How To LS Swap Your TJ

This seemed like some good info to have here.

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The Ultimate Pickers’ Guide to LS Engines​

 
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ColoJeep said:
It's no wonder they can't sell magazines , some 20 something influencer likely made the chart . Also likely that the same person hasn't ever done a tune -up or has any clue about engine math .
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Doesn't take much to be a writer anymore.... Research isn't required...
 
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Wildman said:
Doesn't take much to be a writer anymore.... Research isn't required...
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So many articles now are paid by the word so that you get a ton of useless drivel to go along with what you are actually looking for.

Search: How Do I Change A Light Bulb

Click the top result "How To Change A Light Bulb"

The actual article you get:

Paragraph 1: What is a light bulb and why are they needed?

Paragraph 2: This is when light bulbs were first invented

Paragraph 3: Light bulb racial inequality throughout history

Paragraph 4: Did you know that some cultures worship light bulbs?

Paragraph 5: Have you considered if you really need a light bulb?

Paragraph 6: How to change it.
 
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RangerTJ said:
So many articles now are paid by the word so that you get a ton of useless drivel to go along with what you are actually looking for.

Search: How Do I Change A Light Bulb

Click the top result "How To Change A Light Bulb"

The actual article you get:

Paragraph 1: What is a light bulb and why are they needed?

Paragraph 2: This is when light bulbs were first invented

Paragraph 3: Light bulb racial inequality throughout history

Paragraph 4: Did you know that some cultures worship light bulbs?

Paragraph 5: Have you considered if you really need a light bulb?

Paragraph 6: How to change it.
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That’s my battle when trying to learn what temperature is best for cooking something in the air fryer.
 
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cool. I just picked up a new to me 2006 TJ with a 4.0 and a 6 speed. My first thought was "If it needs a motor I wonder if I could LS swap it?" well question answered... lol Anyone done a 6.0L LS swap in a TJ yet?
 
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RichieB9280 said:
cool. I just picked up a new to me 2006 TJ with a 4.0 and a 6 speed. My first thought was "If it needs a motor I wonder if I could LS swap it?" well question answered... lol Anyone done a 6.0L LS swap in a TJ yet?
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It's been done , and is likely the most swapped platform . Your NSG 370 6 speed would likely sign off if used for the swap. Welcome to the Forum man!
 
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RichieB9280 said:
cool. I just picked up a new to me 2006 TJ with a 4.0 and a 6 speed. My first thought was "If it needs a motor I wonder if I could LS swap it?" well question answered... lol Anyone done a 6.0L LS swap in a TJ yet?
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We have! Quite a few times actually. Any of the LS platforms can be done, the Gen III LS is the most popular by far from a simplicity and cost standpoint but more and more people are doing the Gen IV.
 
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XCRN said:
Will add pictures, typed this on my computer and all my photos are on my phone so ill go back and edit them in. I will also be adding info as subjects come up and I do more of these.

So you want to go to the dark side discombobulate your TJ and throw a LS motor in your rig? Well its not that difficult and I am going to try and best explain how to do it. Most of my knowledge comes from my personal daily driver 2000 Jeep Wrangler that I have put on roughly 30k miles in the almost 3 years I have had this finished this swap. On this TJ, it has a 5.3 LM7 from a 01 Silverado but I had backed it both with the original NV3550 that I probably broke at 175k miles and now currently one of the brand new AX15 transmissions with 2 different adapter. I also had 2 different EFI systems, Terminator X Max and stock DIY standalone. This could be almost entirely a bolt on swap with little cutting and fabrication needed if you buy the right parts.

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I have to say man you are one talented MFer OMG its a joy just walking through your pictures. Scares the hell outta me to try that. That is an utterly beautiful install and the time you took to pay attention to details absolutely amazing. I wanna do something similar but it scares me a bit to deal with the bugs. What are if any your regrets? If you dont mind what are you all in money wise? I am estimating with you doing the work around 10-12K.
 
Intimnasc said:
I have to say man you are one talented MFer OMG its a joy just walking through your pictures. Scares the hell outta me to try that. That is an utterly beautiful install and the time you took to pay attention to details absolutely amazing. I wanna do something similar but it scares me a bit to deal with the bugs. What are if any your regrets? If you dont mind what are you all in money wise? I am estimating with you doing the work around 10-12K.
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Its not that bad at all, just intimidating at first but once you grasp thr full picture its actually not bad. Most of my $$ went into the tcase adapter. I got the engine and trans cheap from a friend's truck that got totaled. Everything else is just figuring shit out. Happy to share more of my experience if needed.
 
Intimnasc said:
I have to say man you are one talented MFer OMG its a joy just walking through your pictures. Scares the hell outta me to try that. That is an utterly beautiful install and the time you took to pay attention to details absolutely amazing. I wanna do something similar but it scares me a bit to deal with the bugs. What are if any your regrets? If you dont mind what are you all in money wise? I am estimating with you doing the work around 10-12K.
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I appreciate that! It was a lot of planning to make things look factory and what I did to the TJ has been helping me with the LV swap I am working on my LJ.

Thats a tough question, but for me, the biggest regret would be sticking with the Jeep manual or the axle gearing I picked. And it only comes down to to go anywhere cool is a good chunk of highway driving, and 5th gear with 3.73 and 32s revs way higher than needed. I used to have 3.08 before the axle swap with the LS and when swapping in a Dana 44 with 3.73, I did not feel like I gained any power and only lost fuel mileage and made more noise.

As far as money invested, I think I was closer to $5-6k with a rebuilt engine but not including the suspension and axles. But this was mostly all purchased in 2020-21 and I doubt any of what I bought got cheaper.

On my current project doing a LV1 4.3, 6L80, NP242J swap I think I will be closer to $10-11k. But I bought a brand new engine from GM, the 6L80 core was free from partouts, all new GM parts for the trans including a new case and a free transfercase. But I also need to make my own accessory brackets and engine mounts as nothing really exists on the market for what I need. There is quite a bit more I probably do not have on the list and I have quite a bit in tools I need to source for rebuilding the 6L80. The attached spreadsheet are parts I have been buying over the last year so its a little more current pricing.

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XCRN said:
Engines

First thing to consider is what motor and transmission do you want to run. Definitely go into this project knowing what you want out of it, daily driver, rock crawler, mud rig, overlander, etc. This will help you narrow down what engine and trans combo you should go with. There are a few things to keep in mind when deciding an engine. There are 2 generation of LS engines, gen 3 and 4. And there is also the Gen 5 LT direct injection engines which I want to touch on as well since ill be working on one soon I hope. Gen 3 engines also come in drive by wire and drive by cable. There are ways to convert a DBW to DBC but that is beyond the scope of this write up. You ideally will want a DBC setup since it is easier to adapt the universal throttle cable to a Jeep pedal and a LS throttle than it is to mount a DBW chevy pedal to the Jeep. All gen 4 engines are DBW but I do not know anything about converting them to DBC but I think it is possible. Gen 5 engines absolutly require the use of a DBW setup, and as of right now no one has converted these engines to DBC. There are plenty of people who do LS TJ swaps with DBW and eventually ill update this with how to do so when I try this my self.

Engine Mounts

I have only used the Novak weld on mounts but have done tons of research on different manufacturers as well. I went Novak because at the time, they were the only one advertising that you do not need a suspension lift or body lift to use their mounts and that appealed to me since I was keeping my Jeep somewhat stock in that regard. But there are certainly a lot of other companies that make quality mounts. I have my gripes with the Novak mounts, but they work and they do have engine mounting plates for Gen 5 engines that use their frame side mounts.

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With the Novak mounts, in their instructions they said to cut some of the pinch welds at the trans opening. I do not think I had to with a Jeep manual using a Jeep bellhouse, but would likely had to with a larger auto trans and it looks to be needed for the Quick Draw Brand bellhouse that is closer is size to a GM bellhouse. You can see marked in red what I had to cut. I then put a coat of seam sealer over top since it cut into the tub and then painted over top.

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A note about the steering shaft. The Novak weld one mounts require cutting the steering shaft support mount off and they supply a new bracket that relocates it and spaces it away from the engine a little bit. I messed up with placement of engine and it was too close to the driver side so I had to REALLY space the steering shaft away. Supposedly the Holley mounts do not require relocacting the steering shaft support.

I have also been looking into the Holley mounts for my next Gen 5 project so stay tuned and ill document more on the Gen 5 mounts. They are a bolt on, then weld on mount. The nice thing is they use I believe a factory F-body LS1 engine isolator for gen 3 and 4 engines that again can be picked up at a local autoparts store. The gen 5 engines uses the same frame side mount but a slightly different isolator mount that is based on the LS1 mount. Just follow the directions and things will turn out fine.

https://www.novak-adapt.com/catalog/engine-mounts/mmtj-g/

https://www.holley.com/products/eng...and_crossmembers/engine_mounts/parts/VK090181

https://davescustomsunlimited.com/jeep-tj-ls-series-and-gen-iii-conversion-engine-mounts/



Engine Accessories

For this one it is very simple. Stock truck accessories work great except for the AC. You probably got a $500 truck motor and what came on that will work great. With the AC (if you want it) it will have to be moved up high or you will need to notch the frame. I had both a plain truck accessory setup and a Trail Blazer SS setup which is the same other than it uses a different pump. I am working on a custom bracket that moves the PS pump higher since mine was acting as a bump stop while at the dunes but will allow more off the shelf parts like PS hoses.
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Oil Pans

This is also very simple. You can be cheap and use the truck pan your motor likely came with. Only draw back is it is deeper than the other pans out there. F-body has also been known to work and the Holley pans are also good (but expensive options). I personally like the Hummer H3 5.3 oil pan which is commonly advertised as the muscle car oil pan. Price point is reasonable, easily able to source, sump is not very long and also half the depth of the truck pan and the edges of the sump are very round to help with exhaust routing. First picture is the H3 pan, second picture is comparing the truck pan to a Holley 301-2 pan.

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I would pay someone to install this engine in a heartbeat! I wonder what the real world performance gains are for all conditions, daily driving, off-road and highway use.
 
akajibio said:
I would pay someone to install this engine in a heartbeat! I wonder what the real world performance gains are for all conditions, daily driving, off-road and highway use.
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First off let's discuss price.

Doesn't matter if it's a LS or Hemi or diesel swap none of them are cheap....
DIY price is $5k-12k depending on engine.

Paying someone to do it and you're talking $20k-30k most likely.

Performance is worth it. Period.
 
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