Mvigo's '04 Rubicon
- Thread starter mvigo
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OP
OP
The bad news was the LSD gave way and took everything out in the rear diff. I had to replace the ring and pinion. The good news is I now have an ARB locker in the rear! So I got that going for me. All ready for the summer time fun...
OP
Let's talk crawl ratios for a minute...
Is there an ideal # and, if so, how is the best way to arrive at that #? Or, should we even care? Mine is currently 78ish with 4.88 gears, 4:1 transfer case and 4.01 1st gear in the NV3550. I would like to have more. I am mostly in the rocks and I believe that added control would be very beneficial.
I've been asking myself how to get there.
Regear? I am currently at 4.88's and the highest I would go would be 5.13's which, in my book doesn't justify the price. The crawl ratio would marginally increase to 82. Going to 5.38's takes you to 86ish. Not worth the $$ for that result. And, I am still driving it to and from the trail so roadside manners count.
How about a new transfer case? say an Atlas with the 5:1 gear set? That would equate to about a 98 crawl ratio. That is getting up there! Problem I would have, I believe, is I currently have the Savvy UAM skids, belly pans and, if I remember correctly, it does not fit an Atlas, or you must very heavily modify the tub to do so. Not sure I want to go down that road.
The last option I see is the Tremec 4050 5 spd transmission with the 6.16 granny low. Add that to my NV241 transfer case and 4.88 gears and my crawl ratio jumps up to 120! That is getting up there! Drivability should be good and, off-road, with the granny low, should be much improved. Am I missing something?
Anyone using the Tremec 4050? If so, you like? With the lower reverse and 1st, does/would it take away from a daily driving aspect? Am I missing other options out there? I am open to your ideas...
Is there an ideal # and, if so, how is the best way to arrive at that #? Or, should we even care? Mine is currently 78ish with 4.88 gears, 4:1 transfer case and 4.01 1st gear in the NV3550. I would like to have more. I am mostly in the rocks and I believe that added control would be very beneficial.
I've been asking myself how to get there.
Regear? I am currently at 4.88's and the highest I would go would be 5.13's which, in my book doesn't justify the price. The crawl ratio would marginally increase to 82. Going to 5.38's takes you to 86ish. Not worth the $$ for that result. And, I am still driving it to and from the trail so roadside manners count.
How about a new transfer case? say an Atlas with the 5:1 gear set? That would equate to about a 98 crawl ratio. That is getting up there! Problem I would have, I believe, is I currently have the Savvy UAM skids, belly pans and, if I remember correctly, it does not fit an Atlas, or you must very heavily modify the tub to do so. Not sure I want to go down that road.
The last option I see is the Tremec 4050 5 spd transmission with the 6.16 granny low. Add that to my NV241 transfer case and 4.88 gears and my crawl ratio jumps up to 120! That is getting up there! Drivability should be good and, off-road, with the granny low, should be much improved. Am I missing something?
Anyone using the Tremec 4050? If so, you like? With the lower reverse and 1st, does/would it take away from a daily driving aspect? Am I missing other options out there? I am open to your ideas...
You should take mine for a spin and see how you like the 98:1. I personally love it but I was coming from 55:1 before the swap. You and @Nickgsjeep need to line up at Blaine's for atlas swaps 
. I recall him saying in the past that he's done it.
Maybe we can get on the trail in July so you can take it over an obstacle or your rock garden....
. I recall him saying in the past that he's done it.Maybe we can get on the trail in July so you can take it over an obstacle or your rock garden....
OP
I should have when you were here, I got to fill in some rocks to make that "trail" somewhat usable. Perhaps a rock party!??You should take mine for a spin and see how you like the 98:1. I personally love it but I was coming from 55:1 before the swap. You and @Nickgsjeep need to line up at Blaine's for atlas swaps
Maybe we can get on the trail in July so you can take it over an obstacle or your rock garden....
These are the things that currently keep me awake at night
How about another option...one I'm contemplating too, since the synchros are going in my NV3550. Swap in a 42RLE, rubicrawler, and a 231. That gives you a doubler, plus the auto box. You'd have 53:1 for "easy stuff" and 144.78:1 for goin REAL slow. The rubicrawler / 231 combo gets you about a 7.4:1 low, low range. If you REALLY wanna get crazy, leave the 4:1 in there...Your crawl ratio would be 213:1!
NoHoly hell. I can have 150:1 with that transmission
That does sound like a good solution on paper for you. @mrblaine do you have any experience with the Tremec 4050??
Once you put an auto in, the rest of those numbers cease to have much relevance except for the gear ratios, the crawl ratio is not something you'd ever be concerned with.
I’m over 100:1 you can see what you think of mine in a couple weeks.
OP
Enjoyed another great time on the Rubicon Trail. This time around, I went from Tahoe side in, wheeled/camped at AJC property at Loon Lake for a few days, then met @Apparition Sunday AM at Loon staging area and wheeled with him back to Tahoe. I didn't get a ton of pics and I had a mostly flawless run. I say mostly because I did experience the "dreaded rock run up into wheel well" on back rear tire and tear the shit out of the back quarter panel and bent the AntiRock arm:
so, I now have a problem I need a solution to and will be looking into corner armor. Since I have Savvy sliders, I am assuming I stick with Savvy corner armor. Anyone mix and match? say Savvy sliders and GenRight corner armor?
just up from Buck Island Lake:
going up Cadillac Hill:
@Apparition and I at Observation Point:
4 nights/5 days on the trail, perhaps @Midnight LJR can detail my TJ:
Lastly, I need to thank @Chris for the outstanding forum he has developed. The knowledge I have gained from reading about all y'alls work, ideas, debates, research is a $$ saving good time. The people I have met through this forum from @Alex01 ,@mrblaine, @rasband, @jjvw, @hosejockey61, @tworley, @strumble8 and now @Apparition has been nothing short of spectacular.
So a big THANK YOU to Chris! Looking forward to seeing you on a trail one day...
so, I now have a problem I need a solution to and will be looking into corner armor. Since I have Savvy sliders, I am assuming I stick with Savvy corner armor. Anyone mix and match? say Savvy sliders and GenRight corner armor?
just up from Buck Island Lake:
going up Cadillac Hill:
@Apparition and I at Observation Point:
4 nights/5 days on the trail, perhaps @Midnight LJR can detail my TJ:
Lastly, I need to thank @Chris for the outstanding forum he has developed. The knowledge I have gained from reading about all y'alls work, ideas, debates, research is a $$ saving good time. The people I have met through this forum from @Alex01 ,@mrblaine, @rasband, @jjvw, @hosejockey61, @tworley, @strumble8 and now @Apparition has been nothing short of spectacular.
So a big THANK YOU to Chris! Looking forward to seeing you on a trail one day...
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Ouch. Looks like it's time to bust out the hammer and slap some corners on.
Was it hot on the trail? I can't wait to get on the rubicon again.
Was it hot on the trail? I can't wait to get on the rubicon again.
I think you can use the GenRight armor with savvy sliders but you’d need to trim the armor a little since the backing of the savvy sliders sits taller. That’s not really a bad thing though since my armor doesn’t sit flush with the rocker - something you could overcome with that extra working space. My GenRights have about 3/4” between the door frame and the top of the slider, whereas the savvy backer is even.
You can’t use the savvy armor with the GenRight sliders unless you’re okay with a gap - which you may have either way if you’re not as detailed as Blaine on his installs.
Time for some corner armor indeed!
I am grateful for so many awesome people on this forum. It wouldn’t be what it was without the great people here. That includes all the infighting between you know who
I am grateful for so many awesome people on this forum. It wouldn’t be what it was without the great people here. That includes all the infighting between you know who