Get me in the right gear...

[DarkWolfTJ]

Im adding a 3.5" lift with 33's and wanted info on re-gearing i believe that i have stock ring and pinion sets, and was wondering about what size gear i would need to compensate for the larger tires. Any info on costs or brands would also be very helpful...

[swbooking]

from what everyone has been telling me its between 4:10s or 4:56s
4:10 for auto tranny and 4:56 for manual thats just what ive been told
-Allen

[goodtimes]

I run 4.10's, 33's, manual trans with the 4.0L engine, and it isn't deep enough for me. Any little hill and I come out of 5th gear, and if it is longer/steeper than a "little" hill, I come out of 4th.

[PolarBear]

i'd go with 4.56

hey DarkWolf,

I just got my TJ back on friday and I have 4.0L I6, 5spd, 33" tires with a 4.5 RESF lift. The shop i went to suggested 4.56 gears, And it feels very much like stock. They told me that i would be struggling in 5th with 4.10's and a slight climb. With the 4.56 it feels like is has a lil more pull and i didnt really notice any differences on the freeway!

If you want, i can get tell you my RPM and 65 MPH but ill check that tomorrow...

Basically, IMO you'll be very pleased with the 4.56 gears. I have em and i love them!!! hope it helps...

Karim

[Adam Q.]

I am very interested in this thread as well. (33's with stock gears) Does anyone have an opinion on gear brands, and is this a do-it yourself job? How much should this cost?

[swbooking]

Yukon gears are supposed to be really good and its a pretty tough job IIRC. You have to know what your doing. and everyone ive talked to said the cheapest is about $500 an axle. thats only on info ive been gathering to do my gearing though.

[Materdaddy]

Everybody says not to do it yourself, but I'm brave (and stupid) enough to be attempting it next year. I've already invested probably 6-8 hours of reading and $60 on books. Next is probably around $100 on tools, then I'll do the work myself next year. If you screw up, you can really mess things up... I'm going to be taking pictures and documenting everything VERY well next year when I attempt it. If I'm successful, I'll go around telling everybody that it CAN be done by a shadetree mechanic. If not, I'll be out a ton of money and will be the epitome of the "I told you so"s. Swbooking's price is around what I've seen... I asked around at the offroad expo a couple months ago, and that was about what I was seeing... around $500 per axle including parts and labor.

[Elusive]

we do it for $250/axle and don't make much $$/hour on it. sometimes they go easy and set up quick and sometimes it takes a long time. A shadetree mechanic CAN do it, but you really need some special tools to do the job correctly.

[Materdaddy]

we do it for $250/axle and don't make much $$/hour on it. sometimes they go easy and set up quick and sometimes it takes a long time. A shadetree mechanic CAN do it, but you really need some special tools to do the job correctly.

What tools specifically? I plan on getting two dial indicators as the only real "specialty" tools. One that will be for runout/backlash/etc. The other as one to test pinion preload. I think with just a dialed torque wrench I won't be able to see where the dial maxes out when it's spinning. I am going to call around and see if I can rent a case spreader, if not, I'll just use the cheater method (using a caliper you can guess how much extra shim depth to use and just whack the carrier in with a dead blow hammer) since carrier preload isn't as important as pinion preload.

[Materdaddy]

Ouch, never looked at how much a dial indicating inch-lb. torque wrench can cost... I'm beginning to re-think this re-gearing by myself thing... it'll be good to know how to do, but I might spend as much in tools as it would cost to get done... I'm stubborn, I think I'll still end up doing it myself...

[swbooking]

we do it for $250/axle and don't make much $$/hour on it. sometimes they go easy and set up quick and sometimes it takes a long time. A shadetree mechanic CAN do it, but you really need some special tools to do the job correctly.

I was gonna call you guys soon, I remember you told me you guys did gearing when i picked up those rims. You do it for $250/axle aslong as i have the R&P and master install kit right?

[Materdaddy]

I was gonna call you guys soon, I remember you told me you guys did gearing when i picked up those rims. You do it for $250/axle aslong as i have the R&P and master install kit right?

Elusive, also, why don't you change your signature to a business link or something? You have a shop? After looking at more prices, I might be having you guys do my work instead... I've already bought some books and have some knowledge, but if it's going to cost me the same, it's a toss-up. I might want to leave it to a professional.

[Elusive]

Here are a l;ist of tools I use to do a gear job:
1. dial indicator (and magnetic stand) measures backlash and pinion depth
2. a bearing separator and a little skill using it so you can remove bearings without damaging them.
3. I made set up bearings for d-30's and d-44's
4. You need a case spreader or have some real skill with a slide hammer and pry bar to remove the carrier.
5. You need a caliper (or micrometer) to measure shim thickness.
6. A brass maul is handy, a brass drift to seat bearing races in manditory.
7. you need a pipe wrench or make a tool to hold the pinion while torqing the pinion nut down (or crushing the crush sleeve)
8. a bottle of red loktite. most gear failures you see are from the ring gear bolts backing out. The install kits do not come with enough. None of our gear jobs have ever failed from this because we use lots of red loktite and properly torq the bolts.

We are not a business and we rarely have time to do gear jobs (it cuts into wheeling time.) I don't want to get accused or drumming up business on here because we usually have as much work as we can handle anyway. We have done an awful lot of gears now (50+sets), and I have 50000 miles on my rear d-44 4.56's. I like to keep it more friendly than a business, but $500 should get you quality work. I ONLY set up gears in dana axles, ford 8.8 or GM 14 bolts because..well.. thats all I want to do.

[swbooking]

Elusive, also, why don't you change your signature to a business link or something? You have a shop? After looking at more prices, I might be having you guys do my work instead... I've already bought some books and have some knowledge, but if it's going to cost me the same, it's a toss-up. I might want to leave it to a professional.

They dont have a shop, its at a house in Temecula. Its just a friendly thing, they mentioned it to me when i was there to get my rims. They have nice setup in the garage though.

[Materdaddy]

I see... well, I need to re-evaluate my list of needed tools, and weigh my options. Elusive, would you mind if I sat in on a gear job some time? I can bring beer, or pizza or something. I'd like to see a gear setup from start to finish before starting mine. I've torn apart an axle (and I'm about to tear into a second) and parts wise, I've got it down. I'd like to make sure I'm doing everything right with the shims and checking preload, backlash, contact pattern, etc.