I have a 2004 FX4 Level 2 XLT with a 4.0L SOHC. Everything is stock except for a cat back exhaust. What are the best bang for my buck engine mods I should do?

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Maintenance. Oil changes, filter changes, tune ups, etc. keep it happy.

There are no cheap (I assume "bang for your buck" is code for cheap) engine mods. There is a super charger available, but not cheap. You can get aftermarket cam and heads, but not cheap. You can do a custom turbo setup, but again, not cheap. You could run a tuner (tuner, not "chip") and that's fairly cheap, but you'll get minimal gains.

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its amazing how a simple tune up will wake up an engine on an older car. I'm replacing the intake gaskets this weekend, but I also have new plugs and wires and coil going in at the same time. Pretty excited for the difference I'll get in the engine performance and fuel economy increases.

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I can spend money, I just mean best for the value. And I am looking at supercharging down the road though. What is involved in putting in better cams and heads? And what tuners are good? What about bolt on mods like intake and a MAF sensor or something like that?

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Check out member "02rangerFX4" build thread, he is the only ranger owner I know of that ran aftermarket heads/cams. They weren't cheap.

A lot of guys use the SCT X4 tuner. It comes with canned tunes (I believe), but custom tunes will yield the best results. Do your research before purchasing a tuner.

Not much, or any, bolt on mods that do anything.

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What about porting the heads?

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Porting/polishing won't gain a whole lot without a cams to help compliment it and vice versa. Usually the head/cam setup gains 30-40 hp and torque. And just for the heads and cams, you can just about buy the supercharger kit and install that much easier. The only reason I have heads and cams is because I bought them for a steal used, $400 for everything. Super six motorsports sells heads and cams but the whole packages is upwards of $2500. Not only that, but you'll need a decent amount of mechanical know how, especially on the 4.0 with the cam setup, probably an extra $1000 on the side for gaskets, bolts, and some "oh shit I broke that part" here and there. And that's if you do it yourself. Supercharger will yield more power for the money and should be easier to install. Both setups are going to need a custom tunes so the computer won't freak out. Here's the kicker, if you have heads, cams AND forced induction, they all compliment each other extremely well and can result in some serious power gains. The guy I bought the heads and cams off of ran them with a supercharger at 12 psi (with head studs) and made close to 450 RWHP out of his 4.0 ranger. But you're talking a good 10k in engine work, 7-8k if you do the work yourself.

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I think camodown is selling a complete supercharger setup. I'd see what he wants.

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