in the spring of 2011. Then I had health issues & money issues where I couldn't work on it. Now I am rebuilding it all over again because the long arm suspension I'd installed wasn't working like I'd hoped.
I'm building a new engine, switched to the Savvy mid arm suspension & stretched my WB by about 7" with 4.5 in the rear and 2.5" in the front.
I get the desire to just slap that V-8 into your TJ and go. And there have been guys who ran the Dana 35 behind the V-8 and did so for 6-12 months without any issues. But they were running 31" tires and kept their foot out of the floor. And that is very hard to do IMO.
To me you're better off to gather all your parts for the engine swap PLUS planned axles and then do the whole project at once.
Hope this helps a little. Of course you aren't required to follow any of my unsolicited advice either. And I'll help you out when and if I can.
This is the time to really think about what you envision your usage of your Jeep and what you would like it to look like in 5, 10 & 15 years from now. I bought a High Pinion Dana 60 rear axle on a whim while deployed to Iraq. Then when I got home realized that my little 4 cylinder wasn't going to push that heavy axle down the road. Plus I wanted to tow a Off-Road trailer behind my TJ and you know a 4 pooper ain't gunna do that. So I got talked into doing this V-8 swap becasue at the time I was looking at putting a supercharger on it. I got my V-8 swap done but then had problems with the transfer case I'd installed. Then had to rebuild my transmission becasue it failed due to the bad transfer case. When I'd built my Jeep along with the V-8 swap I swore I'd never run anything larger than a 35-36" tire. Two years later I was swapping to 38" tires and then BOOM I start having overheating issues. So I chased them for another two years before I finally had to park it. That was in the spring of 2011. Then I had health issues & money issues where I couldn't work on it. Now I am rebuilding it all over again because the long arm suspension I'd installed wasn't working like I'd hoped.
I'm building a new engine, switched to the Savvy mid arm suspension & stretched my WB by about 7" with 4.5 in the rear and 2.5" in the front.
I get the desire to just slap that V-8 into your TJ and go. And there have been guys who ran the Dana 35 behind the V-8 and did so for 6-12 months without any issues. But they were running 31" tires and kept their foot out of the floor. And that is very hard to do IMO.
To me you're better off to gather all your parts for the engine swap PLUS planned axles and then do the whole project at once.
Hope this helps a little. Of course you aren't required to follow any of my unsolicited advice either. And I'll help you out when and if I can.
OP
I appreciate all of the info you can give me! It's a lot I know but I can come back and reference all the great stuff! Thank you for your service btw! I am a bit overwhelmed right now.
Definitely have some decisions to make. A friend is giving me the motor and a tranny. I will assess when it gets here what I have. I guess start there.
I appreciate all of the info you can give me! It's a lot I know but I can come back and reference all the great stuff! Thank you for your service btw! I am a bit overwhelmed right now.
Which engine is it? The Chevy or the Dodge?
@Wildman just in case you want a list of letters and numbers, even if they do perpetuate the ‘issue‘ by referring to all as ‘LS’.
https://www.onallcylinders.com/2019...de-to-ls-engine-specs-and-ls-engine-upgrades/
https://www.onallcylinders.com/2019...de-to-ls-engine-specs-and-ls-engine-upgrades/
OP