this is one area i have never been happy with my ranger- power production with the 4.0 ohv..thus far doesn't seem to be an engine that responds well to mods- i believe mostly due to its low rpm nature.. wondering if headers and efan would wake it up at all or best just to go the 5.0 route or eventually sell it and just get a v8 truck to begin with? thoughts and/ or other suggestions? thanks

 

dont waste your money on the 4.0OHV or 4.0 SOHC.. they just arent going to be huge power producers. They do great for what they are. Obviously a 5.0 will give you some more power.

 

thus far all mods i have done to my 4.0 ohv have made minimal improvement at best..how cost effective is it t get a 5.0 explorer and swap everything? am wondering if a cam would help matters- gotta change my timing cover anyways

 

Nope cam really isnt going to do much.. you cant just drop a cam in.. there is timing and tuning that you should do when swapping a cam that way you make the most power out of it.

5.0 is going to be best bang for buck.. or buying something that has more ***** to it.

Look at car-parts.com i think they link a bunch of salvage yards and you can search for things.

 

Just get a v8 truck to begin with. Most cost effective route IMO.

 

This ^

In all honesty.. our trucks are not power houses and never will be. Even with a SC on the 4.0.. the numbers arent impressive. You want a powerful truck go get a diesel.

The money you put into it you will never get out of it.

 

i'd be happy if my ranger had similiar performance as my girlfriend's 3.0 taurus... going v8 or replacing are the most cost effective ways? either option imo would probably cost me another $5000 by the time all done

 

The heads on the 4.0's are pure crap. If you do a cam and stage heads with a tune you will get around 40hp. The engine wakes up and does seem to be powerful. Downside is your looking at north of 3k for that 40 hp.

A 5.0 swap with a rebuild can be done for less. I got my donor for 600, and sold enough parts off make it free. So 800 ish for a rebuild 700 for headers add a cam and it should be a 75-100 hp upgrade. For less then 2000.

Granted it depends on what you can find, keep your eyes open If this economy hasn't screwed you over yet.

 

I would scour craigslist and search for a wrecked Explorer with a 5.0, make sure everything is there and start tear down on your truck and get ready for swapping. It'd be much easier with having the trucks side by side for a 5.0 swap if you have the availability of that.

 

most of the 5.0 explorers i have seen are 2-3000 then adding various parts to freshen up and increase power more why i am thinking about 5000

 

The 5.0 explorers are also either 2wd or awd so since you've got a 4X4 truck you're going to be running awd unless you get a 2wd transmission or swap to a BW 4406 out of an F-150 then you'll have a traditional transfer case. That sounds a bit steep unless you're looking at complete good trucks.

 

I would go with the 5.0. You can't beat that V8 sound and it doesnt take that much money to wake an old 302 up. Heads, cam, and headers on a 302 would be a big difference and not that much more money than what you would spend on your 4.0.

 

Just get a 6.7 Power Stroke or Cummins You will be quite happy with the power output

 

if i had a carb non computerized 2wd ranger i'd do it in a flash... growing up i remember our neighbour did it to early 80s era ranger- had to do a body lift to make it fit- not sure if needed though, i always considered him a bit of a hacker.. wondering if a gear change would also help? not looking for a race truck or anything - mostly better acceleration

 

Yea...that would help. what size tire are you running?

 

p245/75 r16 .. no idea what gears are in the truck.. has off road option but not sure if ford changed anything there

 

Hmm...yeah I'm not sure without knowing the axle code off your driver door.

 

4.10's would probably be descent with those size tires and fortunately enough that was a stock size so you could just do an axle swap instead of paying someone to regear

 

Just better accel?

Torque converter will do that for you. Its the biggest bang for the buck mod I did.

 

axle code is 97.. drastic change in rpms? i know i helped my 95 mustang going to 373... also my ranger is a 5 speed if that helps.. already have the hurst shifter ( though the rattling is driving me nuts)

 

Oh it looks as if you already have 4.10's next step up would be 4.56's to get power to wheels quicker but then its also going to limit your top speed so highway RPM's may suffer more than what you'd like. Maybe the bushings are bad in your shifter.

 

shifter has done that since new ..only few months old right now..keep meaning to try some of how tos to reduce the noise.. have a efan on the way ( going to be able use either way) a magnaflow muffler ( i honestly believe i lost power with the glasspack i currently have- not sure if going to 2.5 piping helped matters either) a set of headers ( heard somewhere the ohv benefits more from these than the sohc) thinking because i have to fix my timing cover leak - possibly a underdrive pulley ( balancer has to come off anyways) only thing probably left is a tuner but have had a bad experience with a jet handheld programmer - so am hesitant to try that

 

I think the OHV would definitely benefit from a set of headers...I haven't had any experience with programmers so can't offer an insight there. Probably wouldn't hurt to go with an aftermarket intake if you haven't done so already, the way they are factory doesn't help matters its too much of a maze for the air to get to the filter.

 

Didn't notice anything other than sound and maybe a bit of economy.


This OHV needs head work and a cam to achieve something. It just doesn't flow enough air to make power. If power is your goal.


IMHO, a higher stall converter gets the truck moving a lot faster off the line. I love mine.

 

high stall converter wouldn't help in my case, have a standard trans... bought a spare intake manifold i want to port in my spare time ( though i have had it for about a year now and it's still sitting lol ) not sure how much it would help but figured with a cam and reworked heads should be worth something