is the 2.5l as capable off road as the 4.0l?

9194x4

New Member
Joined
Apr 24, 2011
Location
bunn North Carolina
im new to jeeps, im in the process of selling my 99 z28 to get a tj Wrangler. being that ive been a muscle car guy for almost 3 years now its gonna be a huge power difference from 345 hp 365 tq at the wheels to i believe around 200hp in the 4.0. which is fine with me, fast cars are too tempting. at any rate, i need advice. if you have owned both please please please tell me whats best. im definately getting something lifted. im thinking in the 4" range, that being completely suspension. im not going to run anything bigger that 33's, if you go bigger you should re-gear right? its going to be my dd as well as my toy so i want something thats going to have enough power to crawl over anything reasonable and still accelerate 0-60 in under a minute. now its my thought that the smaller 2.5l motor will have to work harder to turn bigger tires than the 4.0. any legitimacy to that? also if its got to work harder would that mean worse mpg? thats just my thoughts and i appreciate any and all replies like i said im uneducated. PLEASE HELP!!!
Thanks for reading, Shane.
 
I have the 2.5 TJ, if your gonna run 33's, you will want to put 4.88's in it, espically since your going to DD it. I really like my 2.5 off road, it seems the lighter weight of the 2.5 helps sometimes. The downside is if you need a lot of wheelspeed, it just dosen't have it. On long steep climbs and in deep mud, this can be a issue, but if all your doing is crawling, it makes a great off road rig. Basically there is no practial 4 wheel high, I use 4 low for everything. I've ran most of the named trails at Harlen with this Jeep

Here's my TJ before I tore it down, at the time the drive train was stock, it had 4.88s, 36 incn Tsl's, and a locked 30/Super 35. Getting HP44/9 inch with 5.13's now.

The wife is driving starting at 5:49
 
Nice video. I so gotta finish the disk brakes on my Jeep and get to Harlen.
 
The 4 cylinder isn't any good for gas mileage...

The 4.0 probably gets better mileage, or about the same.

If you put 33's on a 4 banger tj say goodbye to 5th gear, if you regear, gimme a holler about those 4.10's

The 4 bangers are alot cheaper, but I would say its worth it to save up for the 4.0
 
I had a 00 2.5L and it was my DD, I had 33's and 4.10 gears, Couldn't get above 55 mph and just didn't have the ass it needed for mud and steep climbs. I now have a 04 4.0L with 32's and 3.73 gears. I love it.
 
I'd never buy another 2.5...
 
BIGWOODY said:
No
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1stgenxxx said:
I'd never buy another 2.5...
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Listen to these two. I had a 2.5 tj in 97 and even with 31's it was a dog. I then had a 84 xj with the 2.5 and it never really had what it needed when I needed it to have it. The 84 had everything from 33's up to 36's with 4.10 and the 5.38's. I have wheeled the snot out of 4 bangers and can tell you Don't go that route thinking it will be enough. Hold out for a 4.0L or you will regret it.
 
i appreciate the help guys. i saw a sick 2.5 yesterday, and my heart sunk when i saw that it wasnt the 4.0. it had a chip in it though. does anyone have any knowledge of chipped 2.5l's?
 
9194x4 said:
i appreciate the help guys. i saw a sick 2.5 yesterday, and my heart sunk when i saw that it wasnt the 4.0. it had a chip in it though. does anyone have any knowledge of chipped 2.5l's?
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2.5 = garbage chipped or not. Do yourself a favor and don't talk yourself into it.
 
Dont sell your z just cut the engine out of it. Buy a 4cyl for cheap and swap the LS. just kidding.
But really this comes up a lot. Heres my opinion: 4cyl, 33s, and stock gears sucks. 6cyl, 33s, and stock gears(3.07) sucks.
 
My 4.0L with manual tranny and 4.56 gears on 35's is pretty slow.
I consider it underpowered.
I wouldn't buy a 4 banger.
 
RHSCTJ said:
Dont sell your z just cut the engine out of it. Buy a 4cyl for cheap and swap the LS. just kidding.
But really this comes up a lot. Heres my opinion: 4cyl, 33s, and stock gears sucks. 6cyl, 33s, and stock gears(3.07) sucks.
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92xj with 32s and 10in wheels (automatic) and i out ran a civic today (5speed) just bc and i :lol:'d :flipoff2:
 
I have a 2.5l in my 95 wrangler with swapped in 9in and 44 geared 4.88 running 38x11 boggers and I get down the highway doing 65 70 no problem but I plan to swap in a v8 eventually. The 2.5 is fine but the 4.0 is much better. For what you are trying to do I would look for a 4.0l 5spd with stock 3.73 gear ratios so you wouldn't need to regear for 33s and since you plan to DD it.
 
I have a 2.5 liter TJ on 35s and I have wheeled it for years and have enjoyed it. I wouldn't ever consider driving my it as a DD, its just not fitted for that, that being said I do DD a bone stock 2.5 TJ to work and back (30 miles) mostly interstate, its rough to get it to stay at 65 and will not pull 5th up hill, keep in mind this is a stock one.

My opinion is there fine off road with the proper gears, but there still going to be slow. There worthless on road unless your stock all around and do not plan on driving over 55. I would get a 4.0 if I had it to do over.
 
Just a heads up... The stock gears for a tj is mostly 3.07... Just saying... But you might get lucky and get em a bit lower... 33's with a stroked 4.0 is OK but I do plan on going to 4.56 or maybe 4.88 with a manual trans
 
mtmech said:
Just a heads up... The stock gears for a tj is mostly 3.07... Just saying... But you might get lucky and get em a bit lower... 33's with a stroked 4.0 is OK but I do plan on going to 4.56 or maybe 4.88 with a manual trans
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4.0L with 5 speed but the 4 poper generally had 4.10's. The Auto 4.0L TJ could have either 3.55 or 3.73's too.
 
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