Newbie thread: horsepower? frame rust?

Newbie here. I'm shopping for a 2nd generation crew cab 4x4 for 4-wheeling and towing a small trailer.

I'm looking at 2nd generation as opposed to 1st gen. due to the increased hp. However, I found one article that stated the hp was not changed from 1st gen, rather the manner of calculation was simply different? Is this true?

Also, any brief recommendations or links regarding frame rust (I'll be shopping here in so. cal.).

Thanks in advance, wep

 

I think the stock 4.0 is 231 HP @5k RPM? Maybe 4500... Not sure, dont quote me on that. Someone more knowledgeable should be along shortly. Not sure about 1st gen though.

I do know the truck has power when I need it. Recently was in an incident in traffic where I had to really step on it from a near stop, and it performed well - it kept going hard when I expected it to be struggling or searching for gears.. Granted I was alone in the truck and the bed was empty, so I got a good amount of tire spin before it grabbed hold and took off but man, I was surprised at it's ooompff. Nice to know the power is there if I really need it.

 

No, that is not true. The 1st generation v6 is a 3.4L producing 190 HP and 220 LB/FT of torque. The 2nd generation v6 is a completely different 4.0L producing 236 HP and 266 LB/FT of torque!

Not sure about frame rust, however I don't think there have been any major cases on 2nd gens, especially is socal.

 

The Gen I had the 3.4L V6, 190HP. Gen II 4.0 is just bigger and stronger all around, no number-fudging just plain more HP more torque. The 4.0 also has timing chains, the 3.4 timing belts so advantage 4.0 IMO.

The Gen I is about 4 inches narrower I believe and not as tall, so thats a consideration for off-roading if you're trying to fit through some narrow clearances.

 

I strongly suspect that you read something *I* wrote about the horsepower correction methods. Unfortunately, your brain is plugged in backwards, because you understood the exact opposite of what I said. In fact, if the old and new engines were subject to the same power correction factors, the difference would be *even greater* than the advertised power difference... 150 old to 159 new for the 4 cyl, would look like 150 vs 165 if both corrected the same way. 190 to 236 for the 6 cyl would look more like 190 to 245.