Need opinions on which gear ratio to run

[Dirtyjeep92]

i have been tossing this idea back and forth but i dont have the experience with gears at all so any suggestions are welcome!
I currently have hp30/44, stock 3.55 gears, locked f/r, 33s. may go to 35s in future if i find the right deal.
I want to run either 4.56 or 4.88. the only downside i can think of is the d30 pinion chipping. is there a strength difference between the two? Gas mileage isnt an issue. its a jeep. I do drive it a couple times a week so drive ability on the road is a plus. i wheel mainly on rocks idk if that helps

[rckymntn05]

I would think 4.56's should be plenty with a 33, and even a 35. Never driven a jeep with 4.88's, but I can imagine driveability on the street would suffer quite a bit.

[Burton58]

I daily drive on the highway 40 miles a day with 4.88s on 33s. It rocks. When I had 35s I wished the gears were deeper

[konastinky1234]

go as deep as you can you won't regret it.

[CntStpTheStnk06]

4.88 just do it

[Dirtyjeep92]

go as deep as you can you won't regret it.

This. Keep hearing you wont regret it. When i got my lock-right from Dan he told me to go 4.88 because you never hear anyone complain about gearing to much. and it will cruise down the highway without stress in highgear

[jason91xj]

i went with 4.88 with 35s if i was u i would go 4.88

[ct67_72]

Yup. I would be no more worried about breaking a 4.88 over a 4.56 either. If its going to break, either one will.

[HeavyMetal]

go as deep as you can you won't regret it.

[konastinky1234]

finally someone picking up on the subtleties of jon mac....

[Dirtyjeep92]

ive read that trussing the axle helps prevent this because the housing tweaks under pressure and causes the breaks?

[CntStpTheStnk06]

with my build i had the same worries..... but then i looked around at dan and other guys on the forum that run 35s with 4.88s and wheel HARD and dont encounter too much breakage.... shafts are a given but i realized that i was kinda over thinking it..... my 2 cents

[Dirtyjeep92]

with my build i had the same worries..... but then i looked around at dan and other guys on the forum that run 35s with 4.88s and wheel HARD and dont encounter too much breakage.... shafts are a given but i realized that i was kinda over thinking it..... my 2 cents

100% agree with you on that. and dan only chipped the pinion. it didnt explode. atleas a chip can still be driven on. shafts are def a given. im planning on running stock shafts with just spicers. so all the breakage goes there and not the gears. problem get some real nice balljoints un the future so they dont pop too easily.

[customcreationsllc]

No one ever regrets going with lower gears.
What gears do you have now?
How much lower do you wish overdrive was.
I say gear as low as you can go with an RPM you can live with on the highway.
Say overdrive your at 2200 and you can live with 3000 experiment, down shift on the highway.
Just math 3000/2200=gears you want/gears you have which would be about equals to 4.88/3.55

4.56 vs 4.88 is only 7% difference like saying on the highway you engine will be at 3000 or 3210 rpms.
for reference 33 to 35 is 6% difference.
So 4.56 with 33= 4.88 with 35

I think the strength difference is a misnomer most people that go with 4.56 aren't as hardcore as the people that go with 4.88 therefore more 4.88 break, it is also 7% easier to generate the torque to break with 4.88. But I think if you are close enough to break 4.88 then breaking 4.56 isn't far behind.

Most people don't get a true MPG because they don't recalculate the speedometer.