L head max rpm

Does anyone know what the max RPM for an l-head should be? I was cruising down the freeway today (which I rarely do) at 3000 rpm's, and it just sounds hard on the poor little squirrels under the hood. Is 3000 too much for it for extended periods of time? I know it will rev to 4000, but I won't dare hold it there for long.

Sooner or later I'll get my engine swap done, but occasionally highways are inevitable, and I want to get all the life I can out of this thing until then. Even at 3000, I'm only doing around 50 mph

 

I've heard 3,200 redline, but not a good idea to sustain more than 2,800. Others may have different numbers, but that's what I've heard/read. What kind of diff. gears do you have?

 

5.38

 

Hmmmmmmmm... - wonder how my DJ with an L-head and 4.10's will do? Do you still have the 33's on yours?

 

Yeah, still 33's, before this set of axles, I had a dana 23 rear and 25 front with 31" tires and 4.88 gears in it and it seemed to do much better on the highway. I think with 4.10's yours should definitely be capable of highway speeds without over revving it

Tyres international has some good online calculators for figuring out ratio/tire size/rpm=speed:
http://tyres1.com/Calculators.aspx

I checked your 4.10 ratio with 31's, and at 2800 rpm, it came out to 63mph

 

Here is Ken's dissertation on a 3B page post-obviously much concerns both L and F heads:

http://z4.invisionfree.com/CJ3B_Bulletin_Board/index.php?showtopic=3188

 

Duffer, great read, explains a lot. Thank you

 

Cool. I'm most likely going to have 30x9.50's on my DJ for starters (just the rears - something smaller in front so it steers better and doesn't rub on the suspension) and they're only about 29" tall, but that still puts my 2800 RPM ground speed at 58.9 - I'd have been content with being able to cruise in the upper 50's, anyway.

Very informative reading! Thanks for the link, duffer.

 

+1 on 3200rpm or 55mph
it's a good 4cyl speed even on the interstate, you will be passed but not mowed down.
the most common iffy situation i experienced is with on-ramp merging. if you are joining, best of luck; if you are in the slow lane all you can do is keep steam, you can't really speed up or slow down to make room. and the only gap they see is in front of you.
some states will not allow a SMV Triangle on the interstate, but a go-cart flag in the rear bow bracket is wise, anything that makes your bumper visible sooner is good. even a strap fluttering in the wind gets them seeing you. and running lights, if you have it use it.