regearing?

I just traded for an 89 cherokee, and I am worried that the gearing in the cherokee is not going to be low enough for me on the trail. I figured you guys would be the best to ask for ideas.

My samurai had a crawl ration of about 90:1 and the cherokee is a little less than 50 to one. I currently have the I-6, AW4, 231, with 4.56 gears. I would love to get better gearing, but here is my delima.

Big one for everyone MONEY. I can spend 1200.00 on tera-low gears and get better gearing, but not that much better. I can spend about the same and get a klune-v and have options and MUCH better gearing.

second is drivabilty- I want to be able to drive the cherokee to the trails. I would love to swap to a lower geared tranny if there is a good swap for this. 1st gear is misserable high, and there is no first gear lock out on the tranny. I do not really want to go to lower axle gears cause then it won't be highway driveable.

Any ideas that could help me with this issue?

With the setup you have now, you actually have a ratio of just under 35:1.
2.80(AW4 1st gear) X 2.72(231 low range) X 4.56(F&R axles) = 34.7

With a 4:1 kit it would be around 51:1.

You could always go with Atlas 6.0:1 if you have the $$$$.

Switching from 4.56 to 4.88(if you do not have a 8.25) wouldn't be too big of a deal IMO, and that depends on how tall your tires are too.

If you want a stick, an AX15, NV3550, or SM465 all have good 1st gear ratios.

I dont know what is in you zuki, but the 35:1 crawl isnt too bad with the auto. I have the stock 3.55 gears and 31's and I do fine. I would like 4.11, but really for the street. You are probably going ot wear out the torque converter a little faster if you have a crawl ratio too high, but 4.56 should be fine

The real question is what size tire... you didnt say.
if your at 33"s then 4.56's is a good ratio and with the automatic, you don't really need any lower gearing. if your on 35"s then yes the ideal ratio is 4.88's, but you can't get that in the 8.25. The 2.72 is actually a good low range for the rocks. in a manual tranny jeep you want to go as low as posible but in the automatics, to low can be more of a hindurance than a blessing. in my book and for me on the trail, the advantages don't outweight the cost of getting lower low range.

With an automatic, the crawl ratio is more like infinite:1...at least until you cook a torque converter (which doesn't tend to happen all that often with the AW4).

4.56's/AW4/4.0 is a pretty competent combo that will get you most places you want to go without too much fuss.

And you can easily install a 1-2 switch for the tranny.

Whoever said that I have a 35:1 ratio is correct. I copied down the wrong number since I calculated all the options, the 50:1 is with a 4:1 kit in the t-case..

I do have 35" tires, but would like to go to 37's at some point. I go to lower gears in the axles since I have a 9" rear and d30 front.

I have not wheeled a automatic much in the past. is the torque converter a big deal, as far as gearing goes? Why is it bad to have a gearing too low with an auto? Can I lock the tranny I have in 1st gear?

31" and 4,56, running good!! :firedevil

damo252 said:

Whoever said that I have a 35:1 ratio is correct. I copied down the wrong number since I calculated all the options, the 50:1 is with a 4:1 kit in the t-case..

I do have 35" tires, but would like to go to 37's at some point. I go to lower gears in the axles since I have a 9" rear and d30 front.

I have not wheeled a automatic much in the past. is the torque converter a big deal, as far as gearing goes? Why is it bad to have a gearing too low with an auto? Can I lock the tranny I have in 1st gear?

Click to expand...

If you plan to go to 37's in the future, start by replacing the dana 30.. it will hold up to 35's if you build it right, but 37's is asking alot.

If you gear too low, you will find the automatic not able to speed up quick enough in those moments that you have to move.. I cant think of a scenario off the top of my head, although i can recall thinking "so thats what they were talking about" a few times in the past. It's probably just better to trust everyone there.

You should not need to lock the AW4 into first gear. In the "1-2" position, it will remain in first gear until you reach 5,000 RPM's unless you have an electrical problem going on. If your revving up to 5k in first, you need to be in second anyways. There are lots of write-ups available on locking it into 2nd gear, which you will find necessary far more often.

Here you go:

http://www.go.jeep-xj.info/HowtoAutoSwitch.htm

-Cal