Should I regear? (1 Viewer)

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fireball

fireball

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Folks - I am looking for some opinions and help:

Sorry I know this has been discussed before. If it offends you that I am asking a question that has already been asked, kindly quit typing your snarkly response right now, close your web browser and go have a beer :)

For those still reading, I'm debating regearing and need some advice. Here's the situation...

I've got a 99 with 2.5" lift and 295/75/16s. I'm really happy with this size tire and lift and have NO PLANS to go bigger. And I'm pretty firm on that. I'm going to put an ARB locker in the front before a 2 day offroad training class at the end of next month.

Here are some other considerations:
- I live in Central PA. Rolling hills, no high mountain passes.
- This is a 3rd vehicle. No DD. Family camping, off roading, overlanding vehicle. We will go up and down the east coast a few times this summer and possibly a trip out west.
- I'm not comfortable setting up gears myself, so will be taking the truck to Iron Pig to have the work done. Ballpark $1700 for the front ARB, $3200-3500 for the regear, so essentially double the cost.

Given my current tire situation and amount of highway driving getting to and from our favorite destinations and the extra cost, I'm inclined to leave the gears as they are.

What are your thoughts?

Thanks in advance for any advice!
 
Since it's not your daily driver, it's not worth the cost of regearing if you have no plans going bigger than 33" tire. So far, most of my gains noticed moving to 4.88" have been daily driving and having cruise control that actually works.
 
What is the gas mileage difference on stick gears vs 4.88s? Even though it's not a DD it'll see a good bit of miles. We'll go up to NY and VT a few times down to atlanta and hopefully out to ouray.
 
mcgaskins said:
If you're definitely not going up in tire size I wouldn't say it's worth the extra cost - though an incremental cost of $2k sounds a little steep.
Click to expand...

Rob makes a good point about weight. After regearing, the transmission shifting between gears became very smooth for me, which is why I say the main benefit I notice is daily driving.

As far as gas millage goes, it's very hard for me to tell since I regeared and went from a 33" 58 lb tire to a 34" 62lb tire at the same time. Around town my millage is better (1 mpg). I have not taken a long freeway drive to see how it is on the hwy, but that will depend on the terrain. Lots of hills etc, then I expect better millage since there will be less downshifting. Flat terrain, I assume a little worse millage since the RPM's will be higher. Over a long trip, I expect it to be a wash.
 
I didn't regear and I run 35's. I am not towing and it is my daily driver as a choice. I have a new tundra with the 5.7, but really, the cruiser is comfortable and cruises fine with stock gearing. I am running the 4 speed tranny as well. It's not a race car, and does just fine. Pocket the cash for gears and buy something else. Mileage sucks regardless; difference of 5 bucks a tank. Whoopee.


Sent from my iPhone
 
@Rob - why do you recommend the regearing? Can you provide a little more info. I really enjoy your site and respect your opinion.

@SDC - sounds like mpg will likely be a wash, or at least not a compelling reason to go one way or the other. Can you explain more the "benefits of regearing if it's your daily driver." I'm not sure I understand this concept. My tires are 7% larger diameter than stock. The 4.88s would be 13.5% taller than stock. Do I understand correctly that this would be equivalent to running an undersized tire with stock gearing? So it should accelerate quicker?

@et al. Price for just the front locker install is $1100 locker+2 bearings+shop supplies + 5.5hrs labor @ $95/hr. Plus tax. So out the door for $1750 which doesn't include the air compressor or any wiring. I've got a ARB CKMA12 waiting to be installed, and I want to do all the wiring myself.

For regearing, add to the above total $1350 for the gear kit and another 3hrs to R&R the rear axle. So ~$3,400. Either way it's a heckuva lot of money! FWIW, if I do decide to regear I'll probably wait and do everything at a later time. It's hard to get excited about dropping that much cash.

IMG_0343.jpg
 
Okay, here's the deal...
I have the OME 2.5" suspension lift (with Just Diff's UCA's and a diff drop kit from BIO) AND built myself a 1.75" body lift, so now I'm 4.25" lifted. I run BFG 35" M/T. I JUST re-geared in December (2013) before our holiday vacation to Lake Tahoe (about 450 miles from my home). When I installed my front air locker (TJM which is quite a bit cheaper than ARB and some say better quality) I re-geared with the Nitro 4.88 gears front and rear. I also re-geared my transfer case with the Marlin Crawler gear set for our LC's.
I purchased everything from Just Differentials except the differential drop kit and the transfer case gears. As mentioned above the drop kit came from Bump-It Offroad and the transfer case gears came from Marlin Crawler.

Now after all that ramble, with re-gearing, my speedometer at 75 on the dial is at about 73 off my GPS and that's with 35" tires.
Since I live at sea level in San Clemente, the trip up to Lake Tahoe was very easy on my rig, and that's being loaded with three adults (my daughter is age 22...), Christmas presents, ski gear and enough for two weeks being gone. Not really any gear shifting up and down on the grades, it'd drop out of overdrive on the steeper ones but I still had plenty left in her if I needed to pass anyone on a grade.

My wife's 98 LC has the same size tires that you have without re-gearing and acceleration, hill, and all around is fine and you should be too. We have taken her LC on that trip also (it's an annual thing...) with those tires and not really any issues at all other than the speedo being off on the positive side. I think it is about 10% off, or am I remembering what my rig was off by. Anyways, I used my phones GPS to keep me legal.

I re-geared because my tires are so much larger and I re-geared my transfer case because you almost can never be too under geared if you're on a technical trail. I've been wheeling when I really wish I had much lower gears for going over obstacles with more control. From what it sounds like I would not re-gear if I were you, but I WOULD but in the front locker. If you plan on doing some technical trails with rocks and steep grades, then I may consider a transfer case re-gear, but as I said above, you should be fine as you are.

One last thing, look into the TJM air locker at Just Diff's. Carl is great to work with and I believe the TJM lockers are about $200 or $300 cheaper than ARB.

Sorry for the long winded post...
 
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If you are sticking with 33s, its not your DD, and you don't have any big mountain passes (or tow), I don't think a regear is worth it. You can always regear the transfer case for a lot less if you need the low range off road.
 
It all really comes down to cost. The only reason not to regear is $. If you have an extra $1500 and you plan on keeping your rig for a while then your cruiser will thank you for regearing. Less wear on your drivetrain components over rest of the life for your truck is a good thing... But it comes at a premium cost. I've never seen anyone say they regret regearing!
 
We should make a flow chart.

Yes, if you're asking this question.
Yes, If you have an extra $1500 to $4000 (reagear or regear and lock) you want to spend.
Yes, if you plan to run larger than 33" tires.
Yes, if you run 33" tires and tow.
Yes, if you run 33" tires and live in the mountains.
Yes, if you blew your front differential.
Yes, if you're worried about wear on the transmission.
Yes, if you'll keep the truck long enough to make up the $3000 cost to save 1mpg.
No, if you run smaller than 33" tires.
No, if it's stock.
No, if you have no plans to tow, run larger than 33" and live somewhere flat.
No, if spending $3000 to $4000 on a $10,000 truck keeps you up at night.
No, if :princess: isn't onboard.
 
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No doubt, the 33/4.88/4sp will be nice around town and up to 60 mph. But if you cruise, 70-75 mph, you'll be taching 2800-2900 or so rpm. Go for an hour long drive (with your current set-up) in 3rd gear at 2850 rpm and see if it's too buzzy for you.
 
I've been on 33's and 35's now for ~120,000 miles and I have never once told myself "I NEED to re-gear". I never understood why the members out west immediately went to 4.88's. It's fine on the East coast. Even on our steeper mountain passes I never had a single power issue even fully loaded.

The issue with the 100 is elevation. When I drove to Ouray, CO last year. I was comfortable, and had ample power until I hit Denver. Once I went over 6,000 feet the 100 felt choked up and starved. The most excruciating thing I have ever done in the 100 is Pikes Peak. I think I floored my truck for 35 minutes straight.

My policy on gearing, unless you live at 6,000 feet or higher, it's not really necessary. I live at 1,100 feet and have plenty of power (for what it weighs).

So my thoughts?

It's a waste of money in my eyes. For the cost of gearing and locker(s), you could take the family and drive to Ouray and Moab and back with cash to spare. That to me is worth more than the gears. Keep the money. 33's aren't that bad!
 
It's a pretty subjective mod and one can certainly live with compromised gearing.

Though IMO, if it starts affecting your enjoyment of the vehicle...the same vehicle one throws tons of money at other mods to enjoy with, then it's time.
 
I have a 99 and I did the ARB front locker to address the weak 2 pinion diff issue about 2 years ago. I have always had 33's, and it wasn't too bad but the shift points were off a little and the truck would sometimes be in the wrong gear when I needed to move quickly. I finally decided to regear to 4.88's and had that done last week. I agree with Rob that it is not just tire diameter, it is also about weight- my truck is a heavy 100, with armor from the radiator to the end of the transfer case, two batteries, Slee bumpers, winch, arb fridge/bed kit. I am happy with the gears, truck feels better, and I don't regret the install cost (though I regret not doing it when I had it apart 2 years ago).
 
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