32s, 33s, gears

[maestro]

Hi everyone. I need some expert's opinion. I own the new 4cyl, 6 speed, 2.4 TJ with a 3-3/4" total lift (OME plus Tera-spacers). I think it's time to replace my 31x10.5x15 A/Ts with bigger tires. I need to decide between 32x11.5, or 33x12.5, or 33x10.5 M/Ts, probably BFGs. I don't know anything about gears but I found in my book that I have:
1st gear: 4.46,
axle ratio 1: 3.73
overall top gear 3.13
2.4 engine, six speed manual.
What would be a good choice without regearing?
I noticed that the 33x10.5 M/Ts are lighter than the 32x11.5 ones.
Also, I have the 15x8 Mickey Thompson classic locks with the appropriate backspacing to avoid rubbing (I think 3.5 or something like that).
Opinions?

Thanks a lot

[Fred]

You have a 4cy, there for you have 4.11 gears in your axles. With the 4cy and 4.11's you would be fime with 33's. I do not have a 4cy, but I would say with 33's you will still have 70-80MPH hightway speed, and an AWSOMW crawl ratio. Guys with 4cy and 33's do just fine, in fact GREAT off road.

[Tomster]

Maestro:

I wish you could test drive a four banger with 33's before you take the plunge. You might think you could live with the loss of power, but you might decide you don't want to. You already know that the four banger isn't going to win you any drag races, and when you put heavier, larger diameter tires on your Jeep, you are going to sap more power from that engine.

It's entirely up to you, but don't you have lots of hills to contend with over there in Athens? You might not like the speed your Jeep will be capable of maintaining on some of those long climbs.

What size tires came on your Jeep? They were probably about 28", right? Do you remember how much power you lost in going to the 31's?

Not saying you should or shouldn't go with 33's, but just want you to be aware of the possible consequences.

Tom

[Don]

If you are going to 33's, I think you will quickly decide that you want.... need 4:56 gears. I have the 4.0L and investigated this question and came to the decision the 4:11's would be okay, but nothing to write home to Mom about. Therefore, when I do my gears, they will be 4:56's.
Checkout www.4lo.com (http://www.4lo.com) for more information.

[Hipee]

That's a tuff one. It all depends on whether your jp is your daily driver or just a toy. If it's the DD then you probably want to maintain better gearing for on-road, without the off-road performance suffering....so you'd probably want to go with the 32s and 4.11s (if you don't already have 4.11s).

For better off-road performance you can run 32s or 33s with 4.56s. If you're going to run 33's of any kind I'd recommend the 4.56s since you have 4 hamsters under the hood.

[Tomster]

If he's stock, he has 4.11 gearing. All of the four banger Wranglers have 4.11's from the factory. That helps keep the RPM up for the four cylinder engine, and this is needed for power.

Tomster

[BillM]

If you go to 33's to get back to the way your Jeep ran on stock equipment you would need to go to a 4.88 gear. This puts you at running about 3200 rpm at 65 mph in 5th gear (on your jeep). And if I am not mistaken 4.88 is as high as you can go in a D30/35 diff. Just my $.02. If you want to go any deeper in the gear than that you will need D44's or bigger axles.

[maestro]

Guys, I have 3.73 gears in my jeep not 4.11. That is what is marked on my differential and written in the bullentin too. Unfortunatelly the new 4cyl, 6-speed have 3.73 gears from stock. BTW I think I have dana 44 rear axle too.
So, what should I do?

[Tomster]

Maestro:

Man, I can't believe they went to 3.73 gearing for those four bangers. That sucks. That just limits you even more on tire size, unless you don't care about power at all.

No one can tell you what you should do, Maestro. It's up to you as to how much power loss you are willing to take for the sake of the bigger tires.

Good luck, man. Hope you end up happy with whatever ya do.

Tomster

[mullins87]

Hey Maestro. I realize my engine/tranny combo is different than yours, but in my Jeep, 31's with the 4.11 gears barely gets it done on the road. Most of the time I'm running in 5th gear, the go-pedal is nearly to the floor, even on flat ground. Before I decided to do an engine swap, who knows when that'll happen, /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eyeroll.gif I calculated out both the 4.56's and 4.88's. The 4.56's put me just a little taller than the factory gearing while the 4.88's put me just a little shorter than factory. Just my $.02, and you're getting ripped off at that price, I think you should go 4.88's if you are even considering 33's.

[BillM]

I can see the 3.73's with a 6 SPEED.

[gmbtj]

If you do go to 33's and feel the need to regear (u prolly will), then you should definitley skip the 4.56's and go straight to the 4.88's.
I have the older 2.5L instead of the new 2.4, but mine will hold 75 all day long in fourth gear (havent seen 5th gear in awhile), which should be just like your 5th and 6th gears (u wont use 6th alot). I know people in 4 bangers that have gone from 31's to 33's and said that there wasnt a whole lot of difference in top speed, but I dont know that that is true for sure.

My 2 cents. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tu.gif

[Tomster]

Top speed may be about the same, but it's how long it takes to get there and under what conditions you can hold it.

Tomster

[Hipee]

It would of been nice if Jeep would of slapped 4.11s in there with the 6 speed. That would make for a nice factory setup.

I agree, if you're going to run 33s, then go for the gold and get the 4.88s. You'll be happy you did later on.

I'm in the same boat. Need to regear. I'm running 31s with 3.07s and a 5 speed. I haven't seen 5th gear, ever. I'm tossing around running 4.11s or 4.56s with 32s or 33s myself.

Have fun man.

[mullins87]

[ QUOTE ]
I can see the 3.73's with a 6 SPEED.

[/ QUOTE ]

Does anyone know the ratio for 6th gear? It's 0.85:1 in the AX-5. I'd bet the 6th gear ratio isn't much different.

[Tomster]

If I remember correctly, sixth gear is actually a little less of an overdrive gear than fifth gear in the five speed NV3550. It seems like there was very little difference, but I can't remember the ratios. I think fifth gear in the NV3550 for Wranglers is 0.78:1 .

Tomster

[mullins87]

Well, if that's correct, then that explains the 3.73 axle ratio.

[ZONA]

I went 33's on my new jeep and it had 3.07 stock. That bites hard. Had both front and rear gears changed out using factory Dana Spicer to 4.11's and a rear lockright out the door for $1150.00

[Hipee]

Yeah, I'm looking to replace my 3.07s with 4.11s.

Hey Zona, how are those 4.11s with 33s both on and off road? Not too high or low? Notice any difference in your gas mileage/power?

[BillM]

I can help ya with all that stuff Hipee. See your other post about axles.

[ZONA]

Well, it was like driving a different jeep when I picked it up from shop. I had instant passing power on freeway. Really good from starts. Plenty of power on trail. Don't forget, you can always use 1st gear and go into 4-low for even lower gears for off-raod. I could have went to 4.56 or lower but I drive 60 miles a day on freeway so I wanted to keep some kind of gas milaege on it. Plus, if you ever want to swap D35 rear axle to D44, there will be a ton to choose from at 4.11, since that is the stock rubi axle and gear.

[Rit]

[ QUOTE ]
Guys, I have 3.73 gears in my jeep not 4.11. That is what is marked on my differential and written in the bullentin too. Unfortunatelly the new 4cyl, 6-speed have 3.73 gears from stock. BTW I think I have dana 44 rear axle too.
So, what should I do?

[/ QUOTE ]

That sounds pretty nice, must be a new option. Maybe Jeep put a 4 cyl. in for export?

I agree with the 4.88s for 33" and you'd probably see a little better gas mileage. If you go with the 32s you'll always be wishing you had bought the 33 X 12.5s /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/hee.gif (don't ask) /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wave.gif

[Micah]

Well I run 33's on my 4 banger and I really didnt notice a difference in drivabilty from the 31's I dont floor it on the expressway I just keep steady on the gas and if I go to slow people can pass me. I have a good time in my jeep, you can ask about anybody. As far as offroad it does good there too if I can keep the tires on the ground. I am running 4.11s but would some day like to move up to 4.88 gears (need money and taking donations).

All in all it does good with the 4.11s and 33's. I'm happy anyways.