I run an EFI 5.0 with the explorer upper and lower attached to the ZF manual overdrive. tires are 35 inches with 4.56 gears in the axles.
Around town and down the highway it is way more power than I need. But in the hills I tend to spend more time in 4th gear if I am in the 50-60 MPH zone. Otherwise I am shifting down to 4th and the motor does just fine. Overall I am happy with it but I suspect if I had the 5.8 I could probably spend more time in 5th gear when in the hills before having to shift down.
The reason I went 5.0 is that after having the 5.8 in another early bronco I didn't really care for the size constraints under the hood. (don't laugh bax or bill) The 5.0 is any easy install and fits perfectly and I was able to retain the stock radiator which works great (runs around 195 or less all day)
I suspect that one of these days I will probably swap the heads out for something that flows much better? The explorer GT90P heads are supposed to be good for another 50 hp and can be found relatively cheaply but headers are a bitch. Anyway, is I like my setup but it could use some more HP and torque in the hills or maybe I am just a lazy bastard that needs an auto tranny
Ben
Around town and down the highway it is way more power than I need. But in the hills I tend to spend more time in 4th gear if I am in the 50-60 MPH zone. Otherwise I am shifting down to 4th and the motor does just fine. Overall I am happy with it but I suspect if I had the 5.8 I could probably spend more time in 5th gear when in the hills before having to shift down.
The reason I went 5.0 is that after having the 5.8 in another early bronco I didn't really care for the size constraints under the hood. (don't laugh bax or bill) The 5.0 is any easy install and fits perfectly and I was able to retain the stock radiator which works great (runs around 195 or less all day)
I suspect that one of these days I will probably swap the heads out for something that flows much better? The explorer GT90P heads are supposed to be good for another 50 hp and can be found relatively cheaply but headers are a bitch. Anyway, is I like my setup but it could use some more HP and torque in the hills or maybe I am just a lazy bastard that needs an auto tranny
Ben