The Ellusive 5.9 L

S

SLAYER

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Roseville/California
Has anyone driven a 5.9 L ZJ?
I just got done with my buddies 5.9 dakota single cab, installing a new 52 mm throttlebody and K&N FPIK (or what ever FLIP FPLK). And threw in some 4.56 gears. My god this thing is evil fast! We were talking and he reminded me of the rare 5.9 L ZJ. I havnt riden in one of them but i could imagine it would be a monster of power. Or dangerous as hell.
Whats the scoop on these ZJ's in hiding? Reliabilty?
:cheers:
 
They are a rocket, guy I worked with bought one the same time I got my 98XJ. He went hog wild on it thoough, he's a dink [DINKS, Double Income, No Kids] that engine was out and being balanced and blueprinted, head work, $12K later it was back in. We used to car pool so his was a DD from Pa to NJ, 120mi a day. Last time I saw him he had just gotten a new engine that was being built for these long tublar shaped paxton superchargers that he got from an aston martin I think, never saw it finished, he transferred to southern bell. I have heard the tranny can be a problem for parts. He for sure rattled my cage a few times with that thing, I could not believe that the transfer case held up, it would smoke all 4 tires at launch and he had to have the seats rebuilt 3x's before they finally got enough reinforcement. He also went wild with the soundproofing too.. The kicker was the SOB looked bone stock except for the dual exhaust and fatter pirellis....
 
I work with a girl who drives a black one, I was trying to tell her how rare and cool it was but she didn't get it. . . oh well. Her's is a laredo, but It's all body color, instead of the gray plastic you usually see along the bottoms, it looks way better this way.
 
Buddy here in DE has a 98' Limited with the infamous 5.9. 4.5 RE Kit, BB, and whatever else imaginable... Bad Bitch!!!
 
MTjeeper said:
I work with a girl who drives a black one, I was trying to tell her how rare and cool it was but she didn't get it. . . oh well. Her's is a laredo, but It's all body color, instead of the gray plastic you usually see along the bottoms, it looks way better this way.
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If it says Laredo it is NOT a 5.9ltr. Many Laredo's came with body colored molding. My ex's 5.2 Laredo has body colored, and a guy I used to work with had a Laredo that was loaded up just like a Limited, body colored molding. The 5.9 came in one flavor only that was Limited. Hood vents, honey comb grill, and 5.9limited badging are the tell tell sings. I have seen white, silver, and green. IIRC there was black too.
 
KarlVP said:
Or, you can shoehorn a 360 from a dodge pickup into a zj with minimal effort.
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You could but it still wouldn't be as fast as a 5.9 limited (assuming you left the moter stock). They have different heads, and a different computer. There a lot of other things that the 5'9 Limited got over the reguler Limited too.
http://www.nagca.com/nagca.htm

EDIT: You will have to go to the tech section, and then to the vehicle spec. page.
 
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scoobyxj said:
If it says Laredo it is NOT a 5.9ltr. Many Laredo's came with body colored molding. My ex's 5.2 Laredo has body colored, and a guy I used to work with had a Laredo that was loaded up just like a Limited, body colored molding. The 5.9 came in one flavor only that was Limited. Hood vents, honey comb grill, and 5.9limited badging are the tell tell sings. I have seen white, silver, and green. IIRC there was black too.
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I will have to look again, I know under the hood It's a got the 360 tags cause I looked, but it doesn't have the gold shit all over it that the limiteds do, it does havd dark charcoal leather and probly every option imaginable though, so I could be mistaken.
 
I love the 5.9 V8s. About 20 of them for sale in Colorado on AutoTrader. Thinking about getting one after college depending on what fuel prices become. My mum has a '98 Laredo and how many time I wished it had the hood louvers and chrome tail pipe I can not say.

There's a video on youtube I believe with a guy doing a four wheel burn out in one, and he's tow strapped to the ground so he smoked them for a good two minutes.
 
Darn you, found a nice one in NJ for under $6k.....guy is probably a commuter and it's eating him alive gas wise...
 
my 5.9, not in GC but in my dakota got about 9 on prem, damn i miss that truck. got my XJ so i would not have to drive it in the winter but the jeep took over and i sold it. But for a diffrenet 5.9 minus 2 cylinders but a bunch more power, so i can tow the jeep around cause it not really legal anymore
 
That never ceases to amaze me, I had a 75 Dodge B200 Maxi van that was built in 76, it came from the factory with a 440, 4bbl holley 850 and a B&M built 727, that big assed box got 25mpg as long as I kept those secondarys closed. Engine ran about 2200rpm on the hiway at ~70mph and that was after I added about 300lbs of interior customizing and running Dunlop LR60x15 qualifter GT's, headers, turbo mufflers and that was it. I also think it was the last year of the non-cat truck exemption. Sold it and bought a 77 Olds starfire v6 4speed, hoping to save money on gas as I was doing field service work in NJ, PA and NY driving over 1500mi a week. What a dissapointment, the olds got the same milage and I could not sleep or live in it. Even now I wish I had it back the way it was, guy in my unit that I sold it to rolled it 2 weeks after he got it...
 
XJoshua said:
There's a video on youtube I believe with a guy doing a four wheel burn out in one, and he's tow strapped to the ground so he smoked them for a good two minutes.
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Wait a sec..... looks like a commercial garage, and somewhere in northwestern Indiana?
 
MTjeeper said:
yeah that engine gets shit for gas mileage, my mom's durango averages 13 on the highway.
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My daily driver and tow vehicle is a 5.9ZJ. I average 16-17 MPG and drive it 80+ miles for work every day. :) Once the weather gets nice again I'm gonna try and get some track times.

It's fun, it's fast, it's reallly comfortable. Pretty much everything I'd look for in a DD. Best fuel mileage to date is 23.2 MPG over a whole tank, driving back from Virginia to NJ non-stop.

Also tows my XJ pretty well, all things considered:

towrig2.jpg


Trailer has electric brakes on both axles, etc. I'll average between 10-11 MPG towing it the 160 miles each way to Rausch Creek or Paragon.
 
I've thought about getting one once my XJ is payed off, but damn I don't think I'd ever be able to get more than 9/10mpg out of it! On the flip side thats about what I get with my XJ running around town. Torn, Diesel 3/4 ton 4x4 pu, or 5.9ltr ZJ?
 
Never really saw the coolness factor of the 5.9l ZJs. No bed, SUV handling characteristics, etc.

It is what it is, but when you're trying to class it against "fast" or towing vehicles, it's in a weird spot.
 
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