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chino1969

chino1969

TJ Addict
Supporting Member
Joined
Apr 14, 2019
Messages
1,217
Location
Oxford, PA
I bought this about a month ago. 2004 Wrangler TJ w/DANA 44 rear, 33" 12.5 tires, 3.5" RE lift, I6 speed manual with 130,000 miles. Complete CARFAX maintenance report shows vehicle was properly maintained, frequent oil changes, etc.. Minimal undercarriage rust, most easily removable surface rust. Cleaned internal frame cavities and treated with Eastwood product. Am having complete undercarriage rust needle gunned off or wire wheeled off and then coated by local body shop. I have a couple of questions for the more experienced. Not happy with gearing 3.73. What would one recommend? Budgetary considerations are going with a SLE and CV rear drive but that will have to come later. Basically this will be a fun machine mainly for trails, nothing extreme. Looking for recommendations. Thanx.

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chino1969 said:
I bought this about a month ago. 2004 Wrangler TJ w/DANA 44 rear, 33" 12.5 tires, 3.5" RE lift, I6 speed manual with 130,000 miles. Complete CARFAX maintenance report shows vehicle was properly maintained, frequent oil changes, etc.. Minimal undercarriage rust, most easily removable surface rust. Cleaned internal frame cavities and treated with Eastwood product. Am having complete undercarriage rust needle gunned off or wire wheeled off and then coated by local body shop. I have a couple of questions for the more experienced. Not happy with gearing 3.73. What would one recommend? Budgetary considerations are going with a SLE and CV rear drive but that will have to come later. Basically this will be a fun machine mainly for trails, nothing extreme. Looking for recommendations. Thanx.

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Do you plan on keeping the 33's or moving up to a larger tire?
 
4.56 if staying with 33’s or 4.88’s if 35’s is in the cards since it’s a fun toy and non daily driver. My Jeep is really fun to drive on 33’s and 4.56 gears. With 35’s it’s still pretty peppy, but steep hills I’d have to down shift to 4th. I have a lot of heavy armor though. Cage, rockers, tube fenders, winch and bumpers.
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Check out Rausch Creek in Jolliet if you’ve never heard of it. There’s also pine barrens in New Jersey and a newer place I forget the name of north west of RC. It’s in the coal region. Ultimate adventure ran it in 2018 I believe.
 
Yes what he said, and with your dana 44, you would also have to purchase a new carrier for the new gears. Honestly, if all you're doing is taking your jeep to the trails, I would personally go to 4.88's even if you were sticking to the 33's.

Edit: Other options instead of a new carrier is either getting thick gears or a ring gear spacer.
 
Calvin.8 said:
For 33's, if you are going to drive it on the road some then I would go with 4.56, if you know it's going to be strictly a trail vehicle, then I personally would move up to even 4.88's.
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Thanks. I am going to stick with what I have for the time being as my funds have already exceeded what I intended to spend. The 4.56 gearing seems to be the concensus as I'm staying with 33's.
 
Calvin.8 said:
Yes what he said, and with your dana 44, you would also have to purchase a new carrier for the new gears. Honestly, if all you're doing is taking your jeep to the trails, I would personally go to 4.88's even if you were sticking to the 33's.

Edit: Other options instead of a new carrier is either getting thick gears or a ring gear spacer.
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Any problem remaining with the 3.73's?
 
chino1969 said:
Any problem remaining with the 3.73's?
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There's nothing wrong with staying 3.73, especially since you have a manual and have full control. I have the same tranny, and it came with 33s and 3.73. But I'm sure you've noticed that 5th gear is pretty much garbage. I rarely get into 5th gear unless I'm going 70 on flat road, but as soon as I hit any sort of incline the motor starts to crawl...
 
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wildbill said:
There's nothing wrong with staying 3.73, especially since you have a manual and have full control. I have the same tranny, and it came with 33s and 3.73. But I'm sure you've noticed that 5th gear is pretty much garbage. I rarely get into 5th gear unless I'm going 70 on flat road, but as soon as I hit any sort of incline the motor starts to crawl...
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You're right. I'm using the tac to tell me when to shift and 5th gear only gets used on flat highway over 60 mph.
 
chino1969 said:
Any problem remaining with the 3.73's?
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No nothing wrong at all. Putting oversized tires can just make it feel like you're pulling a trailer. And re-gearing just makes it feel like you're back on stock tires. I'm still on 3.73's as well with 33in tires due to budget. And the person above me is right that when you have a manual you have more control and it won't seem as bad, but you will still have to put a lot more gas into it to get things going.
 
If it's not your daily driver, and you don't care a whole lot about the amount it would help offroad, then ya it is a lot of money to spend for not many benefits. Re-gearing I would say is a much bigger upgrade for people who have oversized tires and still use their jeep for their daily driver.
 
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