Lots of questions from a new TJ owner

whats up my dudes. i am VERY new to jeeps. just sold my 350z and bought a 97 TJ 2.4 liter.
The original owner told me the jeep needed nothing....lo and behold, 2 weeks later im 2700 bucks in
repairs and maintenance but thats besides the point - i still have zero regrets (almost).
The previous owner is not aswering my calls/text anymore so i know absolutely nothing about this jeep other than what he told me the night i drove it home.

First, Im here to ask how many have the factory dana 30 front and dana 35 rear axles WITH 33 inch tires.
My front left axle is leaking and i was told by repair shop that the axles cant handle the 4inch supension lift and 33inch tires.. is this true?

Second, I have the spare tire mounted backwards on the tailgate. (33x10.5 r15). Reddit tells me this is a bad idea because the weight of larger tire will bend the tailgate hinges. facts or nah? ive asked 1 other jeep guy with same size tires and he tells me that his factory spare tire mount has held up for the last few years.

Third. The gladiator grill was installed prior to me purchasing the jeep - why do the jeep fanatics on the internet hate it? one guy told me to burn the grill...

Fourth and last, whats this "re-gearing" i keep reading about? how do i find out if my jeep is been re-geared? ive read that this is recommended but not required.
i dont plan an any rock crawling. i just moved to slc utah from southern arizona this year, there will be occassional trail riding and camping but thats about it.
Luckily, most of my commuting is on surface roads because this jeep is terrible on i15 as it struggles at 70mph - 5th gear is useless, i find that it goes slower so i keep it 4th gear HHHhheeelllLLLp

Nice Z. This is my previous BAE

And where would the tag be located to indicate the gearing? Is this expensive to change the gearing?

Chris said:

Yes, lots of people run 33s on those axles. In fact, they are more than up to the task of running 35s if the axles are built properly. Whoever gave you that advice is an idiot, that's for sure.

Check out this thread: Should I upgrade my Dana 35 axle?

Properly built, your Dana 35 and Dana 30 will handle 33s without any issue whatsoever.



You shouldn't have a 33" tire on the factory tailgate, no. You either need a bumper with a tire carrier built in, or an Exogate like a lot of us (including myself) run, with beefed up hinges. The rubber snubbers on the tailgate also need to be touching the spare tire, otherwise you're going to damage your tailgate over time.

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about the exo gate link you sent. is that everything i need? or are there other parts sold separately?

bobthetj03 said:

One trip to Moab and you'll likely get hooked on trail riding, so don't count that out. Based on what you are saying, it sounds like you have stock gearing. There should be a tag on the rear differential that will indicate what gear ratios you have. With your 4cyl. 5speed, I'd guess either 3.73's or 4.10's. 33" tires is generally the biggest you want to go with the rear Dana 35, but is doable if you're easy on the skinny pedal. I'd guess that since your last car was a Z, I'd be skeptical, lol!
My wife's car,
View attachment 68476

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are there any trails around salt lake metro that might be open this weekend?

where can i buy whatever goes here? ebay has it but i need to puchase the whole console. i just want the little cubby that goes here.

Jerry Bransford said:

Your '97 came with the 2.5L engine, the 2.4L didn't come until several years later.
Your rear Dana 35 and front Dana 30 are up to 30" tires, just don't also install a locker into that rear Dana 35 which in stock form is not strong enough for a locker. If you ever want to install a locker into it you can beef up the Dana 35 with a "Super 35" kit which will make it strong enough for both a locker and 35" tires.

Your axle ratio is currently geared to a 4.10 ratio. 4.10 just means the axle's input from the driveshaft is spinning 4.10 rotations for every rotation of the tire. Your TJ's 33" tires cause reduced engine rpms at the same speeds you'd have with the smaller stock size tires. The answer to that is to replace the existing 4.10 gears with 4.88 gears. That will raise the rpms back up to where they need to be to turn those 33" tires. While not cheap, regearing will restore your Jeep's power and for the money is one of the best upgrades you can do to your Jeep. No there are no other viable less costly methods for restoring the power, regearing both axles to 4.88 is what's required.

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thanks jerry. and geez this is a ton of info. had to copy it to my google keep for future reference.

now i need to find a mechanic that can regear it. is there anything i need to purchase? a re-gearing kit of sort? recommendations?