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32's.....What gears?

B

buckeye_1

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Savannah, GA
I know what all the charts say, but I want to know what experience says. I'm planning on going to a RE 4.5 lift and 32x11.50x15 tires. I want to know what gears ya'll recommend. This is for a 96 auto, D30/D35. Daily driver. Hope I gave enough info.
 
I have that exact same lift and same size tires. My XJ is my daily driver so I wanted a nice balance between trail performance and road manners. I am running 4.10's and am very pleased.

-Brian

buckeye_1 said:
I know what all the charts say, but I want to know what experience says. I'm planning on going to a RE 4.5 lift and 32x11.50x15 tires. I want to know what gears ya'll recommend. This is for a 96 auto, D30/D35. Daily driver. Hope I gave enough info.
Click to expand...
 
I was running 32s with my 4:10s. It was not too bad, but I needed a little more gear while wheeling. Now with 33s, I'm not having much fun on the freeway here at 7000 ft.
FWIW, I have 4:88s on the way. I'd go 4:56s with the 32s, although you COULD make 4:10s work for you.
 
I run the same lift and tires with a 5-speed and 3.73's. Great for a DD with lots of highway miles, but I would prefer 4.10 for mixed road/offroad use. I would think 4.10 would be fine for a highway, but you probably want 4.30-.56 for mixed use.

edit -- I should probably add that I have a 4.6L stroker, so I've got a bit of extra oomph to turn a taller gear...
 
I just moved from 3.55 to 4.56 with almost the same setup; it's near perfect...~2800rpm @ 75mph and still not too fast at idle. Now if I could only get the front regear done I'd be a happy camper.

4.10 is mathematically the 'right' adjustment for the 32s when moving from a 3.55, but doesn't take into account the added rolling resistance of the tires (larger contact patch and rolling resistance/weight).

BTW - it's about time to lose that D35...
 
Thanks for the replies. I've heard everywhere from 4.10's to 4.56's. About the same for both. What about some 4.27's or somewhere in that range?
 
buckeye_1 said:
Thanks for the replies. I've heard everywhere from 4.10's to 4.56's. About the same for both. What about some 4.27's or somewhere in that range?
Click to expand...


They don't make them. I recomend 4.56, you can get by with 4.10. If you find some stock axles or explorer 8.8 geared to 4.10 and get a good deal. Go for it.

4.10 came stock in almost all 4 banger, XJ's & TJ's. Labor on gears can be outragous! Sometimes you can get OEM junk for under $200/axle.
 
ChuckD said:
They don't make them. I recomend 4.56, you can get by with 4.10. If you find some stock axles or explorer 8.8 geared to 4.10 and get a good deal. Go for it.

4.10 came stock in almost all 4 banger, XJ's & TJ's. Labor on gears can be outragous! Sometimes you can get OEM junk for under $200/axle.
Click to expand...
that's a great way to go, junkyard axles with 4.10s. If you're gonna stay with 32s and an open rear diff, I would stick with the D35 (wow, you don't here that too often) rather than an 8.8 with 4.10s. the 8.8 has crappy ground clearance and is a bit of overkill for 32s open diffs.

another option I'll throw out there is a Toyota axle in the rear. The majority had 4.10 third members and some had 4.56 and 4.88s. They are stronger than a D44 and better clearance than a D35. The one problem would be that they are 6 lug, but a half-decent machine shop could fix that real easy.
 
wait u can regear the rear and not the front and not have any problems? does this mean u cant put it into 4 wheel drive then? just curious cuz i have the rear all set but the front not quite ready.
 
dellstopjeep said:
wait u can regear the rear and not the front and not have any problems? does this mean u cant put it into 4 wheel drive then? just curious cuz i have the rear all set but the front not quite ready.
Click to expand...
yes, don't put it in 4wd, and personally I would pull the front driveshaft off just to be sure.
 
I swapped my D30/D35 combo for a set with 4.10's and it actually improved my mileage on my commute. I was using it about 2500 miles a month on pavement and a couple hundred off-road. I was doing about 110 miles a day with 32" BFG MT's and was very happy with the change from 3.55's.

Since it's now 90% a trail rig, I wish the gears were a bit lower. That change may come sometime in the future.
 
dellstopjeep said:
wait u can regear the rear and not the front and not have any problems? does this mean u cant put it into 4 wheel drive then? just curious cuz i have the rear all set but the front not quite ready.
Click to expand...
Yup - notice my sig...got the rear done while it was off the Jeep, but haven't had a chance to get the front dropped off with my gear guy.

4.27 was available in CJs with the D30/D44 but it's not a viable option for most Cherokee combinations. From a purely budget-minded standpoint I'd recommend the junkyard 4.10s, but would say 4.56 if you're paying to regear it, with the thought of 4.88 if there's a good possibility of going to 33s in the next year or two.
 
same lift and tire i got... i've got 4.11's and they're OK... 4.56s would be better... but i've got no will power and with the 4.11s i'll never hang on a bigger tire... so hopefull my axles will live a much longer and happer life
 
Well, it sounds like the crowd favorite is the 4.56's. I think I'll go with them. I'm going to attempt the install on my own too. Hope all goes well. Thanks for all the input.
 
If you have an extra set of bearings around, bore them out so u can use them as dummies to get the correct shim pattern. How i wish i did that when i originally set up my rear. Instead i had to have them pulled twice and thrown into the garbage b/c i did not feel the set up was correct. Dialing in backlash caused me to do that but in the end its been almost 2 1/2 years on my first gear job. No problems as i knock on wood.
 
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