By and large gearing to anything below 4:10 is not regearing..... It is wasting about $1,500 or more. To regear correctly is to regear (was that @Jerry Bransford or Shakespeare?)
I'm not trying to come across like a know-it-all.. but I take this viewpoint about gearing-
A stock TJ did not come with the wrong tires or the wrong gears for those tires... It came with the tires they designed it for and the gears that are appropriate for that size tire and transmission .
When you change tire size, you do not want to have the goal of just changing something with the gearing, what you want to do is correct the change you just made to the final drive ratio with the bigger tires....or even improve on that slightly ( and I say that because not only are the tires bigger but they are also heavier so if you gear to 4:88 vs 4:56 it helps you with that aspect as well, a 12.5 x 33" on a beadlock is 2- 2.5 times heavier than a stock 31 on a stock rim maybe.) This is why the statement , given two close ratios , go with the higher second number, makes good sense.
If you want power similar to stock, and who on earth doesn't want at least that , you want to gear correctly.
People treat it like it's a preference , but from a mechanical standpoint , it's really not so much ....do you pick up a 5/8 wrench for 1/2 nut? No.
Gearing isn't a mod or a hop up , it's a correction to make the vehicle perform as designed, because the big tires changed the final drive ratio.
This is why we started the Forum Regearing Committee , which is still considered essential under Covid 19 guidelines, and still meets quarterly.
I'm not trying to come across like a know-it-all.. but I take this viewpoint about gearing-
A stock TJ did not come with the wrong tires or the wrong gears for those tires... It came with the tires they designed it for and the gears that are appropriate for that size tire and transmission .
When you change tire size, you do not want to have the goal of just changing something with the gearing, what you want to do is correct the change you just made to the final drive ratio with the bigger tires....or even improve on that slightly ( and I say that because not only are the tires bigger but they are also heavier so if you gear to 4:88 vs 4:56 it helps you with that aspect as well, a 12.5 x 33" on a beadlock is 2- 2.5 times heavier than a stock 31 on a stock rim maybe.) This is why the statement , given two close ratios , go with the higher second number, makes good sense.
If you want power similar to stock, and who on earth doesn't want at least that , you want to gear correctly.
People treat it like it's a preference , but from a mechanical standpoint , it's really not so much ....do you pick up a 5/8 wrench for 1/2 nut? No.
Gearing isn't a mod or a hop up , it's a correction to make the vehicle perform as designed, because the big tires changed the final drive ratio.
This is why we started the Forum Regearing Committee , which is still considered essential under Covid 19 guidelines, and still meets quarterly.
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