Re gear to 4.88's or not?

[Brock]

I regeared for this reason...

the weight of the E rated Nitto Trail Grapplers on four corners increases the amount of power needed to JUST GET THEM ROLLING....hence a loss of acceleration and peppiness at slow speeds or when starting from dead stop. Also on even rolling hills the cruise would kick down my 4spd tranny continuously....

4.88 gears made my around town driving more comfortable with better throttle response as it relates to getting the hulk moving from stop....it also all but eliminated the kick down of 4spd tranny on cruise with even the slightest incline. Did not affect top end RPMs too much but the gains I have for around town driving, offroading, and knowing my tranny is not working overtime trying to move all that additional mass on each corner gives me peace of mind.

the numbers only show part of it.....the difference is felt more than that equation can show...and I am running 33" tires and NEVER intend to go to 35" tires.

 

[OregonLC]

Has anyone looked at getting their shift points reprogrammed? Reportedly, this is a step in the process with a trans replacement so there must be some type of control logic that can be programmed. Just wondering if elevating the shift point curve (more that 'ECT Power') would complement a re-gear. Maybe for those debating between 4.88's and 5.29's it could tilt the scales toward the 4.88's. Best of both worlds would be to push up the points on the ECT Power curve only. Then you'd have lower cruising RPM's when not in Power mode. Wouldn't help with the shift hunt on rolling terrain, but would help getting around town.

 

[Letsgomoreplaces]

Not really.
4.88 is the only viable option for 100 series. This will work on any of them. 4spd or 5spd doesn't matter really matter, in my opinion if your running 35's you need 4.88. I'd even do it with 33' on 4 or 5 speed. These are small v8 and heavy truck, they do not get good fuel economy. Lower gears generally help with economy unless you regularly drive over the speed limit type speeds. The platform is limited by tire size so that 5.29 aren't really needed. Also with 5.29 I suspect driveshaft mods / pinion angle would need addressed as the shafts are spinning much faster....

Some of the "old schools" like myself, spressoman, and a couple others re-geared a long time ago using the 80 series style gears and either hybrid ARB or hybrid elocker. this is expensive and unneccary since we offer direct fit 100 series gears now. So yes 5.29 can be done, but expensively for most unless you are one of the few that did the hybrid carrier. Also, the lower the gear ratio

There is no reason to not go to 5.29's if you are going to go to any tire bigger than a 33".

IMHO, it's a waste of money to go to 4.88's when you still have gearing available.

Go all the way, or don't go at all.

 

[Trunk Monkey]

You can buy a lot of gas for the price of gears and install.

 

[Letsgomoreplaces]

True, but you can also buy a lot of bus tickets for the cost of car insurance. Or you could buy a lot of civic's for the price of a built cruiser..... Value of an upgrade is up to one's budget of course.

Obviously I am biased and will be the first to admit it as I have been in the gear business all of my adult life and have 3 daily drivers running 4.88, 35's & lockers, etc etc..

I can say however that nearly 100% of posts that say re-gearing is unnecessary are by those that have NOT regeared

You can buy a lot of gas for the price of gears and install.

 

[Trunk Monkey]

Conversely, after you've spent 2 grand regearing it's not like you're going to say you shouldn't have done it. I'm just saying fuel economy is waaaaay down the list of reasons to regear.

 

[OregonLC]

True, but...

How many people spend the $2k just to re-gear? Seems like it's always an add-on to a broken diff repair or locker upgrade. Now sometimes it involves upgrading an axle that doesn't need it in the case of say a blown front diff where the user will pay for an upgrade to the rear that he wouldn't otherwise be buying.

And how about potential savings to an A343F blown trans? Heck, the re-gear is sounding like it has a dang near positive ROI now!

 

[spressomon]

Out here in the mountainous terrain of the West after running around with 33" tires and stock 4.30 gears it became clearly evident to me just a couple months after buying my '99: #1 - 33" tires were not adequate for where I wanted to go and #2 - I didn't like the relative inefficient drivetrain with the taller than stock 33" tires and stock gears.

Coupled with the fact I was in the process of collecting and adding bumpers, sliders, drawers, gear, belly skids and on and on and on and it was futile to expect this little 287 cube motor to work harder than necessary.

My only regret is that I didn't go 5.29's when I originally regeared from stock to 4.88. It would not have entailed any more cost; just a little time clearancing the front of the rear diff housing for the taller 5.29 set ring gear.

The process of whether or not one decides to regear (up tire size applies here too) should be born from a perspective of need. IMHO this strategy applies to virtually every mod we might consider. If you don't know you need 4.88's there's a good chance you indeed don't need different gears

 

[jonharis]

The List Says it All

Regear
jonharis
OregonLC
pfran42
Brock
Beno
CappyKD
1LoudLX (except 5spd/33s)
Sonk76 (except 5spd/33s)
spressomon
hoser
jgray
sixgunz (budget dependent)
justdifferentials (biased vendor)
cruisercesar
wildsmith
3rd cruiser

Don't Regear
Romer (but liked it in the past)
schottsUZJ100
Bamabrock


Of those who say regear, half (including me) would want to go even lower!

Also most of the reason's for not doing it had little basis in any fact. i.e lower gas mileage, not a big difference between ratios.

The only valid reason I can see for not doing it (at the same time as a locker install) is budget.

 

[sonk76]

To keep the record straight, I'm on the same camp as loudLX above. I wont pretend to speak for anything to do with the 4 speed as I have no experience with it.

 

[jonharis]

To keep the record straight, I'm on the same camp as loudLX above. I wont pretend to speak for anything to do with the 4 speed as I have no experience with it.

List updated. Idk. But look at the miles put in on the rehear list and the people who are on it. That's a pretty big endorsement.

 

[1loudLX]

I've got almost 40k already in a little over a year, much improved. I wish 4LO gearing was more reduction, but very happy with 4HI gearing. 1200$ to get another 25% reduction with marks tcase gears...not worth it.

 

[wildsmith]

I don't have much to add except another vote for 4.88's . The 100 series 4.88 gears came on the market not long after I'd already added front and rear ARB lockers to mine so they had to come out again to add the 4.88's but it was still worth it.

 

[Nottajeep]

Correction. I think Beno is in both camps. LOL
I think the answer for me stays with passing on a regear.
My 4 sp already winds up tight at 75mph and here in TX we like to drive fast on the hwys. A 33" tire will actually help with my OD mpgs. This is my DD so regearing doesn't make sense for my particular case at this time.
On the trail, I will still get 4Lo out of the TC and keep my crawl ratio good enough for my needs.

Great debate and I know Just Diffs builds an outstanding product.
No question they are they go to person for regearing.

The List Says it All

Regear
jonharis
OregonLC
pfran42
Brock
Beno
CappyKD
1LoudLX (except 5spd/33s)
Sonk76 (except 5spd/33s)
spressomon
hoser
jgray
sixgunz (budget dependent)
justdifferentials (biased vendor)


Don't Regear
Romer (but liked it in the past)
schottsUZJ100
Bamabrock
Beno


Of those who say regear, half (including me) would want to go even lower!

Also most of the reason's for not doing it had little basis in any fact. i.e lower gas mileage, not a big difference between ratios.

The only valid reason I can see for not doing it (at the same time as a locker install) is budget.

 

[jonharis]

^ fair enough, as are several others I'm sure.

How bout a dual transfer case option? Marlin Crawler anyone? That would be fun.

 

[spressomon]

The t-bars and their bracketry take up the space...

 

[jonharis]

The t-bars and their bracketry take up the space...

Who needs a stinkin T-bar anyways

 

[cruisercesar]

Re-gear is where it's at. Every truck with larger-than-stock tires benefits from higher gear.

The only reason [I can think of] NOT to re-gear is cost.

 

[3rd Cruiser]

Just regeared mine. Love the extra zip around town. I get to 75 mph a lot faster now. Only 300 more rpm compared to stock gearing with 33's. I'm heading out in a couple of weeks to the Mono Lake area. Can't wait to see/feel the difference at elevation.

Oh yeah, when I take the truck out of OD now, it actually slows the truck down going down hill.

 

[1loudLX]

Mono Lake, niiiice.