4.6 Golen Engine Swap Preparation

Woodrow said:
The trutrac includes a carrier so you carriers aren’t stock. The carrier breaks are the same though. It would appear you’re stuck at 3.73 without a carrier change. Your 30 can go as high they go but the 44 is maxed out. Oh well, might as well add a rear e-locker to your list🙄
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He can run thick gears in the Dana 44 that were designed for rubicons without a carrier change. Up to 5.38
 
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Rickyd said:
He can run thick gears in the Dana 44 that were designed for rubicons without a carrier change. Up to 5.38
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That’s cool. Sorry OP. I thought the thick gears had to do with higher (numerically) ratios and smaller pinion sizes.
 
Woodrow said:
That’s cool. Sorry OP. I thought the thick gears had to do with higher (numerically) ratios and smaller pinion sizes.
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No apology necessary. I think you mentioned you ran 4.11s on 33s for a while with the 4.6. Can you tell me how that compared to your driving experience with different motor-gears-tires setups? All I have for reference are 3.73s and a 4.0 paired with either 30s or 31s.
 
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4.0l/4.10/33 5 speed isn't quite enough gear.

4.6l/4.10/33 is perfect onroad

2.5l/4.88/33 auto is a dog

5.2l/4.88/36 auto is ok but should be deeper.

The stroker combo is much quicker than the v8 combo mentioned
 
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Rickyd said:
4.0l/4.10/33 5 speed isn't quite enough gear.

4.6l/4.10/33 is perfect onroad

2.5l/4.88/33 auto is a dog

5.2l/4.88/36 auto is ok but should be deeper.

The stroker combo is much quicker than the v8 combo mentioned
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You say perfect on road for 4.6/4.10/33. What issues did you have offroad? Crawling too fast in 1st gear 4-low?
 
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Woodrow said:
That’s cool. Sorry OP. I thought the thick gears had to do with higher (numerically) ratios and smaller pinion sizes.
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The rubicon locker is made to the numerically lower side of the break for some reason. Maybe they were going to run 3.73s in them when the lockers were spec'd?

Hell i could run gears like a 3.07 in my rubi axles! 🤣
 
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YonderNorthwest said:
No apology necessary. I think you mentioned you ran 4.11s on 33s for a while with the 4.6. Can you tell me how that compared to your driving experience with different motor-gears-tires setups? All I have for reference are 3.73s and a 4.0 paired with either 30s or 31s.
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Mine is a ‘97 that came w/ the 4.0 and an AX-15. When I bought it, it had a 3” lift, 31s and stock 3.07 gears. It was kind if slow on road but I was just stoked to have it and didn’t care. Then I put 33s on it and it started to seem slow. So, before really knowing much, I had a shop do F/R trutracs and 4.11 gears. Big improvement but, could have been a little better (4.56 is a common rec here for that combo and its a good one). Even 4.88 might be OK with the stock motor. However, when the stroker was in, 4.11 seemed perfect on the street. E-lockers also happened as my trutracs were not effective when lifting a wheel. My other problem was rock crawling with the 231. I’m in the middle of an atlas 2 speed 5.0:1 install to fix that. But I’m also going to re-gear the axles due to the new 35s (prob 4.88).

I’ll probably end up with a TJ-6 on tons and 42s. Gearing then will depend on how big the V8 is…
 
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Rickyd said:
Yeah its too fast in low on rocks and other technical stuff for my liking. I want a 4:1 tcase.for now i think I'll do a hand throttle to make the clutch work easier
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You should drive @Alex01 ’s rig in rocks. 4.0 but 5 speed, atlas 5.0:1 and 4.88 on 35s. He let me drive it on the Rubicon. Just amazing. let the clutch out and steer. You could probably jump out to spot yourself and hop back in while it motors along😂
 
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Woodrow said:
Mine is a ‘97 that came w/ the 4.0 and an AX-15. When I bought it, it had a 3” lift, 31s and stock 3.07 gears. It was kind if slow on road but I was just stoked to have it and didn’t care. Then I put 33s on it and it started to seem slow. So, before really knowing much, I had a shop do F/R trutracs and 4.11 gears. Big improvement but, could have been a little better (4.56 is a common rec here for that combo and its a good one). Even 4.88 might be OK with the stock motor. However, when the stroker was in, 4.11 seemed perfect on the street. E-lockers also happened as my trutracs were not effective when lifting a wheel. My other problem was rock crawling with the 231. I’m in the middle of an atlas 2 speed 5.0:1 install to fix that. But I’m also going to re-gear the axles due to the new 35s (prob 4.88).

I’ll probably end up with a TJ-6 on tons and 42s. Gearing then will depend on how big the V8 is…
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Really good info. Given that mine is a daily, I think gearing to 4.11 now and then 33s when these tires wear out will suit my needs nicely. It sounds like both of you are hitting more technical trails than me, and the deficiencies you've found in this gearing offroad may not be applicable to my use case.
 
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Rickyd said:
Yeah its too fast in low on rocks and other technical stuff for my liking. I want a 4:1 tcase.for now i think I'll do a hand throttle to make the clutch work easier
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Mines 95% on road. And not getting into technical enough trails to warrant the need for a hand throttle!

Would the bigger motor make my 3.73s seem faster at low speeds than my 4.0 if I didn't change gearing?
 
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YonderNorthwest said:
Mines 95% on road. And not getting into technical enough trails to warrant the need for a hand throttle!

Would the bigger motor make my 3.73s seem faster at low speeds than my 4.0 if I didn't change gearing?
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If the stroker is happening and you’re on 31s, you will likely be happy for your described use at 3.73. I recommend saying put on gearing until that’s done and you settle on a future tire size. FWIW, my Jeep changes way faster than I wear out tires. I just sold my 33s and the purchaser was pleased with how new they seemed.

Edit: and no the stroker won’t change your crawl speed. Gears do that.
 
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Woodrow said:
If the stroker is happening and you’re on 31s, you will likely be happy for your described use at 3.73. I recommend saying put on gearing until that’s done and you settle on a future tire size. FWIW, my Jeep changes way faster than I wear out tires. I just sold my 33s and the purchaser was pleased with how new they seemed.
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Hmm... this is sound advice. I will need to weigh this going into the engine install.
 
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It's been beat to death already, but +1 for 4.11s/5 speed/stroker being perfect on the street. Even towing a 2000lb trailer. It's not terrible off road, but on technical spots like trying to put a tire on one specific rock climbing up a hill, you'll find yourself working the clutch a ton. I have a 241 Rubi case sitting in the shed waiting to swap in this summer.
 
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SkylinesSuck said:
It's been beat to death already, but +1 for 4.11s/5 speed/stroker being perfect on the street. Even towing a 2000lb trailer. It's not terrible off road, but on technical spots like trying to put a tire on one specific rock climbing up a hill, you'll find yourself working the clutch a ton. I have a 241 Rubi case sitting in the shed waiting to swap in this summer.
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As of now with my tired 4.0L 5-speed , I aint lookng to working my clutch with my 231.
 
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Woodrow said:
You should drive @Alex01 ’s rig in rocks. 4.0 but 5 speed, atlas 5.0:1 and 4.88 on 35s. He let me drive it on the Rubicon. Just amazing. let the clutch out and steer. You could probably jump out to spot yourself and hop back in while it motors along😂
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Sounds about right. In first gear it's impossible, or dam near, to stall the thing even holding the brakes or placing the bumper on a tree with both axles locked. Ask me how I know 😆. If I'm in a tight spot I can hold the brakes and ease out the clutch for small movements.

The only occasions I stall the thing is when I'm in 3rd instead of first. The simple way I explain the 5:1 is that, compared to the 231, your first gear moves to 2nd, 4th becomes your 5th and you gain a utlra low first. (In low gear)
 
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