The Jeep 4.0l is a good motor, they still use them in the Wranglers, not sure about the grand cherokee's. I had one in an 88 Cherokee, put a header and a glass pack on it along with a open intake and 5.0 injectors along with d44's front and back with 4.56's and a 5 speed and that thing would climb anything. Too bad the rest of the Jeep wasnt as good. The AMC 4.2 before that was a great engine also, good tourque with the right gearing.
I had a 92 F150 with the 300 and a 5 speed and it was the only thing that didnt break on that truck.

 

I actually took a good running 360 V8 out of my 72 to put my built 300 in. I love it. Now I have more power over all than I did with my 8 popper, better mileage, more reliability, and ease of maintaince. (Now I can Sit next to the engine if I ever need to work on it! )

 

The carbureted Jeep inline sixes were really reliable engines. Second only to the Ford 300 I-6 in my book. The U.S. Postal service put millions and millions of miles on those 232's and 258's.

 

A good comparison here! My best friend has a '78 Dodge Ramcharger with a slant six and I have an '83 F150 with the 300. Both trucks are granny 4 spd. 4x4's. His has 3.55 gears and mine has 3.08's. His slant six was rebuilt a 1 1/2 years ago. It is bored .030 over, has a mild cam in it, ported and polished head, 2bbl, and 2 1/2 inch flowmaster exhaust. Mine is completely stock with the exception of no smog equip. Both trucks have 31" tires. We have raced several times and every time he just barely pulls away from me at about 45 mph, but I start gaining on him at about 80 mph. Both trucks top out at 90 mph. But as far as towing goes, there's no comparison. My 300 will flat out pull his slant any day of the week. Whether its 1000 lbs or 6000 lbs, My truck will walk away from his, hands down. Gotta love the 300! I am (hopefully) about to become the owner of a '67 GMC one ton flatbed with the 292/four speed. I'm anxious to see what I can do with that one.

 

I have had two f150 with the 300. One was fuel injected, and I would say that really woke that motor up! I would love to have it back, like a fool I traded it for a 302.

The only problem I know out of the slant six was the dizzy. In a hard rain, or if going thruogh a deep puddle, it would get wet. Buddy had one, and carried a can of WD40 every with him.

 

Used to drive an old dodge with a six and 4 speed. Actually learned stick on it. Nice truck, lots of low end grunt, and had hundreds of thousands of miles on it. My truck has a 300 EFI in it. Mechanically then engine is sound and smooth running, when its running right. It will last longer than the rest of the truck, garaunteed This was the first year for EFI for the 6, and mine is plagued with electrical (EFI) problems So, I have never truely enjoyed a "perfect" running 300. Even with its problems, it pulls like a champ

 

That Jeep 4.0 is based on the old, strong, reliable AMC 232 and 258's. Those in line 6's are my second favorite, next to the Ford I6-300. Besides all the Jeeps they were in for decades, the U.S. Postal Service but millions (maybe billions) of miles on those things in every kind of weather. They were like Timex watches, just kept on ticking. Not a lot of horses, but had more torque than their V8 counterparts at the time.

I still have a '77 CJ5 with a 258 engine - the body and drive line are heavily modded, but the engine is basically stock except for a Clifford intake and headers and a big 2-bbl. Weber carb and K&N filter. The engine internals have never been touched through all these years and it has done some pretty heavy-duty off-roading the last 15 years or so.

BTW, the same transmission that made the Ford 300 shine (the Borg Warner T-18 toploader four speed manual, 6.32 to 1 granny gear first), bolts right up to the AMC bell housing. I put a mid'70's Ford T-18 in my Jeep about 15 years ago. Had to change out the input shaft to the transfer case and install new, different length drive shafts front and rear to make it work, but it is absolutely awesome in low range first gear.

 

I've had several rucks with inline 6 engines and own one now. I bought a 67 F-100 from a guy a few years ago who couldn't get it to run. The crankcase was full of gas and had been run that way before it gave up. A rebuilt carb and new fuel pump along with an oil change and it was up and running. Still runs strong today, but it has a new owner. I had a 70 GMC truck that I drove for many years. It had a 292 which was a very impressive motor, even compared to the 250 sixes I've had. It would top out over 100 mph. Now I have a 67 International with a 220 six. Talk about overbuilt. That motor is huge. Has about a 3500 red line. With 4.56 gears it tops out at around 65 mph. I miss the old inline 6 motors. If they still made them I'd probably buy one. Maybe that's why I like my V10. Sounds kinda like a six and has low end grunt. But the similarities end there!

 

I put a V8 to shame last night! My buddy was ripping bushes out in his yard with his 79 Plymouth Trailduster (318, auto, fulltime 4wd), he was having a heck of a time trying to get them out. It didn't matter how hard he pulled he couldn't quite get em. Of course I had to give him a hard time about it, "Aw come on that ol Dodge can't pull those little bushes out!?" I joked with him. He said "okay well let's see if your Ford will pull them out!" I was up for the challenge..."okay I pull em!" I backed up to the one that he couldn't move, we hooked up the chain and the towstrap. I locked the hubs, pulled er down into low lock, and popped it into granny gear. I slowly inched forward until the strap and chain got tight, then I laid into the gas a little bit. You could hear the roots snapping and popping, suddenly all 4 of my tires broke loose and started digging trenches. I then stuffed the clutch and put in reverse to put some slack in the strap. This time I pulled into 2nd gear and gave it a little more gas, I got a good head of steam going and before the strap got tight I stuffed the clutch to let the weight of the truck jerk out the bush. It stopped me dead in my tracks, I was thinking "Damn this thing must have one heck of a taproot!" I backed up one more time and gave er hell, when the strap got tight I heard my buddy yelling "Give it gas dude you got it!" I laid into it a little bit and I heard a loud pop, the bush finally came out. One down, three to go! I hooked onto the next one in granny/ 4 low, one tug and pull and out she came. Last one... same thing. I always look foward to anytime I can show off the Blue Oval muscle.

 

Low end torque, granny gearing, 4x4, locking hubs (sounds like you have lockers front and back or at leat LS diffs if all four wheels were spinning). Yeah. That will beat high end horsepower every time for this kind of real work. And those 318's as good as they were, were pretty weak in the late 70's with all the low compression, air pumps, polution control stuff, etc.

BTW tell us more about your Ford.

Nice post.

 

We still have my late father in law's early 60s Valiant with a Slant Six that was a push button automatic. He swore by that engine and had a few over the years.

For ourselves, my husband bought a used 64 Dodge farm truck with a Slant Six when we lived on a Placer mining claim behind Ehrenberg Az back about 1974. The 52 Chevy truck, he had, blew a piston while driving it to San Diego for our marriage in 1972. It never did run right even after my husband and his father worked on it. I lived in the San Diego area and met him at a SCA Tourny (Society for Creative Anachronism history group) in 1971 and we married a few months later.

The Dodge's Slant Six used oil like crazy at first because the valves needed work badly from just plain lack of maintaince on the farm. But it ran well enough until my husband was finally able to work on it a few months later. It was a 3spd "three on a tree" and we went places in the desert that others say could or would only attempt with 4x4s.

The only reason why he stopped using it was in 1984 the radiator sprung a bad leak while driving and the engine overheated. Cracked the head. Been setting in the back all these years with him meaning to get it fixed but never found the time.

The friend I got my 82 E100 van (300) from told us that alot of people are looking for Slant Sixes now. For that matter any Inline for their torque and pulling power. He drives a 90s Ford truck with a fuel injected 300 ....the last year these were made. Prefers this engine instead of the V8s.

 

I also think the injected 300 is the best thing since sliced bread. I had 2 carbed 300's, loved em! And I also had a carbed 240 I-6 in my 72 F-100-loved it too. But the injected 300 in my 94 is awesome. I prefer it over the small v-8's anytime. I cant believe that Ford would engineer a good efi system for the 300, and bring the old inline into the 21st century-then scrap it after a few short years. I really wish they would bring that one back!

 

I have had the privlage of owning all 3 at one time, the first was a 72 dodge d150 camper special. with the 225 slant 6 in it, the truck was great at the time, I was in high school, and I used to cruzz the bvld in it playing ACDC on a factory 8 track. it was sold a few years latter,

bought a 69 chevy c/10 with a 292 and 3 on the tree. that engine had a few mods done on it when I got it . had it up to 110mph until the front and rear oil seals went out and so did all the oil. I latter destroyed that truck.

the truck I have now is a 1980 f100 with a 300 I6 in it. what I like about this truck is I can leave it sitting for months at a time putt a fresh battery on it and a few patts on the go pedal she always starts and will get me from point A to point B and back. I have vowed to myself to never abuse this truck or sell it. because it was there for me when my other vehicles wouldnt start or go.

a straight 6 or slant 6 are built to last, the only draw backs is that none have performance parts available as a v8 or a 4 banger have.

 

I agree. but the same goes for all I6's I still dont know why they all quit building them for newer vehicles.

 

There are plenty out there. Just about anything you need. You can get pistons, cams, rockers, Intake, Headers, and ignition for these. Just have to know where to look.