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Anyone running a Lq4 or lq9 in thier jeep?

42K views 151 replies 22 participants last post by  disturbedsledneck 
#1 ·
Just was curios what you thought of the power and what kind of driveline your running. If you made a harness or orderd one? If the 6.0l is that much better than an LS1 or a 5.3l? My friend has a 5.3l in his yj that he rebuilt and changed to Carb with a heathy cam, it runs good up top but not really impressed with the off idle respounce. For reference I run 38's with 60's front and rear (78' Ford w/4.88's) and plan on using a np231c hd and a 4l60e (wide chain) with a Tera-Flex super short eliminator as I allready T-case and it will bolt right up to the 4l60e, as far as I know. Any info would be great. Also did you do it your self or have someone else do it?

Thanks.
 
#42 ·
No I ve heard some people had to do head work in order to run a cam. upgraded valves and such. Just woundering if it was neccesary or not. What would be a good price for a complete drive line, I've found low mileage 5.3l for 3000.00. But as poste befor I don't want to be disappionted with the power.
 
#43 ·
valve springs are usually only the required upgrade for a cam because of the higher lift and faster acceleration rates of the valvetrain with the bigger lobes needs more spring to keep it under control. I went with hollow stem sodium something filled valves and .080" wall chromoly push rods to help stiffen my valvetrain up in addition to the springs.

you will only be disappointed with the power if you want a race car. a 5.3L isnt going to pull like a modded diesel, it will move around just fine and on the top end it'll suprize you. a 6.0L can be modded for a couple grand and make your jeep run 120 mph in the quarter mile and to some that's too much power and others that's just right.

you have to find out what you want out of it and tehn make that decision on your own... maybe go for a ride with some people before you make your final decision.

for 3k I'd go with the 6.0L. for 1500 I'd do a 5.3L
 
#44 ·
I paid $2600 at Schramm's for my 6.0. I heard of someone getting a 5.3+trans+t-case from them for $1600 but it sounds way too low to me.

I had no problem fitting my intake under my jeep hood. I used basically the same motor mount locations as the 2 previous SBC's that were in the jeep but I did have to change the design. This put the stock pan too deep. Sure, it looks good for general clearance but I have scraped my low profile corvette pan on rocks. It basically sits parallel to the trans pan. Both are now covered by a skid plate. Haggar, my C6 pan is basically the same as what was in the GTO.

I had Jim's performance do my wiring harness and reprogram the ECM. While doing that, I had him remove the speed sensor. I didn't care. Now, there is a possible down side to that. There are times where I drop from throttle down to idle really fast and it occasionally stalls. (maybe once per 8 hour day of wheeling) Jim tells me that is because there is no speed sensor and the computer can't monitor a relationship between rpm and speed. Never really been a problem though.

I have dual 2 1/2" exhaust all the way back. Not 2 into one. I didn't want to have to screw with a crossover when pulling trans or t-case.
 
#45 ·
Dang, this thread got good!!!!

Anyways, give weller truck parts in Grand Rapids a call, they sell complete sets for decent prices. I think they were 1500 for a 5.3 complete. Never priced a 6.0 from them as I am to cheap to pay for the 5.3. I went the part my own vehicle route (bought totaled truck and now parting it out), works for me.

I am going 5.3, unless I find a 6.0 to part out. I enjoy playing in the sand and hp is the fun part there. If no 6.0 comes along I will run a 5.3 till I find one, then put the 5.3 in something else or sell it, no big deal.
 
#47 ·
Just finished up one in my brother in-laws cj. I wasn't the main builder on it but after seeing it perform I would definitely not run the 3/4 ton trans. That trans makes the thing a dog off the line. We are going to be doing some programming to see about getting the trans to stay in 1st when you lock it down. Once you get rolling there is tons of power. He runs 4:56 and 35's. For the oil pan we just cut a notch and made a new corner for the drive shaft clearance.
 
#64 · (Edited)
No 4L60e and 4L85e have different ratios!

Here's 4L85e specs,
Transmission General Specifications
Name
Hydra-Matic® 4L80-E

RPO Codes
MT1

Production Location
Ypsilanti, MI

Vehicle Platform - Engine/Transmission - Usage
C/K, C/K 800, G, P32/42

Transmission Drive
Longitudinally Mounted Rear Wheel Drive

1st Gear Ratio
2.482:1

2nd Gear Ratio
1.482:1

3rd Gear Ratio
1.000:1

4th Gear Ratio
0.750:1

Reverse
2.077:1

Torque Converter Size - Diameter of Torque Converter Turbine
310 mm

Here's 4L65e
Transmission General Specifications
Transmission General Specifications (4L60-E) Name
Hydra-matic 4L60-E

RPO Codes
M30, M32, M70

Production Location
Toledo, Ohio

Romulus, MI

Vehicle Platform, Engine/Transmission, Usage
C/K (GMT 800)

Transmission Drive
Longitudinally-Mounted Rear Wheel Drive

1st Gear Ratio
3.059:1

2nd Gear Ratio
1.625:1

3rd Gear Ratio
1.000:1

4th Gear Ratio
0.696:1

Reverse
2.294:1

Torque Converter Size, Diameter of Torque Converter Turbine
300 mm

Oh and to be clear, 4L65e and 4L60e have the same gearing, the only difference
is the input shaft and sometimes a 5 pinion planetary.
The 4L80e and 4L85e also share the same gearing.
 
#51 · (Edited)
Awsome...man I love this forum. Hey Tomh you never answered about the headers.

Whiterino, did that price include the trans, harness, ecm, and all the accessories? If so I'm makin' a phone call on Monday

95geo I to like to run the dunes as you can see in my avatar I'm a windage and ellevation kind of guy, So I want power, don't get me wrong I like to crawl but there is somthin about the dunes that makes you want to go fast, plus all my buddies run V8 's and like two race. I think that a LQ9 with a good tune and maybe a 100 shot of the go juice would realy surprise them.:rock:
 
#52 ·
Pretty simular to what I am thinking. Custom ecm tune (probably black bear performance?) and some nos (should be able to throw 100-150 at it). Only bad thing about nos is you can't have to much timing and use it??
 
#54 ·
Depths of Different Oil Pans
LS7 – dry sump - 4.5”

Bat-wing Vette – 4.75” (C5 corvette (with LS1)

Corvette – 5” (non bat-wing)

Camaro/Firebird – 5.5”

GTO – front sump – 6”

Cadillac CTS-V – 6.75”

Hummer H3 5.3L – 7.5”

Truck 8.25”
 
#60 ·
Yeah.... and the gears.... and the ....... he didn't hit the nitrous with any of this either..... there's a bunch more when he really wants to go fast......:teehee:
 
#63 ·
Yeah the red jeep is kind of extreme but I like it. Not to sure how it would handle touchy crawlin. But man I bet it's a hoot in a strait line. Is he part of the Speedfixx crowd that had videos of a couple wranglers with 5.3l's romping around the dunes?
 
#71 ·
yes- that thing is a bullet in a straight line and yes, he's in Speedfixx. A few of the guys run the 5.3's with a 250 shot of the bottle and they are stupid fast too....

I assumed that with your questions pertaining to this thread you were looking for a fast poewerplant, not a crawler......
 
#70 ·
Exactly my point. With those mods and lightly milled stock heads my buddy is putting down very impressive power out of a very mild 5.3. He runs in the mid 13s in the 1/4 in a 4800lb truck and an unimpressive tune. Even if you already have a 5.3 and want big power without tearing into it go forced induction. Another buddy of mine (who's a member on here also) has a 5.3, ZO6 cam, and Magnacharger running around 9lbs of boost in a ~5200lb 4wd truck and it's downright fast as hell. Hell, there's a guy over on the west side of the state running a turbocharged aluminum 5.3 in a 4wd truck on 35s and he put down almost 700hp to the wheels! 5.3s are no slouch, it's just a matter of what you have planned for it and whether it's worth the extra coin for a larger bore.
 
#76 ·
nitrous- anything under 100 should be ok with the existing tune, premium fuel would be a good idea. If you want to run a lot more then you will need to have your calibration modified for less timing and more fuel so the ignition charge doesnt preignite too much before top dead center or you'll be looking through your block in no time.

I use www.ls1tech.com almost daily. Lots of info there, just dont choose your cam based on something a car guy runs. If you want something comparable to what we do then www.tbssowners.com is another good place because the power curves on most of those trucks is something that our vehicles would do well with.

For some reason I cant get the idea of twin 62mm turbo's on the TBSS out of my head :teehee:
 
#77 ·
Going back to engine prices. I got my engine from Morris Rose Auto (Im pretty sure thats the name) and I got my '03 60K mile 5.3 from the fan to the flywheel with all accesories (alt was bad though) and wiring harness (was cut at the trans though.)
I got there and they started the engine and ran it and then pulled it. I got a 2 yr warrenty on the engine and I paid $800.

I also got the peddle for DBW.
 
#78 ·
I have to stick up for Schram's as a great place for take-out motors. Mine was $4K (2007) delivered to OH for a <500mi LQ9 motor, 4L65e trans, TC, with all the accessories, cables, control modules, hoses, fittings, etc. (Easily $2-3K under what an installed crate motor would have run by the time I added a starter, alt, P/S pump, A/C comp, etc. let alone the trans et al.) The power train was well packaged on the pallet and arrived in perfect condition.

On my DBW setup they omitted the TAC module. As I was working on other stuff, I really didn't notice 'til more than 90 days from the time it got here. One email exchange and they sent a TAC and a matching pedal (Just in case the original pedal was different.) No hassle, no charge.

On installation the motor started within 1-2 revs without any drama. Between everything being "as advertised" and the integrity of the customer service process, I'd recommend them in a heartbeat.
 
#79 ·
sandviper, yeah I'm looking for speed but more so reliability and drivability as my jeep see the street alot. I just want somthin' with some get up and go. So you think an LQ4 would be better than a Lq9. I was thinking the Lq9 as the wiring harness works already for the 4l60e, plus I would like to find a motor/tranny combo and I don't have room for the 4l80e plus I would have to run a different tranfercase. What cam is everybody running and did you have to do anything else?
 
#80 ·
The harness should be interchangeable between an LQ4 or LQ9 depending on year, and for either one you should be able to find it set up for either trans. My cam is a 224/224 .581 111LSA. It's fairly aggressive for offroad use but torque won't exactly be a problem with an LQ4 regardless. I'd aim for something in the 214-220 range for all around use. You'll want to upgrade valve springs for sure(yellow LS6 springs are good for .550 lift, Comp 918s are also a good option, I think they work well to around .625 lift), pushrods some people do and some don't, a good tune is needed for sure, and bigger injectors will probably be needed. Some people get away with less but I wouldn't want to risk it from what I've seen.

Cam- $300
Valvesprings- $180
Pushrods- $100
Injectors- $300
Tune- $200-400
 
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