Video: Chris Wadding’s 10-Second Jeep Is A “Death Trap”

When a vehicle like a Jeep comes to mind, most enthusiasts probably don’t think to themselves ‘yep, this Jeep would make a perfect strip car’, and they’d be right. And yet, we’ve seen plenty of them in the past. This was even the case for Chris Wadding, the owner of this twin turbocharged junkyard 5.3 V8 swapped Jeep brought to us by BigKleib34.

Do you think Wadding's Jeep could give the LSx Willys some competition?

Do you think Wadding’s Jeep could give the LSx Willys some competition?

Dubbed the name “Death Trap” for good reason, Wadding originally built his 5.3 swapped Jeep as a weekend cruiser, averaging about 50 or so miles of driving it per month. But it wasn’t until some convincing from Wadding’s friends that the Jeep would see the track time.

Screen Shot 2016-02-24 at 4.15.56 PMGRHe knew the Jeep was fast, but wasn’t sure what it was capable of on the track. Wadding fabricated the chassis himself, and even fabricated a roll cage for the Jeep just so he could race at the strip for the first time. The Jeep is powered by a bone stock junkyard 5.3-liter LM7 V8 and uses an unknown $500 junkyard camshaft matched with LS6 valve springs. With the help of two BorgWarner S366 turbochargers at 10 pounds of boost and an E85 fuel tuning calibration, the combination makes this badass Jeep good for 661 horsepower and 805 lb-ft of torque at the rear wheels. Driving all of that power to the pavement quickly comes from a TH400 four-speed automatic transmission that uses a manual valve-body, a Ford 9-inch rear-end with 3.50 gears, and a billet torque converter; making the Jeep capable of running multiple 10-second passes at the Street Car Takeover event in Phoenix, Arizona.

For a Jeep that weighs 3,130 pounds (with Wadding in it) and has 800-plus lb-ft of torque that will run 10s all day, and only cost $12,000 to build; what’s not to like about the Chris Wadding’s Death Trap Jeep?

Check out Wadding's Jeep put a smack down on a brand new Hellcat Challenger near the end of the video.

Check out Wadding’s Jeep put a smack down on a brand new Hellcat Challenger near the end of the video.

About the author

Harrison Noble

Living in San Diego for most of his life, Harrison was exposed to a variety of cars at an early age. His passion for anything that is fast, or has a V8, brought him to Power Automedia.
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