Lift, Big Tires Now I need big gears

[KJowner]

I've come to Jeeps from land rovers, in the UK you can get lower ratio transfer gears instead of charging diff ratios, I guess similar is available for Jeeps???

 

[u2slow]

Fwiw, I stopped at 30" tires and regeared from 3.55 axles to 3.73. It made the most difference at highway speeds; where 6th had no power, and sometimes had to dig down to 4th for a hill. The nice thing is a set of 3.73's is in every automatic KJ with a blown up V6 - which i scored for $500 complete.

I've come to Jeeps from land rovers, in the UK you can get lower ratio transfer gears instead of charging diff ratios, I guess similar is available for Jeeps???

The KJ tcases aren't that special. Whatever the XJ, YJ, and TJ guys run can be swapped in without much fuss.

I suppose the rubicon 241OR or TeraLow 4:1 are possibilities.

 

[slowcrawlerZJ]

Thank you. My biggest concern was since I still use the rig for daily driving as well that the bigger tires, especially if I went to 32”, something like 265-75-16 that I was going to really tax the transmission when in OD. I have not replaced tires yet think I will go with the bigger tires. It is not cheap upgrade for sure. Even with getting the differential and axles used by time I have them gone through I am thinking I will be into it roughly $2500. That is figuring master rebuild kits for both ends and then adding LSD front and rear as well. I would love to go 4.56 but like you said not an option anymore. I was planning to add the LSD regardless of gear change so the gearing is not much more cost but will be some for sure. This will never be a ********* off roader for me. Just something we can take some places off the beaten path when we want too. I suspect in 4 low I will not notice hardly any difference. It is the commute I was worried about. What are your thoughts for that application? I am open either way. To be honest, I bought this little vehicle as a kids vehicle but the things changes and I started driving it myself. I really like it and now the kids not getting it back, lol. This has been the most versatile cheap vehicle I have ever bought. We go to Moab for a couple of weeks every year with our SXS and took the Liberty with us last year. I took it into Arches and some of the back country trails that were closed off the SXS and was totally impressed with what it handled. Just needed some better suspension, ground clearance and ability to lock up and so the whole spiral began. With all that said, don’t want to lose its manners on the street where I can prevent.

Gotcha. I inherited the 2006 model I have from my daughter. I bought it for her as her first vehicle. She kept it nice and clean inside out. It’s not my first Liberty. I’ve owned several models and done mild mods to them. This one I wanted to tow to Colorado (San Juans area) camping and see what the capability of a Liberty would be. So I began with 4 inches of lift and rebuilt the whole suspension, JBA arms, rebuilt both axles (seals, bearings, brakes) added a Power Trax rear locker, changed all fluids and filters, engine cooling system rebuild and built a tow bar hookup/winch mount. I’m running right at 32” tires. It’s a 3.7 gasser with 3.73 gears. I threw a lot at this Liberty from Alpine Loop to Poughkeepsie Gultch and was quite surprised and really pleased how it handled them all. So much so I was taking trails some Wrangler folks stopped at but would not go on. I bounced it going up several switchbacks and nothing broke. I hear you about the ******. This 2006 has the factory tow package with ****** cooler so I added a PML deep transmission pan with temp sensor. I drove it all over highway 550 from Durango to Silverton to Ouray many times. ****** Temps ran anywhere from 200 to 230 on higher elevations while constantly climbing. The little Liberty did great. It’s no speedster for sure but it had no issues climbing in this configuration. Not sure what elevations your looking at driving daily but this set up worked for me on 32’s and 3.73’s. A transmission filter and fluid change paired with an oil cooler and a PML deep pan will do wonders for your transmission.

 

[tyates007]

Gotcha. I inherited the 2006 model I have from my daughter. I bought it for her as her first vehicle. She kept it nice and clean inside out. It’s not my first Liberty. I’ve owned several models and done mild mods to them. This one I wanted to tow to Colorado (San Juans area) camping and see what the capability of a Liberty would be. So I began with 4 inches of lift and rebuilt the whole suspension, JBA arms, rebuilt both axles (seals, bearings, brakes) added a Power Trax rear locker, changed all fluids and filters, engine cooling system rebuild and built a tow bar hookup/winch mount. I’m running right at 32” tires. It’s a 3.7 gasser with 3.73 gears. I threw a lot at this Liberty from Alpine Loop to Poughkeepsie Gultch and was quite surprised and really pleased how it handled them all. So much so I was taking trails some Wrangler folks stopped at but would not go on. I bounced it going up several switchbacks and nothing broke. I hear you about the ******. This 2006 has the factory tow package with ****** cooler so I added a PML deep transmission pan with temp sensor. I drove it all over highway 550 from Durango to Silverton to Ouray many times. ****** Temps ran anywhere from 200 to 230 on higher elevations while constantly climbing. The little Liberty did great. It’s no speedster for sure but it had no issues climbing in this configuration. Not sure what elevations your looking at driving daily but this set up worked for me on 32’s and 3.73’s. A transmission filter and fluid change paired with an oil cooler and a PML deep pan will do wonders for your transmission.

Thank you for the feedback. Sounds like your setup is pretty close to what mine will be. Good to know it performed well for you. It certainly is no hotrod in its stock form but that was never the intent I guess. If the donor vehicle works out I will probably move forward since I will have it all opened up anyway for the LSD install. If it does not I may forgo dropping the front right now, just put the TrueTrac in the rear and run it for awhile. I will say this forum is a little dangerous with all the stuff I have talked myself into doing to this little vehicle, lol. The fact it’s pretty simple to work on only makes things worse when my mind starts having crazy ideas, especially when I consider the price of some of the rigs my friends had that we kept up with last fall having just as much fun in a 20 year old $4000 vehicle.

 

[slowcrawlerZJ]

Thank you for the feedback. Sounds like your setup is pretty close to what mine will be. Good to know it performed well for you. It certainly is no hotrod in its stock form but that was never the intent I guess. If the donor vehicle works out I will probably move forward since I will have it all opened up anyway for the LSD install. If it does not I may forgo dropping the front right now, just put the TrueTrac in the rear and run it for awhile. I will say this forum is a little dangerous with all the stuff I have talked myself into doing to this little vehicle, lol. The fact it’s pretty simple to work on only makes things worse when my mind starts having crazy ideas, especially when I consider the price of some of the rigs my friends had that we kept up with last fall having just as much fun in a 20 year old $4000 vehicle.

You bet. Amen…on all. Just like most Jeeps you can get carried away easily with modding so much and these boogers are so very capable and underestimated. Yes they have their limitations as most Jeeps do when you dig into them but like you said a $4k jeep that can hang with most your buddies more high dollar rigs. That’s a win in my book! Plus to see the look on some folks face when you roll up in a Liberty and take the same trails. Good stuff my friend. Have fun it and keep the rubber side down.

 

[joshgoble]

Honestly speaking a 3.73 to 4.10 swap is not going to save anything. You’ll be disappointed in the end for the money and work you put into. It would different if you were jumping several gear sizes from like a 3.55 to 4.10. Unfortunately since the aftermarket steel Dana 30 front housing were discontinued there is no option to go to 4.56’s which would way worth it. I’m just giving you some friendly advice to save you some headache…from someone who builds hot rods and rock crawlers.

Advance Auto Parts - Down for Maintenance

 

[joshgoble]

Advance Auto Parts - Down for Maintenance

 

[nbas]

Regearing to 4.10 was the best thing I did after lifting! The Jeep now behaves as stock! I have the automatic, so in this case, to me, regearing is a must if you plan to fit 245/75R16 tires as I do. If you have the automatic, don't forget to program the ECU for the bigger tires! This is the only programming needed.
For the front, I used the differential case and gears from a 2.4 donor as it is impossible to find new Spicer 4.10 gears in Greece. My mechanic added the ARB locking differential on the donor's case and then swapped the diff cases.
For the rear, I opted for new gears from WHITELK. It is an Italian company with good reputation.
So far, I have done 12.500km (approx. 7.700miles), no problem whatsoever.
The lockers are fantastic off-road.
Now I know, that I will never sell this Jeep...

 

[tyates007]

Regearing to 4.10 was the best thing I did after lifting! The Jeep now behaves as stock! I have the automatic, so in this case, to me, regearing is a must if you plan to fit 245/75R16 tires as I do. If you have the automatic, don't forget to program the ECU for the bigger tires! This is the only programming needed.
For the front, I used the differential case and gears from a 2.4 donor as it is impossible to find new Spicer 4.10 gears in Greece. My mechanic added the ARB locking differential on the donor's case and then swapped the diff cases.
For the rear, I opted for new gears from WHITELK. It is an Italian company with good reputation.
So far, I have done 12.500km (approx. 7.700miles), no problem whatsoever.
The lockers are fantastic off-road.
Now I know, that I will never sell this Jeep...

Appreciate the feedback. I too will put new gears in the rear I think and the use the donor front. Looking forward to the smiles per mile for sure

 

[MsRandiCook]

https://www.tremec.com/calculadora.php

I use this for wheel speed calculations