The good news is that I have the green light by "The Family Accountant" to get the gear change on my TJ! YAY! 
I have done gear swaps before but, to be frank, it was back when I was quite a bit younger with a lot more time and less "expendable" cash. So these days, I'm thinking that I'll leave that headache to the pros. Fortunately, we have a local Jeep shop with a good rep (Baldy's Jeep Shop) that will do the job for about $2K, including Timken bearings and Revolution gears.
The plan is to sell the set of 5 brand-new, never been mounted, 33" 12.5x15 Mickey Thompson Baja MTZ-P3's I have and buy some 35's, get the re-gear done, and put a bit of time/miles on it so I can get the break-in miles (and break-in lube change) done ASAP...and have some trail time on it before we head out to the Moab TJ fest.
Zee qvuestion ees, for those who have 35" tires on a Rubicon with the 6-speed manual tranny (NSG 370)...or anyone else with an opinion: Do you think I should go with 4.88 or 5.13 gears. I've read the "What gear ratio should I install in my Jeep Wrangler TJ / LJ? (and other re-gearing FAQs)" thread, along with several other sources, and am currently leaning toward the 4.88's but would certainly prefer input before I pull the trigger.
You should know that my TJ is mostly for playing in the rocks. It is not a daily driver, but I do not have a trailer or a truck to pull it, so I do drive it to the trails and the occasional run to the store ('cause, it's fun). The drive to the trails may be 25 miles to the local Hidden Falls or thousands of miles to Moab, and I don't want to make the time on the road "bad news". I'm all for anything that would improve my "trail ratio" as long as my highway cruising on some fairly long-haul drives isn't a bummer.
We all know that there is nothing like personal experience with a specific setup, so thanks in advance!
I have done gear swaps before but, to be frank, it was back when I was quite a bit younger with a lot more time and less "expendable" cash. So these days, I'm thinking that I'll leave that headache to the pros. Fortunately, we have a local Jeep shop with a good rep (Baldy's Jeep Shop) that will do the job for about $2K, including Timken bearings and Revolution gears.
The plan is to sell the set of 5 brand-new, never been mounted, 33" 12.5x15 Mickey Thompson Baja MTZ-P3's I have and buy some 35's, get the re-gear done, and put a bit of time/miles on it so I can get the break-in miles (and break-in lube change) done ASAP...and have some trail time on it before we head out to the Moab TJ fest.
Zee qvuestion ees, for those who have 35" tires on a Rubicon with the 6-speed manual tranny (NSG 370)...or anyone else with an opinion: Do you think I should go with 4.88 or 5.13 gears. I've read the "What gear ratio should I install in my Jeep Wrangler TJ / LJ? (and other re-gearing FAQs)" thread, along with several other sources, and am currently leaning toward the 4.88's but would certainly prefer input before I pull the trigger.
You should know that my TJ is mostly for playing in the rocks. It is not a daily driver, but I do not have a trailer or a truck to pull it, so I do drive it to the trails and the occasional run to the store ('cause, it's fun). The drive to the trails may be 25 miles to the local Hidden Falls or thousands of miles to Moab, and I don't want to make the time on the road "bad news". I'm all for anything that would improve my "trail ratio" as long as my highway cruising on some fairly long-haul drives isn't a bummer.
We all know that there is nothing like personal experience with a specific setup, so thanks in advance!
On a side note, my super-fun bro-in-law and my sis are planning on coming out to hang at the TJ Fest-ivities with their brand-new Rav4 (alright, you really can't blame 'em...'yota makes some damned nice vehicles). So I figure he'll be riding shotgun on several rides while the better halves take in the local color and/or wineries.