Well lets think of it this way....
First off, the 4 banger, you have newer better 4 bangers that you already run in other platforms, so by dropping the amc2.5 and using the DCX 2.4 you cut costs and simplify your production.
Now the same thing applies to the 4L, the KJ was designed around using the new mopar v6(which is in the same family as the new for '99 4.7 V8)
So now you can use the 4.7 which is used across the board as your v8 option.
Now by 2004 you only had the 4L being used in the wrangler and the WJ. It cannot be easily used in other chassis, save perhaps for the dakota(physical limitations aside), I would think most people would say a dakota/durango powered 4L would be underpowered.
What it comes down to is that since V8s have become so popular, and how these days everyone seems HP hungry, that you need to move to a family of engines based around a v8/v6.
Now lets say the 4L still did have a home in some chassis and it was reasonable to keep it around-
Well it would be time for an update, while a great engine, it needed a boost.
If the 4L was going to be kept around I think a major redesign was in order - make it a 4V engine with a cross flow head, DOHC, driven by a chain of course. Might even be time to consider switching the block to an AL cast(I'm betting the block casting would need to be changed quite a bit to support an AL block.
the other advantage to having a crossflow head would be better interchangeability between chassis.
Anyways, thats my take on why the 4L met its demise, take some solace in the fact that it still seems to be in production in the bejing Jeep WJ.
Hm. "HP Hungry?" Sounds like Marketing is screwing up again - you want torque in a truck, not HP. It's torque that is going to get a load started moving, and you're going to do a lot of that with a truck...
(Granted, "trucks" aren't really trucks anymore - which is also disheartening. If you want a smooth ride, climate control, and handling in the turns, why for are you buying a truck?)
Of course, we also have marketing to blame for the bastardisation of the word "billet" - A "billet" is either a military housing/bunking slot ("being billeted in Officer's Country",) or is a mill shape of roughly rectangular section ("billet mill stock, 2"x8"x8'.") That "billet grille" is more properly called "machined from billet" - and quite probably "machined from several billets", or they're wasting an awful lot of material to make the thing. ("Blooms" and "slabs" are the other two common shapes. A "bloom" usually ends up being rod stock of various sections, and a "slab" usually comes out to be either sheet stock or plate stock when it's done.) Why is it marketing tends to corrupt words from their original meanings?
If I'm getting a high-speed/low-drag musculecar, I want horsepower at the top end. If I'm getting a truck, I want a hauler - and I want torque. That's where the inline six shines - in production of torque (that's probably got a lot to do with why Cummins makes predominantly inline six engines for light trucks - because they're torque
monsters.)
I may just be a purist, or old before my time; but - dammit - what's wrong with trucks being, well, trucks? If I want something that behaves like a car, I'll go buy a car. If I want IFS/IRS and a smooth ride, I'll go buy a Cadillac. If I want high speed and tight double A-arm suspension, I'll get a Camaro, a Corvette, or a Viper.
You'll note I own none of those.
Rumour has it that HESCO is considering recasting the AMC242 engine block in aluminum to complement the aluminum cylinder head, so perhaps that will bring the idea back? Groundwork for a "Hemi" six has been laid in the 1970's or thereabouts - it was a production item for MOPAR Australia. If it's going to end up being redesigned/reissued from scratch, there's nothing wrong with making it a cross-draught head (yeah, I suppose it can be made SOHC or DOHC as well - but that is something I'd prefer to avoid. It's just me - I know there are some advantages to OHC configurations, but I don't care for them...) Make sure to put in a "sideplate" that can be removed to access lifters, or make the pushrod bores large enough to pass the lifters on the end of a retrieval tool.
If not a "true Hemi," make it a "pentroof" setup (which is what the original Hemi damned near was anyhow) and go that route. And, for the love of Gawd and all you hold Holy,
do not make it an interference engine or run on a timing belt! Timing belts are silly ideas for high-reliability/high-endurance applications, and interference engines strike me as remarkably bad engineering in the first place. Bear in mind the "true" Jeep market - people like us (Suzy Soccermom is just going to have to go back to buying minivans - she don't need 4WD anyhow. Put in a soundproof divider between the front seats and the passenger compartment - they don't need any distractions while driving about anyhow. And I use the word "driving" advisedly - I've seen far and away too many of these bimbesses causing trouble on the roads out here, and almost been wiped out by a few...
(While we're on the subject of "distracted driving," the penalty for DWY is not severe enough, and the penalty for the new DWT - Driving While Texting - law is probably not severe enough either. The next damned fool that misses sideswiping me by mere inches and holds up his phone - or points to his earpiece - like it's a valid excuse shall be removed from his vehicle and beated about the noggin with the same cellphone.
I'VE HAD IT! People - if you don't pay attention while you're horsing around two or three tonnes of metal, you're going to kill someone - so it's a pre-emptive strike designed to minimise damage to the community. You Have Been Warned.)
The lines between vehicle types are being blurred altogether too much. Trucks aren't really trucks anymore. The "SUV" is now a glorified 4WD/AWD minivan, most cars have become "luxury" vehicles, and people are just plain wimps about noises and such. Frankly, I
like an engine that lets me know it's running! There should be a bit of rumble and vibration to a large engine in a truck or a car - not like it's running on open headers, but enough to let you know it's there, and let you know whether it's running or not. (That said, I did like the sound of my 1987 running on an open downpipe some years ago, when I had the catalytic converter on back in the cargo area, taking it to get it welded. But, not for every day. The Walker Turbo II and PFP Universal Cat sound right about where I'd like it - but a cut-out for tripping car alarms would be amusing...)
Dropping the AMC 2.46L/150ci I4 makes some small sense - four-poppers proliferate (although I still think the one left from AMC was one of the better ones. The Pontiac Iron Duke 2.5L/151ci had already ceased production by then, I believe - probably sometime in the late 1990's.) V6 engines have really only recently gained in popularity on their own (relatively speaking,) and the inline seems to be enjoying a nascent resurgence in popularity (witness the new GM, and the GMDAT FWD I6 used by Kia and Suzuki.) The Ford Cleveland Six (240/300ci) held on in light trucks for a while - to 1986 or so - and the Chrysler Slant Six (225ci, high deck) held on to 1985 or so in light trucks - and even longer in industrial equipment and marine applications as well. No, I don't know why the I6 tends to do better in torque production than a V6 of comparable displacement. However, for light trucks and low speed/long-term operation, it's virtually ideal (forklifts use a lot of the Chrysler 225, and then various displacements of Continental flathead sixes as well - they run all day long at somewhere around 1800-2500rpm without a hiccough. A lot of fours are used in those applications as well - but the only ones that don't choke in normal operation are either the Perkins Diesel engines, Continental Flatheads, Waukesha wet-sleeve fours, or the Pontiac 151ci/2.5L. Go figure. Of course, the Waukesha oil sump ends up looking like you've been mixing chocolate milkshakes, but that's normal for that engine. Does take some getting used to, tho...)
Knowing AMC, any changes needed to go from an iron casting to an aluminum one wouldn't be great - AMC did have a habit of overbuilding, for various reasons (not the least of which being that they were usually "behind the eight-ball," and didn't have time for extensive testing. That's why all AMC V8 cranks were forged
from the factory!)
Meh - you've gotten me started again. Shame on you!
