Gear selection

Davidb

New member
Hi guys, first post on the forum. Thanks for the warm welcome. I have a question about gear selection.

When I used my procal, on the advice of this forum I used actual tire height instead of advertised tire height. Now I'm looking to regear, I used the chart and determined 4.88 was correct for my 2012 Sahara and 35" tires, but then I got to thinking my tires are advertised 35". In reality they measure 33.5", so does the gear chart go by actual tire size or advertised size?

In case it matters, my jeep is driven by my wife about 15 miles a day, all city driving. We off road maybe once every 2-3 months, nothing real hard or technical. We just find that it searches for gears in the higher elevations, hence the desire to regear.

I got really good pricing from both Northridge 4x4 and Trail Jeeps, but I want to make the best gear selection for my $$$.

So what is the opinion of the forum?
Thanks in advance
 

cozdude

Guy with a Red 2-Door
Hi guys, first post on the forum. Thanks for the warm welcome. I have a question about gear selection.

When I used my procal, on the advice of this forum I used actual tire height instead of advertised tire height. Now I'm looking to regear, I used the chart and determined 4.88 was correct for my 2012 Sahara and 35" tires, but then I got to thinking my tires are advertised 35". In reality they measure 33.5", so does the gear chart go by actual tire size or advertised size?

In case it matters, my jeep is driven by my wife about 15 miles a day, all city driving. We off road maybe once every 2-3 months, nothing real hard or technical. We just find that it searches for gears in the higher elevations, hence the desire to regear.

I got really good pricing from both Northridge 4x4 and Trail Jeeps, but I want to make the best gear selection for my $$$.

So what is the opinion of the forum?
Thanks in advance

Gear selection is made just like lift height. You want to choose your gears based on advertised size.

As far as gears go is your jeep an auto or Manuel? Also do you plan to go larger to 37's down the road at all?
 

JKWrang

New member
Gear selection is made just like lift height. You want to choose your gears based on advertised size.

As far as gears go is your jeep an auto or Manuel? Also do you plan to go larger to 37's down the road at all?

If his jeep is searching for gears it's an auto
 
We really like our 4.88s with 35s. But it does come with some disadvantages. The higher (numerically) you go the weaker (the already weak) R&P get.
 

cozdude

Guy with a Red 2-Door
Gear selection is made just like lift height. You want to choose your gears based on advertised size.

As far as gears go is your jeep an auto or Manuel? Also do you plan to go larger to 37's down the road at all?

So since your jeep is an auto I would look at a set of 4.88's. It will give you great power on hills, help you crawl better off road, and leave you room to move to 37's as well if you end up going that route.
 

Stegertime

Caught the Bug
So since your jeep is an auto I would look at a set of 4.88's. It will give you great power on hills, help you crawl better off road, and leave you room to move to 37's as well if you end up going that route.

^^^^exactly what I did and I'm a happy camper 👍😎
 
FWIW: we just snapped 4 ring teeth wheeling AT 35s with 4.88s in a D30.

Personally the risk is worth it with a doggy 3.8L but I think I would consider 4.56s in an auto 3.6L
 

Davidb

New member
Thanks for the reply's, and sorry about the lack of info. Yes it's an auto, and we do plan to upgrade the front to a PR44 but that's probably a year or more in the future.
 

OverlanderJK

Resident Smartass
FWIW: we just snapped 4 ring teeth wheeling AT 35s with 4.88s in a D30.

Personally the risk is worth it with a doggy 3.8L but I think I would consider 4.56s in an auto 3.6L

I wouldn't. Especially with an auto. 4.88 with an auto or a manual and 5.13's if you like to live a little more on the dangerous side.
 
I wouldn't. Especially with an auto. 4.88 with an auto or a manual and 5.13's if you like to live a little more on the dangerous side.

I definitely like the gearing better, but I've wondered if a better approach would be to tackle the TC ratio. (Just spit-balling, both our Jeeps are manuals and I've not driven a JK geared this way.)

Our recent break(s) has me thinking a bit more conservatively (for the wife's Jeep anyway)
 

OverlanderJK

Resident Smartass
I definitely like the gearing better, but I've wondered if a better approach would be to tackle the TC ratio. (Just spit-balling, both our Jeeps are manuals and I've not driven a JK geared this way.)

Our recent break(s) has me thinking a bit more conservatively (for the wife's Jeep anyway)

If I had to guess, there was an issue with your gear install. No way you break a ring and pinion first time out with 4.88's and 35's. TC won't help with driving down the road.
 
If I had to guess, there was an issue with your gear install. No way you break a ring and pinion first time out with 4.88's and 35's. TC won't help with driving down the road.

I completely agree with you. The teeth broke very high and outside. I don't think they were set up correctly. Sad thing is I paid more for this one gear set than ORE charges for both. There is no one local that I trust. I am doing the new R&P (which should arrive today). I may be slow, but it will be set correctly.
 
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