JKU LS Swap

Blake_JK

Blake_JK

Active Member
Joined
Feb 6, 2020
Location
Mocksvegas
The J wagon decided it wanted to dump coolant in cyclinder 6. Old girl has got 200k on it right now so I can’t be too mad. Don’t ever want to let it go and always thought the power sucked out of the 3.8. Now I’m thinking about going after an LS swap. Anybody done this? Other than swapping the harness and other related motor items, how much driveline changes did you make? I can see this turn into opening a big can of worms and from the little research I’ve done, figures vary a lot. Any info would be appreciated.

Other thought is replacing the head gasket or head and keep rocking until she blows again but what’s the fun in that.

The goal is to be able to play with it someday and use as a “somewhat capable,” camping, weekend rig. Not extremely pushed right now to fix it. Got the ole goat getting me around right now.
 
@marty79 has done a couple I believe
 
828-284-1302
I've been doing LS swaps for 5 years now I'm booked up until February and that's pretty much all I do a lot of my work is floating around on one of these threads so I let that speak for myself if you're interested hit me up text me first cuz I'm super busy and sometime after hours or on the weekend we can call and chat thanks
 
I havent looked into this very deep in a few years, but one challenge with a JK is getting all of the guages/cruise/BCM things to work correctly, since the JK is canbus. The hemi swap is popular because the canbus works together more easily. Im sure it can be solved with aftermarket guages, just depends on what you want and are willing to spend.
 
paradisePWoffrd said:
I havent looked into this very deep in a few years, but one challenge with a JK is getting all of the guages/cruise/BCM things to work correctly, since the JK is canbus. The hemi swap is popular because the canbus works together more easily. Im sure it can be solved with aftermarket guages, just depends on what you want and are willing to spend.
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Yep, hemi or gen4+ ls can be made to talk. Or slap a Holley EFI on it and some aftermarket gauges.
 
paradisePWoffrd said:
I havent looked into this very deep in a few years, but one challenge with a JK is getting all of the guages/cruise/BCM things to work correctly, since the JK is canbus. The hemi swap is popular because the canbus works together more easily. Im sure it can be solved with aftermarket guages, just depends on what you want and are willing to spend.
Click to expand...
I looked at doing a hemi swap vs a ls swap hemi swap a while back in my jeep. The cost was about 3 times the money for the stuff you need to do it vs the ls swap. Still haven't done mine yet not had the time but my Jeep is still going.
 
Im gonna chime in. So this is Blake's first ever vehicle purchase. Hence no go on buying another "built" Jeep. He is leaning toward aftermarket harness, fuel control and gauges. We are also discussing a crate block Holley aftermarket accessories as a package for the ps, ac, alt, ect. Probably a fuel management and guge combo as well. The transmission and transfercase is up in the air.

Saying all that to throw out is this more sensible then looking for a lower miles donor and buying a vehicle to gut?

He has no plans to sell and we are concerned with buying a problem or having to turn around and rebuild used parts.

Neither of us are experienced Cheby fellas either.
Reliable and repairable/trouble shooting ease is what he is after.
 
WARRIORWELDING said:
Im gonna chime in. So this is Blake's first ever vehicle purchase. Hence no go on buying another "built" Jeep. He is leaning toward aftermarket harness, fuel control and gauges. We are also discussing a crate block Holley aftermarket accessories as a package for the ps, ac, alt, ect. Probably a fuel management and guge combo as well. The transmission and transfercase is up in the air.

Saying all that to throw out is this more sensible then looking for a lower miles donor and buying a vehicle to gut?

He has no plans to sell and we are concerned with buying a problem or having to turn around and rebuild used parts.

Neither of us are experienced Cheby fellas either.
Reliable and repairable/trouble shooting ease is what he is after.
Click to expand...
I think it all depends on how much you want to spend. Buying a complete, running vehicle, and driving it for a while to make sure it checks out, is likely the cheapest way to get the drivetrain you want. Low mileage takeouts can be had from local yards or other suppliers, that will be as dependable as buying new, and have a warranty if you dont take too long on installation.
 
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