I'm Letting NAXJA DECIDE DD:33's , 4.56, 2.8L

So as the title says, I have a 1984 with stock gearing (3.55), TF904 3-speed, and the POS 2.8L V6.
I found 4.56's for super cheap--both d30 and 35 with the new carrier for my 30. I've done a boat-load of research and have found 90 percent to say that 33's w/ 4.56's will bring me back stock ratio wise. The reasons i want to put them in is because of the low cost for a normally high-cost upgrade, and the fact that my jeep actually might have some small cajones again--as opposed to none. The reason i'm having second thoughts is because not too many people have experience to quote with my tranny, engine and tire set up. Have a guy that will do the install for a 30 pack of cheap-and-colds, and I want to know if its going to be worth it...I'm letting you guys decide...

Ed

I'm with you. I'll soon be running 4.56 gears with 32's. 4.10 and 4.56 gears would both work in my case (4.0 AX-15), but 4.56 will let me run bigger tires in the future.

In your case, I would think that 4.56 would be the way to go because there are a few less ponies under the hood. After all, the 2.5L comes with 4.10 gears from the factory for stock tires.

For the price it would be hard to beat. 33s are about as big as I'd go for a 30/35 combo, but like I said for the price of a 30-pack you can't beat it. Good luck.

But you have to also consider that with 33's, you will now have more rolling resistance and weight to push around, so getting back to the "stock ratio" isn't really a desirable thing to do, you need to go deeper to compensate. With a 2.8 you will want at least 4:88's, or better yet 5:13's. I am running 35" BFGs and 4.56's on mine and it's not enough, even with a 4.0, which has considerably more power than a 2.8. But the ratio puts me back to "stock".

But then again, if it's cheap enough, who cares! I'm sure it will be an improvement!

I'm at 4.56's with 33X12.5's on my 2.5 (AX5) MJ. In 4LO, it's a tank.....in 2HI I'm killing it to go 60 on the highway. I don't use OD anymore unless I'm going downhill.

Like Mike said, just getting back to stock ratio isn't the ticket, you hafta go deeper (unless you're trail only).

That said, I'm starting a 4.0 swap here in about two weeks......

Jeff

Georgia Mike said:

But you have to also consider that with 33's, you will now have more rolling resistance and weight to push around, so getting back to the "stock ratio" isn't really a desirable thing to do, you need to go deeper to compensate. With a 2.8 you will want at least 4:88's, or better yet 5:13's. I am running 35" BFGs and 4.56's on mine and it's not enough, even with a 4.0, which has considerably more power than a 2.8. But the ratio puts me back to "stock".

But then again, if it's cheap enough, who cares! I'm sure it will be an improvement!

Click to expand...

This is where i am, with 33s and 4.56s, i had truck loads of balls. Now im on 35 inch truxus mts, and im back the way i was with 33s and 3.55s it feels like. I have to be running over 75 mph to really be able to keep it in overdrive with the aw4. Im kinda wishing rather than building up my c8.25 with gears and a locker, i would have found a d44 and went 4.88s or deeper. Oh well. I can run 3rd gear at 65mph all day long and make the same milage as 75 and overdrive.

Thanks for all the advice...but now im starting to get a little worried. Let me rephrase my question:

I already have 33" tires on my stock gear set up--have the 4.56's and and to know if its going to be worth the time put into the install. I know it should wake the Jeep up a little bit but how much? I guess I don't want to go though the install and feel like the gain was mediocre in anyway.

The issue is that most of the people around have the aw4 and 4.0 set up, are the results going to be much different with mine? Whats the gas situation? Higher RPM's on the freeway, but better/easier get up and go?

Ed (Again thanks to all those chiming in)

Like I said, if it's going to be cheap to do it (EI: MUCH cheaper than buying new gears & having someone set them up for you) then by all means, do it. You will DEFINATELY see an improvement over the stock 3.55's, just don't expect it to turn your XJ into a torque monster.

it will help yes. it will be a nice difference. but you will still have the 2.8 and 35 rear that you will want to get rid of. if the price is right do. honestly you will get away with wheeling it on 33 and 456's for a while. in the mean time youll have a more capable rig until you can afford 4.0 and a 44 rear and a aw4. until you start t brake stuff. live life in 4lo anyway right? but if you could get the same price on the gears go 4.88's o deeper with that 2.8

If you don't have too much money into it already,I'd run from the 2.8 and D35.
you may regret putting money into this project.
especially if it is a DD.

BOB