Re-gearing Gurus Assemble

Chris wrote:

I'm locking the front. The rear is getting Detroit locker trutrac (limited slip). If it's you daily driver, I wouldnt lock the rear unless it's selectable.

did you get that reverse or did you get an ARB for the front?

This Paulie guy, Where is he located? I'm in CC and I might be moving up to 35" tires over Christmas, MAYBE fingers crossed.

Paulie is the significant other (er better half?) for HerJKX. He's been esteemed the title of gear guru. They live in Floresville.

Ordered my compressor mount now I just nned the compressor and I am thinking about getting the Teraflex gusset and sleeve kit while I am in there? Master frt and rear install kits will arrive today

I requested my build sheet and received it today. I definitely have 3.73 gears.

I also spoke with Paulie late last week. Class act! He was callin' around for Dana 44's in salvage yards. He also offered to let me drive Monica's JK which has 5.13's and 35's so I could feel the difference. Thanks, Paulie & Monica! See you Saturday @ uup4it's patio.

Great guy I will need to hook up with him for my install I believe.

Talk to Paulie, he had told me Superior was the better ring and pinion to go with. He just replaced the set and didn't have to go with all the re-shimming, they matched right back in. Plus, I think he's a dealer for them!

Ben wrote:

Chris wrote:

I'm locking the front. The rear is getting Detroit locker trutrac (limited slip). If it's you daily driver, I wouldnt lock the rear unless it's selectable.

Just curious cuz I'm about to lock front and rear with a detroit in the rear. Why would I not want to do this to my daily driver? Is it just the annoyance factor? Keep in mind my daily driver hasn't had a sway bar on it in over 2 years and 40k miles...

normally you want a selectable locker up front for ease of steering through turns. you can use a lunchbox locker and still be ok. would just take some getting used to. it's not a very smooth lock/unlock feeling. you can usually feel a little (or a lot) of jerking in the steering wheel or jeep in turns. In the rear it's not as big a deal. In the rear there is less difference between the rate the tires are spinning in a turn. but you can usually still expect a little feedback from the locker/wheels. but, if you can learn to live without a swaybar up front i think you could learn to live with an aussie locker up front and a detroit in the rear.

jkx0778 wrote:

Ben wrote:

Chris wrote:

I'm locking the front. The rear is getting Detroit locker trutrac (limited slip). If it's you daily driver, I wouldnt lock the rear unless it's selectable.

Just curious cuz I'm about to lock front and rear with a detroit in the rear. Why would I not want to do this to my daily driver? Is it just the annoyance factor? Keep in mind my daily driver hasn't had a sway bar on it in over 2 years and 40k miles...

normally you want a selectable locker up front for ease of steering through turns. you can use a lunchbox locker and still be ok. would just take some getting used to. it's not a very smooth lock/unlock feeling. you can usually feel a little (or a lot) of jerking in the steering wheel or jeep in turns. In the rear it's not as big a deal. In the rear there is less difference between the rate the tires are spinning in a turn. but you can usually still expect a little feedback from the locker/wheels. but, if you can learn to live without a swaybar up front i think you could learn to live with an aussie locker up front and a detroit in the rear.

Couldn't have said it better myself. Thanks for saving me the typing!!!!!

I'm doing an Aussie locker in the front.

Chris wrote:

jkx0778 wrote:

Ben wrote:

Chris wrote:

I'm locking the front. The rear is getting Detroit locker trutrac (limited slip). If it's you daily driver, I wouldnt lock the rear unless it's selectable.

Just curious cuz I'm about to lock front and rear with a detroit in the rear. Why would I not want to do this to my daily driver? Is it just the annoyance factor? Keep in mind my daily driver hasn't had a sway bar on it in over 2 years and 40k miles...

normally you want a selectable locker up front for ease of steering through turns. you can use a lunchbox locker and still be ok. would just take some getting used to. it's not a very smooth lock/unlock feeling. you can usually feel a little (or a lot) of jerking in the steering wheel or jeep in turns. In the rear it's not as big a deal. In the rear there is less difference between the rate the tires are spinning in a turn. but you can usually still expect a little feedback from the locker/wheels. but, if you can learn to live without a swaybar up front i think you could learn to live with an aussie locker up front and a detroit in the rear.

Couldn't have said it better myself. Thanks for saving me the typing!!!!!

Thanks for the feedback guys. I think I'm going aussie front/detroit rear. I drive my jeep like an 80 year old woman (super slow) anyways, I've got my heads/cams vrod for all of my speed needs!

OK, so I drove Monica's rig at the "Party on the Patio" Saturday. What difference between my gutless 3.73's and the 5.13's. It's not like a catapult launch from an aircraft carrier or anything like that, but there is definitely a difference. Thanks Paulie and Monica for letting my drive it. That's one more piece of the puzzle in place for the decision. It was great talkin' Jeep with you at the party.

Thanks again!

At the install party there were a few people asking about gears and what ratios. Here is a chart that helped us out:

[img][/img]

Yep! That's the chart I've been using. It's also the chart that made me doubt that I had 3.73's in the first place, but had 4.1's instead. I went back and looked at my OP for this thread. I guess now that I look at it again, 3.73's look right. The pics were taken with my OEM tires, P255/70R18 Bridgestone Dueler AT's, which are 32" diameter class, but net out in the 31" diameter range. My new tires are 315/70R17 BFG A/T KO's, which are theoretically 34.5", so that should put me in the neighborhood of 1750 by this chart.

I'll have to go out and drive at 70 MPH and take comparative pics. The problem is finding a flat stretch of roadway that is flat enough to allow little Miss Gutless to maintain 70 mph without downshifting. I'll be interested in the results.

By the way, does anybody know where this chart originally came from? I know I've seen it, or similar ones on other forums, but what is the master source for it? Thanks Paulie for posting it here. That will be a handy place to reference it in the future.

Edit: After posting earlier it was really bugging me about how I got confused on whether or not I had 3.73's or 4.1's, so I went for a drive out and back along 281 for lunch just to see if I could get a steady-state speedo/tach picture at 70 mph. I got it, and it is attached.



I drove 70 mph, with cruise on and O/D on, along southbound 281, for about two miles before I took this pic. I kept expecting my tach to drop to around 1750, but nothing doing. All it did was hang out at 2000. That must be why I doubted the 3.73 axle ratio in the first place. If you look at the chart Paulie posted, for tires between 34" & 35" in diameter, and 3.73 gears, I should be running between 1730 & 1781. I'm plainly running higher than that.

I dunno, maybe I'm just having an Aggie moment or something.

my head hurts.

perhaps your speedo isn't accurate... mine shows 60 when I'm doing 70, and I've only got 33s.

I was thinking that, or maybe the squirrels aren't reaching top gear with lock-up.... have you recalibrated the speedo?

Might have a bad servo and not locking up.?

Was your torque converter locked up? Sometimes I can go for a long time before it locks up. Get up to 80 on a downgrade and slowly ease back on the pedal. It should lock up at that point.

I remember those lack of gears days.....they SUCKED!!!!

The speedo at 70 would be between 1600-1700 rpm and everybody would be passing us like we were sitting still. At 80, he would only be around 2000 rpm. When we did the programmer it helped calibrate the tires and gears.

At 70 with programmer and gears, he sits around 2500 rpm.

Hook-Em, you asked where the chart originated from and I hope this link helps;
http://www.jk-forum.com/showthread.php?98709-Gear-Ratio-amp-Tire-Size-Chart

-Monica

same as the others... 3.73 gears, automatic, D30/D44

I don't know enough/much about all of this. What do you mean when you say rebuild/upgrade the D30 vs replacing it with a D44? Someone said the cost of a D44 axle is $2k-2.5k, is anything else needed for that? What is needed to upgrade the D30 (shafts and sleeves?) and about how much does that cost? What is the limit of an upgraded D30 vs a D44? I assume it affects max tire size or how cautious you have to be with the skinny pedal.
I can't even imagine adding in the price of lockers to this mix. Cost is my number 1 factor. I want the best I can do with my limited budget which should be plenty for my favorite chicken trails.

Chris wrote:

my head hurts.

Amen, brother. That was a lot of information to read. I tend to do that don't I. Short and sweet was never my strong point.

matinau wrote:

perhaps your speedo isn't accurate... mine shows 60 when I'm doing 70, and I've only got 33s.

Oh, I'll guarantee it's off. I figure somewhere between 7 & 8%.

potlickinpirate wrote:

I was thinking that, or maybe the squirrels aren't reaching top gear with lock-up.... have you recalibrated the speedo?

Squirrels! I beg your pardon. I have hamsters. Some people -- Geez!

Hemi_Tim aka thebigtman wrote:

Was your torque converter locked up? Sometimes I can go for a long time before it locks up. Get up to 80 on a downgrade and slowly ease back on the pedal. It should lock up at that point.

I hadn't thought of that. Good tip. I'll try that today. It's give me another opportunity to post up a really long response to this thread.

IMHO, if you plan to stay with 35's, I would look for a take out D44 and use it. Sleeve and gusset at a minimum. There are several takeouts that hit the classifieds that already have a lot of the work done. You should be able to find one for about $2-2.3K

I don't think it's cost effective to build up the D30.

Hemi_Tim aka thebigtman wrote:

IMHO, if you plan to stay with 35's, I would look for a take out D44 and use it. Sleeve and gusset at a minimum. There are several takeouts that hit the classifieds that already have a lot of the work done. You should be able to find one for about $2-2.3K

I don't think it's cost effective to build up the D30.

I hear what your saying. I'd hate to drop the $$ to re-gear the D30 only to frag it on the trail and then have to upgrade later. It makes sense to close my eyes and just do the D44 + re-gearing and not have to worry about it. That would cause a whole new dilemma though. Whether or not to go with 5.13's or go up to 5.38's.

Friggin' Jeeps, it's always something and it always involved more $$$. J.E.E.P.

Hook-Em wrote:

Hemi_Tim aka thebigtman wrote:

IMHO, if you plan to stay with 35's, I would look for a take out D44 and use it. Sleeve and gusset at a minimum. There are several takeouts that hit the classifieds that already have a lot of the work done. You should be able to find one for about $2-2.3K

I don't think it's cost effective to build up the D30.

I hear what your saying. I'd hate to drop the $$ to re-gear the D30 only to frag it on the trail and then have to upgrade later. It makes sense to close my eyes and just do the D44 + re-gearing and not have to worry about it. That would cause a whole new dilemma though. Whether or not to go with 5.13's or go up to 5.38's.

Friggin' Jeeps, it's always something and it always involved more $$$. J.E.E.P.

ARrrrrrrg.... I hate you all!
Maybe I should just buy a smart car.