What's been your regearing experience?

[Bowhunter]

From the threads I’ve read on here in the past, regearing seems to be about the best thing since sliced bread.

However, discussing the topic with a trusted member, he opened my eyes to it possibly not being as great as it is cracked up to be. No regrets, just not as good as originally thought it would be

Local off-road shop initial quote was $1800 for both axles parts and labor for 5.38. Currently have 33” but could see 35” in future. Currently a stock rubicon from the axle setup

Drivability (lake of power) is what keeps me from driving the jeep more often (it’s not my daily). But would hate to spend $1800+ on something that doesn’t substantially increase on road/hwy drivability.

What’s been your experience with regearing?

Edit reason: clarify

 

[97JadeTJ]

What gears are you on now?

 

[Bowhunter]

What gears are you on now?

4.10

 

[machoheadgames]

Elaborate more on the member who opened your eyes up to it not being all it’s cracked up to be?

I’ve regeared multiple vehicles and it’s always been a very positive experience.

 

[97JadeTJ]

I’m not 100% sure what you need… On my previous streak I went from 373’s to 480‘s with a 2.5 L 3 speed auto on 33’s. It was like night and day driving… My current is a 4 L, 3 speed auto on 33’s with 307’s and it needs to be 410’s… your transmission has such a steep overdrive is why you need higher gears…

 

[97JadeTJ]

The purpose of rearing is to put your jeep back to is close to the factory power band as possible, because let’s face it, the Jeep engineers knew best… If your jeep came from the factory with 33’s on 410s, then that’s where it needs to be… going from 33 to 35. I’m not sure if you need to go as high as 538….
follow this link http://www.grimmjeeper.com/gears.html and you can plug-in the numbers that your jeep came with from the factory and then plug-in the new gears and you’ll see the difference…

edit… 307’s were not the best decision they made… Lol

 

[Plumber1]

I am running 35's on my 05 Rubicon and I re-geared to 4:88's and I can say it defiantly worth it, The power was restored back, also have a Rubicon with the lower TC it's been great off road too. I also replaced the front axels with chromoly while I was at it.

It's the only real performance mod you can make power wise W/O doing an engine swap

 

[Duck Doctor]

I have regeared six of my rigs and would never consider increasing tire size without a regear. Makes driving much more bearable on road especially if you deal with mountainous terrain.

 

[PNW_LJ]

The only people disappointed after a regear are those that didn’t gear low enough.

 

[L J]

I've only regeared twice.

4.11s(?) to 4.88s on my Toyota truck when I put on 33x12.50s. ~$2000 (Truetrac and Detroit locker as well) well spent. Absolutely would do it again.

4.10s to 5.13s on the LJ when I put on 35x12.50s. $1100 well spent. Absolutely would do it again.

 

[jjvw]

I don't trust this trusted member

 

[machoheadgames]

I don't trust this trusted member

It might be an untrusted member

 

[Bowhunter]

I don't trust this trusted member

After rereading my first post, I didn’t accurately capture this member’s thoughts. Essentially, it didn’t have the impact that he was expecting. Not that it was a regret, just not quite as good as expected. That’s all was I meant, I just didn’t convey his experience properly on my initial attempt

 

[ColoJeep]

My experience was a positive one , I regeared my Daily Driver from 3.73 to 4.10 and added an Eaton E-locker and alloy axles to my D - 44 .
This was for running a no bull shit 31.7 inch diameter tire. If you're not driving your Jeep 15,000 miles a year you could gear much deeper.
Everybody has a different application and use , gear accordingly . HAVE FUN whatever you do !

 

[Bowhunter]

So my factory lockers are working properly (knock on wood), no reason to change up my locker setup during a regear correct?

And can anyone comment on how drivability is in a stock axle rubicon auto transmission with 33 with OD off vs with higher gears with OD on? Wondering if simply just not using OD is similar to a regear in terms of felt power and drivability (I doubt this is the case)

 

[L J]

So my factory lockers are working properly (knock on wood), no reason to change up my locker setup during a regear correct?

If you can afford an Eaton e-locker or ARB, it's probably a smart move to replace the failure prone rear factory locker. Of course, I didn't.

 

[ColoJeep]

So my factory lockers are working properly (knock on wood), no reason to change up my locker setup during a regear correct?

And can anyone comment on how drivability is in a stock axle rubicon auto transmission with 33 with OD off vs with higher gears with OD on? Wondering if simply just not using OD is similar to a regear in terms of felt power and drivability (I doubt this is the case)

This is something you can try without cost. Just do it and report back.

 

[machoheadgames]

So my factory lockers are working properly (knock on wood), no reason to change up my locker setup during a regear correct?

And can anyone comment on how drivability is in a stock axle rubicon auto transmission with 33 with OD off vs with higher gears with OD on? Wondering if simply just not using OD is similar to a regear in terms of felt power and drivability (I doubt this is the case)

Drivability will be great. It won’t feel bad at all. The highway cruise in your current 3rd gear will still be lower than what your new 4th gear would be like, so not an even comparison. The main thing is all 4 gears will have more torque. Turning off OD on your current setup is not the same - you’re still not benefiting from any gear reduction in the lower 3 gears you limit yourself to with OD off, you just don’t get crippled in the poor existing 4th gear.

 

[Bowhunter]

The purpose of rearing is to put your jeep back to is close to the factory power band as possible, because let’s face it, the Jeep engineers knew best… If your jeep came from the factory with 33’s on 410s, then that’s where it needs to be… going from 33 to 35. I’m not sure if you need to go as high as 538….
follow this link http://www.grimmjeeper.com/gears.html and you can plug-in the numbers that your jeep came with from the factory and then plug-in the new gears and you’ll see the difference…

edit… 307’s were not the best decision they made… Lol

Reason for 5.38 was because I wanted the biggest impact to drivability vs money spent. The jeep will see less than 5k miles a year (maybe a few more if the regear makes me like driving it on the hwy lol)

Also 5.38 because I could see wanting 35”s in the future because the added clearance could be of use with this jeep mainly being for off-road/crawling fun.

Currently I avoid mountain roads and hwy because of the lack of power across all gears/speed but especially OD. But I’m not a good comparison because my daily is a stock twin turbo 3.5 F150

 

[Bowhunter]

If you can afford an Eaton e-locker or ARB, it's probably a smart move to replace the failure prone rear factory locker. Of course, I didn't.

LOL what’s smart and what I do is not always the same thing

What I had figured was if my rear locker goes, I had figured replacing with a Detroit style (lunch box) would be a cheap alternative since the jeep never sees snow and I think I could do the install myself vs a selectable (selectable would be preferred tho but they’re not cheap)