... what would be an "all purpose" gear thanks
Hey Ken,
The true definition of “all purpose” is: Mediocre at everything, but not real good at anything. The ramblings below, assume, you want to also use your Jeep for Off-Roading in addition to Daily Driving. If it’s only an On-Road Jeep, then the URL will be your only interest and you can disregard the rest of the prose.
Here’s one
grimmjeeper.com/gears.html (of many sites) that has calculators for helping you figure out what ratio suits your needs. One advantage you have over me (you should have a Chrysler 8.25 rear axle), your axles shafts are 29 spline. '96 and earlier have 27.
Unfortunately you have to choose which side of the Middle (All Purpose) you want. One side leans towards better than average Off-Roading capability and the other side leans towards better On-Road manners and handling (stock). YOU WON’T be happy in the Middle, because it won’t ride, or act, as good as it did when stock and it won’t do very well on the trails… in the Middle sucks. If you’re gonna do trail riding, one thing you really need to think about is adding a Traction Device to one, or both, of you Axles. One of the biggest costs of regearing is Labor! If you’re going to spend that kind of $$ on an upgrade, and if you are able, then spend it once. I understand that sometimes it’s not possible, but it’s something you should seriously think about before hand. Traction Devices have huge Off-Road advantages with few On-Road disadvantages (depending on Device choice).
If I remember right, you can go up to 3.55 before you HAVE to buy a new Case (Carrier or Differential. Your choice of nomenclature). If you’re going to gear up to 3.73 (which should bring you close to stock gearing performance), or higher, and you have to spend the money on a Case, then add some more to it and get a Traction Device (I recommend a Limited Slip). One question you really have to ask yourself: are you gonna stay at this size tire (of course, WE ALL thought we were too, but…) or does your future plans already include taller lifts and bigger tires? One (although expensive) option is setting up your Rears for the street and your T-Case for the Trails. I’m running 4.10’s with 33’s (an AW4 Transmission), and 4.56 could’ve been better, but… Now my future plan is getting a 4:1 Transfer Case upgrade. That way my street performance will stay the same, but I’ll have more obstacle speed control on the trails.
Of course, the opinions will be flying and the end decision will be yours. Save yourself some money, and maybe future regrets, and RESEARCH. Read JP Magazine articles (past and present) and see what seems to work on the trails for other people doing the type of Off-Roading YOU want to do. Everybody’s idea of Off-Roading is different.
Hope this helped.
Tatt
