Just upgraded to 37" tires!

[Snarf77]

I think the 4.88 v 4.56 is a matter of how much you intend to take her off road. My jeep is for weekends, bad weather, and whenever I feel like it. The only time I'm above 70 with her any more is on the way to drive her off road in PA. That being ssaid, I'm perfectly comfortable with my 4.88s at 70mph. I don't feel the RPMs are too high and crusing is a breeze. The low-end crawling benefits of 4.88s with the MT are great. Very low crawl ratio.

If I had the turbo before the gears...I may have gone 4.56, its hard to say. I'm with ross that if you DD your vehicle and spend a lot of time on the highway at 75mph then 4.56 may be the better choice. Gears are a leap...you really just have to read enough about them to make a decision you are comfortable with. Either way, I think the only mistake would be to spend the money on something like 4.10s. You'd be happy 4.56 or 4.88.

[Timmy]

I think the 4.88 v 4.56 is a matter of how much you intend to take her off road. My jeep is for weekends, bad weather, and whenever I feel like it. The only time I'm above 70 with her any more is on the way to drive her off road in PA. That being ssaid, I'm perfectly comfortable with my 4.88s at 70mph. I don't feel the RPMs are too high and crusing is a breeze. The low-end crawling benefits of 4.88s with the MT are great. Very low crawl ratio.

If I had the turbo before the gears...I may have gone 4.56, its hard to say. I'm with ross that if you DD your vehicle and spend a lot of time on the highway at 75mph then 4.56 may be the better choice. Gears are a leap...you really just have to read enough about them to make a decision you are comfortable with. Either way, I think the only mistake would be to spend the money on something like 4.10s. You'd be happy 4.56 or 4.88.

Well dang, now you have me questioning if I should go to 4.88. Since I don't have a Rubicon, I will say the low-gear range on the Jeep has never felt low enough to me. When I had my 35" tires and I would go off road with the kids to some places, I just never felt like I was able to crawl as slow as I really wanted to (it wasn't horrible, I just liked a bit more crawl-ability to it.)

It is a DD for me (though I have my other vehicle as needed, it's only a DD because it's fun to drive.) I really don't drive 75 Mph very often. I just ran to the airport yesterday, and shoot, the highway speeds are only 60-65mph. I'd pretty well have to drive to Idaho to get to 75mph speed limits. I do that on occasion, but not a ton.

Here's my percentage driving (if it helps anyone to help me pick the right gearing.)
40% - 0mph-40mph
40% - 40mph-60mph
10% - 60mph-80mph (my sedan makes up any other highway driving as needed if it is for business, etc.)
10% - Off-Road (hopefully this number will increase as I learn the area a bit more.)

I do plan on putting a supercharger in, but unfortunately other things keep getting in the way of finances for this. I'd love to say it will go in this year, but every time I say that, it seems to just always be out of my grasp slightly.

[gbaumann]

It is a DD for me (though I have my other vehicle as needed, it's only a DD because it's fun to drive.) I really don't drive 75 Mph very often. I just ran to the airport yesterday, and shoot, the highway speeds are only 60-65mph. I'd pretty well have to drive to Idaho to get to 75mph speed limits. I do that on occasion, but not a ton.

If your truck is a DD in any respect then lean toward the lower ratios. I have 4:10's and a supercharger (soon to be hemi). I drive mostly on the road and mostly at irresponsible speeds (this post will be in evidence at my trial). I love my setup. Most guys focused on being off road want/need something taller. I thought hard about 4:56s and would think that they will serve you well in most situations. At some point when I wake up from my drunken binge spending and am ready for my next "bender" I plan on upgrading to Dynatrac axles. At that time I'll probably go with 4:56s. Every time I do the math 4:88s and taller gears result in too high RPMs for my comfort everywhere but in the dirt (unless you've got 40" tires). Just my thoughts.

BTW - nice looking truck.

[Timmy]

At that time I'll probably go with 4:56s. Every time I do the math 4:88s and taller gears result in too high RPMs for my comfort everywhere but in the dirt (unless you've got 40" tires). Just my thoughts.

BTW - nice looking truck.

Thanks for the comments. I think you're right, 4.56's sound the best for now. Since I have manual, I can always downshift easily enough, but if you are in 6th gear on the highway and it has too high of RPM, well, there's nothing you can do about that. I'd rather 6th gear be a hair too short on the highway then too tall.

Thanks for the compliment. I get comments about it all the time when in town but really the only thing different about it than a standard Sahara is the lift and tires. That will change this year though as I get a new bumper, hood, front lights and 50" light bar and who knows, maybe some type of decal on it as well (like a big picture of South Park's Timmy on the hood, that would be funny, and the "Timm-ey" sound as the horn, ba haha.)

[Yoinkers]

You sir, are in a pickle. This is the hardest decision you will ever make with your rig. And getting it wrong is a nightmare. Ive seen guys that knew what they were doing and still hate their trucks after new gears. Others love them.

If you only got 4 tires on craigslist, I say, just run 4.

You will not change a 37" tire on the side of the road. Go with that streamline tail with no tire.

[Timmy]

You sir, are in a pickle. This is the hardest decision you will ever make with your rig. And getting it wrong is a nightmare. Ive seen guys that knew what they were doing and still hate their trucks after new gears. Others love them.

If you only got 4 tires on craigslist, I say, just run 4.

You will not change a 37" tire on the side of the road. Go with that streamline tail with no tire.

Haha, thanks for the supporting thoughts ;-) I think the 4.56 is the least "daring" of the two given that my current gearing is drivable. As for a spare tire... Well, I'll always run one. There is no way I will ever be stranded somewhere with my kids because I popped and wasn't prepared, it's just not an option.

[Timmy]

I just finished my Teraflex rear tire carrier install. I had installed the door bracket a while back to support the extra load of the 35" tire, but I hadn't installed the actual tire mount yet because I wanted to wait until I had the 37" tires first so I could get the adjustments right on it. One of the reasons I went with the Teraflex HD system is because it they did a great job with keeping the tire as close to the rear door as possible, and since it's mounted on the door, it operates just like factory solution to open up the rear door. Other solutions I found had the tire mounted pretty far from the back tail gate, which only made the Jeep that much longer, and many required a two step process to open up your tail gate.

In all, I'm thrilled with the solution. I had to take off one of my 37" tires from the hub so I could test fit everything since my spare is still the 35" tire. I didn't want to take it in to get the 37" tire yet until I had the Teraflex mount in place. Here's some pics to show just how close the tire is to the tailgate. They actually have you push the mount as far in as possible to get the tire to literally touch the bracket for added support.

[Don't mind the crazy straps hanging from the rafters. I did that to hold up the tire so I could take it on and off to make adjustments without having to lift it up each time.]

[Timmy]

Let's see, other news. So I decided I'm going to order the MetalCloak control arms to get rid of my suspension squeeks. I was going to go to the $200 AV/Stock control arm route, but after I watched was videos on the MetalCloak solution, I just decided to go big and do it right the first time (well, second time, to get rid of these nasty Pro Comp piece of junk control arms.) I'm thinking of also putting in their dual rate springs, as they sound pretty nice and I can see that my 4" lift is just a little shy with the new 37" tires from a clearance perspective. I'm hoping the fully adjustable MetalCloak control arms though will help me with that so maybe I won't need the springs. I think I need to bring my rear axle back slightly so that my tire won't hit the pinch seem if it compresses up into the body. Right now, it looks like it will rub if I have any up travel, though I do believe the axle moves backwards during up travel so maybe not?

Also on deck is the new bumper. OEM bumper is rubbing slightly on hard turns. I may turn my OEM bumper into a stubby for a short while until I get a new bumper.

Should be a fun year of upgrades!

[ljvsnyder]

Looking good timmy, keep us posted on the tire carrier, i know there have been issues with it in the past.

[Timmy]

Looking good timmy, keep us posted on the tire carrier, i know there have been issues with it in the past.

Do tell. I haven't heard of any issues, so I'd like to know what to keep an eye out for.