[dmc]

Sierra Gear 4:88s
The debate on gears has been on going for a few years. As with a lot of 80 owners the cost of gears is a hard pill to swallow. however it was necessary for me with all the weight and some of the elevations I would see. Even then the debate was between 4.56s and 4.88s. After a long talk with Kurt (all talks with kurt are long) at Cruiser Outfitters I went with the 4.88s. figured if I didn't like them once i got home they would have better resell value than 4.56s. i have a great set of friends who helped me complete the project over a weekend. it wasn't just gears however, it was also tcase seals, oil pan and timing cover leaks and the blue hub fan clutch. it was truly amazing how much work 5 guys can accomplish on a cold October weekend.

The 4.88s have been great. even with the weight and drag of my setup i still have power to pass all the chicken buses on steep mtn roads yet i can still manage 80mph on some of the autopistas. in addition the engine braking increase has allowed me to avoid any warpage or excessive wear of my brakes. i swapped out all my rotors and pads prior to the trip as well. i've often complained that the auto tranny needed a 1.5 gear living at 4500feet. essentially the gears gave me that gear. it has been one of the best upgrades i have made without question.







Blue Hub fan clutch-

this upgrade has been well documented but here are my numbers according to my scangauge...

in utah, before rack and tent and blue hub my freeway temps were always around 205-208 and around 200 around town. occasionally they would climb near 220 on some of the steeper roads around town after a nice long pull at a slow 35mph.

in utah after fan clutch and radiator flush/clean and rack tent added i only once broke 200 degrees. freeway driving was a consistent 192-194, around town it hovered at 187. So far on my trip I have only ran in 200-210 a few times on long slow climbs into the mountains, the majority of the time i'm around 192 at sea level. only once did i break 210 and i reached 214 on the long steep climb to 11k feet just west of Mexico city. with the 4.88s i was able to pull the grade at 70mph and i think the truck was working a bit too hard in that heat. i'm a huge believer in the blue hub fan clutch and with the gears the motor isn't working nearly as hard to turn the tires. i really have no idea who stumbled across this mod (idahodoug? or landtank maybe?) but thanks. you've eased my mind considerably about the stress on my cooling system.
dmc