BROWNJJ83

Just wondering if purchasing a Ripp supercharger would be worth it? I just bought a jeep Rubicon Unlimited 4 door that's been pretty much done up except for maybe an Atlas II and a few other minor things. I've done my research and know that the motor is lacking power with the 3.8 V6. My question is would installing Ripp headers be good enough or is the Ripp supercharger worth the $$ for road use and trail use?? Would I get by with the stock motor?

Baddkarmaracing

im no help in the supercharger area but am interested in what your jeep currently has done to it?

DJ1

I think a supercharged 3.8 will get you to what a pentastar 3.6 currently does if just a little bit better. If you're going to throw money at the engine bay, I'd personally just save for a hemi or LS conversion. My

Now a blown 3.6? That's a different story and probably the route I'm going to go.

Kuma

I installed a supercharger about 7500 miles ago and while it definitely made a difference in performance, I'm scraping it for an LS Swap. So in a few months I'll have a 3.8L and trans with a RIPP black ops and only 69000 miles on them for sale. Anyways my suggestion would be do a swap and don't look back. The supercharger surges on the freeway and it gets old. Driving around the city is great though.

jedg

+1 on the below. I have a 2011 JKUR with a RIPP V2 supercharger. I installed it at 20,000 miles and I'm at 74,000 now. The jeep is now with MoTech getting a 6.0 VVT with a 6L80E installed. The RIPP did provide me with enough power to pull hills and such (my JK weighs 5132 with armor and accessories) but I also had the surge problems. To be fair, some of that may be from the earlier system used for the 2011 systems. At this point, I'm wanting consistent power and longevity. The chevy engines swap provides both. SO, my JKUR will be complete around middle of October and I will be selling the engine, trans, and the RIPP system.

I WILL say that the SC has been VERY reliable and their tech support has been superb.

tapcola

Driven a few ,their fun for awhile OK in the dunes or on the HW , save and do the LS !
Just my 2¢

BROWNJJ83

I dont plan on installing a LS conversion anytime soon. I also live in CA so I'm not sure how much $$ it would cost to make it smog legal. My real concern is will the supercharger make the motor less reliable? Is the supercharger worth it when wheeling? Should I just get the headers and tuner kit instead?

Grant09

I wouldn't bother with the headers if you aren't getting the SC. Get something like the Superchips Flashpaq or Diablosport tuner and don't bother with headers, intakes, etc. What little you'd get from those (if anything) usually isn't worth the $. Spend that money on whatever the other few minor things are you mentioned needing instead.

jedg

Well, like I said. I installed mine with 20,000 miles and it was still running at 74,000 miles. During that time I had the supercharger idler pulley go bad (something like $100 for the part, plus cost of a belt it ate in the process). Other than pulling maintenance on the SC (changing the SC oil every other oil change, so around 10,000 miles for an SC oil change) I have had no problems with the engine or the SC. When I say I want longevity, I'm talking 200,000+ miles. The new chevy engines achieve this. I doubt a non-supercharged 3.8L (or the transmission if you have an automatic) will make that, let alone one that's supercharged.

Is the sc worth it when wheeling? My opinion, yes. The extra torque appears to help my 5,000+ pound pig get up and over some obstacles that I've observed other similar JKURs struggle with. Of course there are so many variables in that context that your mileage may vary.

Another concern with the SC is water. I've been leery of sucking water into the SC which would be VERY bad. Yep, that's a concern with all engines, but doubly so with the SC. That said, many folks running these have developed splash guards. You can also add a snorkel to this system, but you take a noticeable hit in power and torque.

In the end, do I think $5,000 was worth the 50,000 miles of noticeable performance increase? Yes and I didn't take a hit on fuel mileage. I typically get 15mpg around town and 18mpg on the interstate. This is what I got before the SC.

Another downside to the SC is that I've had to run at least 91 octane to prevent spark knock. When the temps get above 90 degF I typically have to move to 93 octane.

Also, note that the RIPP superchargers are completely rebuildable. Unless you grenade the housing, it's 100% rebuildable.

As for headers and a tuner instead. The headers wouldn't be worth the trouble without the SC. Tuners will get you very little with the 3.8L engine.

Fixes for the 3.8L engine: displacement (a V8)... if you don't want to go that far, next bet is forced induction.

BROWNJJ83

So I'm buying this jeep this week. Wanted one that was done mostly right without spending $50k. This jeep has a 4" teraflex short arm, rvc axles, axle sleeve, heavy duty ball joints, 4.88 gears, 37" tires, tom woods drive shafts, 9000lb winch, etc. I might need to put skid plates underneath (don't remember if there were), possibly an Atlas II (haven't heard anything bad about the original transfer cases though), some racks for gas/gear, and additional lights.