Running a Stroker on the Trail???

Just a quick ? for those of you who have a Stoker motor in your trail rig. Do you actually notice a difference on the trail? I had a buddy put in an Avenger S/C, & he said that he really wasn't able to use it, due to the low speeds on the trail. On the street, it came alive though. I've often thought about building a stroker, but after his experience w/ a S/C, I'm thinking maybe just cam it, for more low end torque.

Thanks for your thoughts.
Curious as always

Rob

FELIX said:

Just a quick ? for those of you who have a Stoker motor in your trail rig. Do you actually notice a difference on the trail? I had a buddy put in an Avenger S/C, & he said that he really wasn't able to use it, due to the low speeds on the trail. On the street, it came alive though. I've often thought about building a stroker, but after his experience w/ a S/C, I'm thinking maybe just cam it, for more low end torque.

Thanks for your thoughts.
Curious as always

Rob

Click to expand...

Yup. I can definitely feel more low end grunt with mine. Alot less throttle is used on uphill climbs, over obstacles, etc. With the cam I've got, it more or less chugs uphills in 4lo, with minimal if any throttle. I couldn't be happier with it.....

FELIX said:

Just a quick ? for those of you who have a Stoker motor in your trail rig. Do you actually notice a difference on the trail? I had a buddy put in an Avenger S/C, & he said that he really wasn't able to use it, due to the low speeds on the trail. On the street, it came alive though. I've often thought about building a stroker, but after his experience w/ a S/C, I'm thinking maybe just cam it, for more low end torque.

Thanks for your thoughts.
Curious as always

Rob

Click to expand...

More stroke = more torque at all engine speeds, and you'll feel this most at low RPMs. There is very little sense to using a turbo or a supercharger for a trail crawler, but a stroker will do as much for you as a cam and probably more.

Of course, the ideal is a stroker with an RV grind cam.

I'm gonna rebuild my motor in the next year or so, but I'm not going to do a stroker. Even on Northern California's hardest trails like Fordyce and Rubicon, I pretty much never go over half-throttle. For rock-crawling, it's much more about gearing, just look at all those 90hp Toyotas still doing good on the trails because they're 200:1. Goatman and CRASH basically did their strokers so they could race faster in the desert around Johnson Valley. It also has obvious benefits on the street, or if you like wheeling in mud.

i'm gonna do a stock rebuild, with the exception of an RV cam to get the torque just a little lower.

Guess it all depends on whether you drive your rig to the trail or haul it on a trailer. If you drive it, especially in mountainous areas, I'm sure you'll appreciate the extra hp/torque.

Love the stroker on the trails, especially if you have a manual tranny.

BrettM said:

. For rock-crawling, it's much more about gearing, just look at all those 90hp Toyotas still doing good on the trails because they're 200:1. i'm gonna do a stock rebuild, with the exception of an RV cam to get the torque just a little lower.

Click to expand...

Hey thanks everyone. I think BrettM hit the nail on the head for me. It's a rather large investment, & I did just put my 4:1 Teralow in. Well my motors still running strong, so there is plenty of time to keep thinking about it.

Thanks again
Rob
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I'm about 40:1 with my AW4 and a very tired 4.0 and 35s, and it's perfect for Rubicon and Fordyce. If you wheel the Hammers a lot you'd probably want a little lower, like 45 or maybe 50:1. (assuming you have an auto)

6 cycl Stick / 4:11's The 4:1 get's me to a 64:1 Crawl. Just finished the install on Monday, so other than the 2low kit I also added, it hasn't been trail tested. I just came back from the Dusey Ershim a couple weeks ago, & found I needed more gearing. Running 32x11.5.