just swapped cams in my 4.8l gt45 wrangler from a ls9 to a triple 12 from stock48

what a difference!

way more driveable out of boost, spools faster, pulls harder

before traction was a slight issue

now it is >THE< issue

vehicle specs

2003 jeep wrangler body/ wheelbase stretched 15"

2009 4.8l 4l80e circle d billet single disc 3400,gt45,e85

3.73 gears 33 x 12.5 Firestone destination a/t tires (hooked surprisingly well before the cam change probably due to turbo lag)

ran a 11.99 @ 119mph last fall on the ls9 cam
have not made it to the track yet with the triple 12


i highly recommend a triple 12 cam on a turbo 4.8l

 

I have been considering making this same cam swap here recently, thanks for the review.

 

i was EXTREMELY impressed when my stock cam fairmont went 125mph then the only change i made was triple12, then 136mph! whoaaaa

 

any videos or pictures of your turbo Wrangler posted anywhere?

 

I also went from a stock cam like matt did and the change was huge. The driveability is the main thing though it is night and day different around town as far as spool and out of boost power. So happy i went with the jfr cam.

 

Yea On my 20k mile gen iv 4.8 the ls9 cam dot to dot only had 135psi cranking compresson(5-7% leakdown so motors fine) and was a dog pre boost and slow to spool. Changed cam and went to 175 cranking and soooo much better all around.

 

here are a few pic's of the jeep in case anybody is interested

shown finished and a couple in progress

note that i stretched the body/frame/wheelbase by 15 inches (you can see the tub in 2 pieces in the in progress)

 

Love that this is on 33" tires in a Jeep that hauls the mail! I need to look into this for my turbo 5.3 '69 Chevelle.

 

hey that's different

 

Jeep is awesome, what trans and tcase you end up with?

 

Just curious, what kind of RPM were you turning with the LS9 cam? I ran both as well on a 5.3 and had similar results. The triple 12 really wakes up the lower RPM on the smaller LS engines.

That said, I don't think many people rev the 4.8/LS9 combo's high enough. Loose converter and LS9 revving to 7400 or so would be a great setup I'd think. My LS9 cam really picked up at 6k+. More so than the trip 12 I think.

 

jeep has 4l80e/np231 transfer case customer driveshaft w/1310 solid trunion u-joints and a 31 spline 8.8 explorer rear axle with a Artec truss kit (truss kit is the embodiment of the word "stout" )

was running 6900-7100 wot shifts with the ls9 cam

the powerband used to start at 4500 rpm

now the powerband seems to be everywhere

having to re-do my shift points now as it hits the rev limiter (7200) while shifting with the tires broke loose

the next step is to wire in a electronic boost controller that references front wheel speed (using an abs sensor) so i can limit the boost(hp) to the max that the tires can handle

right now i can achieve wheel/tire spin at 45+ mph on a wot kickdown

 

I have only had my 4.8/LS9 cam combo up to 6800 or so. It doesn't do much below 4000 RPM but as soon as it hits boost it pulls pretty strong until I want to shift. My converter is probably a bit tight.

This is with the 83mm S475.

 

yeah IMO the 2000-6000 powerband is way better than the only 4000+ that the ls9 cam gives you

 

specifically when you are trying to foot brake something without a 4600 stall lol

 

I'm surprised it's pulling to 7k+ now with the Trip 12. My 4.8/LS6/trip-12 was done around 6500. But the LS9 pulled clear to 7k on the 5.3. Never tried the LS9 in a 4.8...

 

LS9 cam is definitely top end.

N/A 4.8 with one, I shut it down at 6500 (ls6 springs) and it was still climbing.

 

Awesome Jeep! Make some vids for us!