33" tires and 4.88 gears?

BigClay

BigClay

Knower of useless ZJ things
Joined
Sep 24, 2008
Location
Winston-Salem
Looking for opinions on running 4.88 gears with 33" TSLs. Good idea, bad? This is not my DD, but it does see road time, but not much highway time. My TJ has a 4.0 and a AX15. I know 4.56 is ideal but I am thinking about 35" tires at some point is why I am thinking about doing 4.88 and not have to re-gear twice. Looking for all opinions.
 
Your correct, 4:56 would be best, and is actually close to stock with 35s but if you plan to wheel and not drive it 75+ on the hwy daily than 4:88 would be better. That's gonna help take load of the tranny and the jeep won't struggle as bad with added weight and wind resistance lift/tires ect. You'll just be revving a little higher.
 
One of my buddies had his YJ on 33s and 4.88s once apon a time and loved the get up and go. He did not do a ton of highway driving. Now he has it on 36s and 5.13s and it is not quite as "peppy".
 
Bear in mind, when someone says "My Jeep is on 33's", he may be talking 33" BFG All Terrains which are closer to 32" in actual diameter. TSL's run large and are more of a true size.

I'd say go 4.88 and don't look back.
 
I had 4.88's in my CJ with 35" procomps and it was way too low for me. I was running a 258/sm420 combo that basically only had 2 streetable gears left. I moved up to 38" TSL's and it seemed right to me. But, what I like/prefer may not be close to what you have in mind.
 
The Muncie doesn't have an overdrive, either. That makes a difference.

4.88s with 32s and a 4.0/AX15 here. It's a gear-banger, and spins pretty good once you get up to highway speed, but it's great around town and on the trails. Those are pretty much the only places we drive it, anyway.
 
What's the stock tire size and axle ratio?
As mentioned, TSLs tend to run big. They are also heavy, so the extra gearing will help there for sure.
I have 5.29s in my 4Runner w/ only 33s (auto tranny though, stock is 4.30), and I really like being overgeared. Its louder on the highway but I can't imaging ever needing to go > 75mph in it.
I actually found the MPGs to go up, but that's probably just the quirkiness of the power/efficiency curve of a 22re.
 
@RatLabGuy, stock was probably 3.07 or 3.55, somewhere around there, but it is 4.10 now with the 33" TSLs
 
If you already have 4.10, I'd look at a t-case swap or something before I regeared to 4.88.... unless you're planning on going to 35s or 36s. Just doesn't seem like the cost/benefit is there. Ours was fine on 4.10s.
 
@shawn, I was originally looking into a Terra Low kit, but I came accross a HPD30 with 4.88s already in it, so it would be cheaper to swap that axle in and regear the 8.8 to match.
 
BigClay said:
@shawn, I was originally looking into a Terra Low kit, but I came accross a HPD30 with 4.88s already in it, so it would be cheaper to swap that axle in and regear the 8.8 to match.
Click to expand...

Well that changes things quite a bit. I'm cheap, so you got my vote.
 
FWIW, I have run both in my ZJ. I had 33x12.5 Maxxis Bighorns when I ran 4.56 and it was liveable but any incline at highway speeds the Jeep couldn't keep speed. I switched over to 4.88's and it does much better on the highway. Now I'm running 33x12.5 Procomp M/T's (also by Maxxis). It can keep it's speed going up an incline at 70-80 mph now. My ZJ has 4.5" lift, Hanson front and rear bumpers, rock rails, winch, skid plates etc so weight was also a factor. Off road I really love the lower gearing and makes crawling much easier.
 
A lot of your decision will be based on your driving style. I have ridden with you enough to know that you are more of a crawler than a high speed guy on the trails. I am the same way. I have never had a rig that was too low for what I like to do on the trails. You can always shift up. I have had rigs that would not run 60 mph on the highway but that’s not what I needed them to do. I never had any problem running from Crawford’s to the Tellico trails, from Robbinsville to Little Buffalo or anywhere else I needed to do some highway driving. So, low is the way to go for our preferred trail driving style.

My Krawler had a 205 crawl ratio with 42” TSLs. K2 had a 102 crawl ratio with 36” TSLs. Both rigs worked the way I wanted them to work crawl ratio wise.

Your current rig is: 3.83x2.72x4.10 = 42.7 crawl ratio

With 4.88 gears: 3.83x2.72x4.88 = 50.8 crawl ratio

With Terra Low: 3.83x4.0x4.10 = 62.8 crawl ratio

With Terra & 4.88: 3.83x4.0x4.8 = 74.7 crawl ratio

74.7 crawl ratio with 35” TSLs is where I was with The Krawler when I decided that it was just not low enough for what I wanted to do! Even with 33"s it would not have been low enough. I cannot imagine trying to do challenging trails such as Harlan, Windrock, Golden Mountain with a crawl ratio less than 75 for my style of driving.

If I was you, and had the money, Terra Low AND 4.88 gears, no question!
 
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