Long time lurker, first time poster. To start, since I got my 97 TJ about 2 years ago, I have found many answers to problems just by looking at old threads here. I'm really impressed by the knowledge on this forum. For that, I just want to say thanks to the community here. Now, on to my dilemma:
I have a 97 TJ, 150k miles, 4.0, AX15 manual, 231 command Trac t-case, dana 30 front, dana 35 rear, 3.07 gears, 2 in. BB lift, on BFG KM3 31x10.5x15s.
The gearing sucks. It's a pig on the highway and living in mountainous northern NM, 5th is useless. I can't get enough rpms to get cruising at highway speeds. For reference, I'm running 2250 rpms at 60 in 4th. I determined I'd like to run a better gear ratio, and from what I have researched (mostly on this forum) is that 4.10 and 31's make for a pretty good daily driver/occasional offroader.
I began looking at regearing and locally getting regeared runs about $1500 per axle. So after sitting on this a bit and researching, I figured I'd look at finding a set of stock rubicon axles instead. It would get me the gearing I want, has factory lockers, hand is the "better" (subjective, I know) dana 44's.
After looking for months, I found a set of rubicon axles from an 06 that a friend of a friend had pulled in favor of 1 ton axles. His is apparently a strictly rock crawling machine. I picked up the axles for 2500 for the set, but they have an e-locker in front, ARB air locker in the rear, chromolly axles shafts, and are geared to 4.88. Disc rear brakes are a plus too.
The draw backs of this setup for me are: 1) 4.88 seems a bit numerically high for 31's. I have less than 100 miles on a brand new set of KM3's and don't really want to go to a bigger tire or put a bigger lift on the jeep. 2) I know I most likely need new drive shafts, but don't want to have the added expense of a SYE. 3) the axles were set up for a High Steer kit, so I will have to make a few adjustments. Primarily relocating the stabilizer bracket and sway bar connect brackets back to their original positions. I'm decent at basic wrenching, but I'm not a welder, so I would have to get that done by my brother who is a good welder. That means transporting them to him and back, a 6 hour round trip (but I'd get to spend a weekend with brother, so not a big deal, all in all).
So, having dropped $2500 on these axles already, and knowing that I don't really want to spend more than another $1500, I have been asking myself: have I bit off more than I can chew?
Should I sell the axles and use the $ to fund a regear to 4.10 for my current dana 30/35, or should I figure out the install of said axles and gain all the benefits of 44's with better gearing and lockers, knowing that I will be dropping several grand on making the jeep set up enough to use the capability of the new axles? Is there a way to swap in the axles without having to spend a ton on a lift/tires/sye, etc?
I feel like I've fallen down a money rabbit hole trying to get slightly better gearing for a daily driver/occasional offroader, and don't know which route to go. Any advice, thoughts, ideas would be greatly appreciated!
I have a 97 TJ, 150k miles, 4.0, AX15 manual, 231 command Trac t-case, dana 30 front, dana 35 rear, 3.07 gears, 2 in. BB lift, on BFG KM3 31x10.5x15s.
The gearing sucks. It's a pig on the highway and living in mountainous northern NM, 5th is useless. I can't get enough rpms to get cruising at highway speeds. For reference, I'm running 2250 rpms at 60 in 4th. I determined I'd like to run a better gear ratio, and from what I have researched (mostly on this forum) is that 4.10 and 31's make for a pretty good daily driver/occasional offroader.
I began looking at regearing and locally getting regeared runs about $1500 per axle. So after sitting on this a bit and researching, I figured I'd look at finding a set of stock rubicon axles instead. It would get me the gearing I want, has factory lockers, hand is the "better" (subjective, I know) dana 44's.
After looking for months, I found a set of rubicon axles from an 06 that a friend of a friend had pulled in favor of 1 ton axles. His is apparently a strictly rock crawling machine. I picked up the axles for 2500 for the set, but they have an e-locker in front, ARB air locker in the rear, chromolly axles shafts, and are geared to 4.88. Disc rear brakes are a plus too.
The draw backs of this setup for me are: 1) 4.88 seems a bit numerically high for 31's. I have less than 100 miles on a brand new set of KM3's and don't really want to go to a bigger tire or put a bigger lift on the jeep. 2) I know I most likely need new drive shafts, but don't want to have the added expense of a SYE. 3) the axles were set up for a High Steer kit, so I will have to make a few adjustments. Primarily relocating the stabilizer bracket and sway bar connect brackets back to their original positions. I'm decent at basic wrenching, but I'm not a welder, so I would have to get that done by my brother who is a good welder. That means transporting them to him and back, a 6 hour round trip (but I'd get to spend a weekend with brother, so not a big deal, all in all).
So, having dropped $2500 on these axles already, and knowing that I don't really want to spend more than another $1500, I have been asking myself: have I bit off more than I can chew?
Should I sell the axles and use the $ to fund a regear to 4.10 for my current dana 30/35, or should I figure out the install of said axles and gain all the benefits of 44's with better gearing and lockers, knowing that I will be dropping several grand on making the jeep set up enough to use the capability of the new axles? Is there a way to swap in the axles without having to spend a ton on a lift/tires/sye, etc?
I feel like I've fallen down a money rabbit hole trying to get slightly better gearing for a daily driver/occasional offroader, and don't know which route to go. Any advice, thoughts, ideas would be greatly appreciated!