YJ: Regear 1st In A Manual

[TipsE-Z]

So... I figured while I'm ripping my Jeep apart and looking at everything to make sure it is painted, solid, and safe I might as well drop the tranny and do some gear work. I'm pretty sure that my '94 YJ with the 5spd Manual has a gear operated tranny thus making swapping first to an ultra low granny gear easy. My question is this:

Is it as easy as I think? Or would I be better off to regear the transfer case?

[aw12345]

For Rock crawling a 4:1 or 5:1 transfercase is the bomb, get either a Rubicon transfercase or an Atlas. Then gear the Axles for a combo of decent crawl ratio as well as acceptable street driving

[Jeeperator]

Putting in a 4:1 tranfers case out of a rubi was probably the best thing I have done after putting on the 35"tires. After doing dispan springs last weekend watching a few the samis having dificulty on the same obstacles I basically crawled over. Two of the samis had lower tc gears and also had no issues on the same stuff. I kept hearing a couple of them say they need lower gears and with the amount of clutch burning and multiple failed attempts at certain fairly easy obstacles I couldn't agree more.

[TipsE-Z]

Good to know; now to see if I can find one

[Jeeperator]

Like art said depending on tire size 4.56 or 4.88 gear wouldnt be a bad idea either. Hopefully you dont have a dana 35 though, if so that be the very first thing id change.

[TipsE-Z]

I do have the 35. I don't plan to go much larger than a 33 for a long time and if I do it will only be to a 35, and only on the trails. The Jeep has to remain a daily driver for one more year after I finish this build... Thus I'm trying to build it with minimal down time, not to mention it's only been a week since I ran and I'm already going crazy.

[6spdYJ]

The only "granny" set I've heard of for the AX-15 is just a 1st gear set out of a diesel - I don't know which one, but it was only 4:1 anyhow. It may come as a shock, but I strongly recommend the NSG-370 6-speed. It already has a 4.46:1 1st and all consecutive gears are about .25 lower. Calculate the ratio of your AX-15 with 4.10's. 3.83x4.10= 15.70 Now, do it with the 6 speed. 4.46x4.10= 18.28. Now, divide the numbers backwards to find what gears you'd have to have to get there. 18.28/3.83= 4.77 Talk about bang for the buck! With the slightly lower overdrive, 33's and 4.10's your overdrive freeway RPM will be almost the same as when you had 3.07's running 26" tires. If you go this way, let me know next time you hit this area and I'll get you the template you need.

[Lumpy Grits]

Keeping the same tranny you have, and going to a lower 1st just isn't going to happen.
If you have ever seen the inside of a manual transmission you would see why.
Get rid of that D35 before it breaks(IT WILL!).
Put some 4:56 R&P in and a 4:1 t/case.
Run some 33" tires with the above.
Respectfully,
LG

[Jeeperator]

Keeping the same tranny you have, and going to a lower 1st just isn't going to happen.
If you have ever seen the inside of a manual transmission you would see why.
Get rid of that D35 before it breaks(IT WILL!).
Put some 4:56 R&P in and a 4:1 t/case.
Run some 33" tires with the above.
Respectfully,
LG

I did exactly what he said with the exception of 35" tires and i love it. Highway or offroad it seems to be just about the right combo.

[TipsE-Z]

Ya I've never had one open so I wasn't sure of how rough it would be. I'm sure I'll eventually go the 4:56 route but for now I really am (as dumb as it is) trying to get this first build done well, but not perfect. I plan to do the crazy man coil over and long arm buggy(ish) route when I can do it with my son. I think that's one of the core elements to becoming a man; knowing how to work on cars, no matter what the task.

[aw12345]

Ya I've never had one open so I wasn't sure of how rough it would be. I'm sure I'll eventually go the 4:56 route but for now I really am (as dumb as it is) trying to get this first build done well, but not perfect. I plan to do the crazy man coil over and long arm buggy(ish) route when I can do it with my son. I think that's one of the core elements to becoming a man; knowing how to work on cars, no matter what the task.

Make your self a built plan and then complete it in stages, start with axles and lockers then tackle the suspension.
For suspension you could start with just the leafsprings with longer travel shocks, hi lining the front on a YJ is pretty easy