Quadrajet vs. 2150 who is the champ?

[davez26]

All,
My truck has a 2150 on it and it rocks as a trail carb. I wheel pretty hard, and after tuning, modifying and so forth, it is pretty cool. However, back in the day, I used to fool with Quadrajets, and I'm feeling like putting one on. I want it for the throttle response, top end power an smootness I don't get from a 2150. Has anybody else ever ran both of these, and if so, How did they compare?

[xj2fsj]

at the risk of stating the obvious...
If the carbs are easy to swap just use the q-jet for daily, even give it a shot on the trail. then swap the 2150 back in for the off roading.

[nightflyers]

Dave,

Currently I have 2 79 cherokee's. One runs a 2150 the other runs a q-jet on an edlbrock intake manifold. I would take the q-jet hands down. I get better thottle response and better power across the board.

The biggest draw back to the q-jet is tuning it. It was a pain. Also my gas milage dropped a bit when I put the q-jet on. Still it was well worth it.

just my 2 cents.

[derf]

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by xj2fsj:
at the risk of stating the obvious...
If the carbs are easy to swap just use the q-jet for daily, even give it a shot on the trail. then swap the 2150 back in for the off roading.<hr></blockquote>

The 2150 is a 2bbl and the Quadrajet is a spread bore 4bbl (the secondaries are bigger than the primaries). There's no way you can just swap them. Heck, you even need an adapter to fit a Quadrajet to most aftermarket manifolds like the Edelbrock Performer, Performer RPM and Torker as well as the Holley Street Dominator. All of those are set up for square bore carbs (the primaries and secondaries are the same size).

If it were me, I'd do the Quadrajet. It's great off road and the on road benefits out weigh the drawbacks.

[PAJEEPER]

I don't have much experiance with either but I'd say go with the Q jet too. Scotty(forum member) has one on his wag on a 258! He says it works great for off road.

[davez26]

The manifold swap isn't a problem, I'm prepared for that. I'm concerned with off-road drivability, especially at my altitude, (6000 feet here at the base of the mountains.) I'm no novice to the Quadrajet, and with the adjustability compared to the 2150, I can make it run. My bigest concern though, is the off-camber, and extreme angles with the Quadrajet. Comparing the two, are they near equals as far as angles are concerned?

[nightflyers]

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr> My bigest concern though, is the off-camber, and extreme angles with the Quadrajet. Comparing the two, are they near equals as far as angles are concerned? <hr></blockquote>

Sorry, I really can't help you there. I have not had mine on any real extreme angles (Yet!) There was a article in one of the four wheeler mags about a year ago in with they tested the q-jet against holley and edelbrock. A lot of the tests had to do with off camber and extreme angles. Some good reading.

I will see if I can find the article and pass it on. I'm not sure if I have it anymore though. My wife like to thin my magazine collection out when I'm not looking :eek: .

The other thing to keep in mind is hood clearance. Dave, you shouldn't have a problem with the 2" body lift. On mine though, it didn't have a body lift. With the performer intake manifold, the adapter plate, the q-jet and the air filter, it barely (and I mean barely) fits under the hood. Just something to keep in mine if you are thinking of doing this setup. I used a low profile air filter to make it work.

[derf]

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by davez26:
My bigest concern though, is the off-camber, and extreme angles with the Quadrajet. Comparing the two, are they near equals as far as angles are concerned?<hr></blockquote>

Fourwheeler magazine did a test with an assortment of carbs. They had an Edelbrock Performer (the square bore one based on the Carter AFB), A remanufactured (by Jet Performance) Rochester Quadrajet, some Holley and one other.

Hands down, the Quadrajet won in all categories, except maybe one or two. It's a good carb for most every application.

[davez26]

I remember the article. I'm surprised I didn't think of it sooner. I'm headed home tonite to look for it. Thanks guys!

[jeepbob]

The Big problem with the 4wor article is that they just took them out of the box and threw them on and expected them to work perfect. Also they used a Holley designed for a street car and expected to work well off road. The q/jet is a good journeymen carb meaning that it will do the job but is not an artist. I even run on my motorhome as they are dependable and cheap. My Jeeps run side hung single feed Holleys that work an all angles I subject my rig to. Q/jets are supposed to be good on inclines too.