PBone

You can always sleeve and gusset your axle. I have mine with the gussets and will sleeve them eventually. Gussets are cheap reassurance IMO

Just in joy

That is true for the housing but what about the gears and axle shafts? Which I would rather Fail before the housing. The moving parts are turning that weight not the housing.

Not saying it will or will not happen but rather take the side of caution and be prepared for the worse. A few factors come into play here. Knowledge of driving off road, use of the vehicle, and Components on the vehicle.

Terry Hesticles

I disagree with the OP.

I have an AEV ProCal tuned '13 JKUS manual on 33" Cooper Discoverer STTs and it sucks on the highway. Sure, I could leave it in 5th gear and high rev my entire drive to work, killing my MPG, but my Jeep came with a 6th gear and I plan on using it. Even with the very, very slight inclines of central Oklahoma's interstates, I lose speed in 6th and often have to downshift to 5th. Even worse when there's a headwind. Have you ever driven up a hill in a 1993 automatic Civic with the a/c on and 3 of your friends inside? It's a lot like that. I couldn't imagine how shittier it'd be with 35s.

City driving and offroad driving isn't bad at all, but I can't afford a 2013 vehicle as just a toy for the trails, so besides my wife's car that she needs for commuting, this is my only mode of transportation, therefore highway capabilities are a must. I have about 31-32k on these tires and they look like they'll be good for at least 20k more, which will be 35s at that point. I will absolutely be re-gearing then.

PBone

Must just be a difference in opinion then. I ran 33s with no lift for a while and it was almost identical to stock. I currently have 35 STTs and it's absolutely tolerable. I am in no hurry to re gear. It did fine down in the mountains of Tennessee last month.

Lorrel

Man you guys running big tires with high gears are really tolerable.
Got the wife a 07 JKU, auto and 4.10's with stock 245 75 16's and I could never put anything bigger on it. It's just adequate with the 30.5"s as it is.

Rubicon91

I cannot attest to an auto however I have a 12 unlimited manual and until last month ran 321 gearing with 325/60/18 terra grapplers I think it was. Was completely fine. Front and rear bumpers aftermarket also. My dd hardly any wheeling as nothing really around here. What I didn't like was when I had to do interstate travel I could never use 6th gear. Now I was able to last month get 456 gears and 35x1250x15's on deals I could not pass up. I will say this man what a difference night and day. I drive around town going 40-50 in 6th almost like I drive an auto now. 1st is short however I usually now start in 2nd. If you have the insane money to regear it is awesome but obviously warranty issue come into play etc. I was almost at my 3 yr mark so I am fine with it. I am also adding a gobi stealth coming up and wanted the gears in before. I just did 80 on interstate in 6th and was around 2900 rpms. Was giddy to say the least and found myself speeding up on accident. Can't imagine ping back down to 321 but would not hesitate buying another jeep with that gearing and eventually having to deal with it. I was all jeeps just came with 410's and was done with it. Then I think the regear question would be over with IMO.

Edit I also got an AEV Procal before I regeared because I could not stand having my speedo off drove me nuts. As a manual you really do not need a tuner but auto is a must as your shift points will be off with any type of lift etc. I have used my Procal to calibrate for my tires. Removed my TPMS sensors and set tire pressure to 0 so no light and for the new gears. I was on my phone earlier. My avatar pic is my old tire setup running 321 gears. Like I said as long as I didnt have to get into 6th gear was fine. Now I live in SWFL all flat land unless you count going up a bridge as a hill . It is a hefty price tag to think about at least in my neck of the woods. I would not have done it if I didnt work a deal. I could think of quite a few other things to do with the money other than change up gearing. Also 410's for whatever reason are more expensive than the 456 gears. I would have probably done 410's but looking at chart it was not too much difference for the difference in $$.

OnMT

This makes me feel better, I have a 2015 on order, with 3.73, and a local shop is telling me I should not go bigger than 33's. I like the look of 35's but they scared me a little.

Chango

My wild guess is the difference is really the 3.8 vs the 3.6 more than anything. An extra 80 HP and a decent 5-speed trans makes a world of difference... even more so with a high gear ratio and big tires.

jnabird333

I think it depends largly on where you live/drive and what type of offroading you do.

PBone - I see that I live fairly close to you. South-West to West of Columbus is very flat where the further you push East or due South the more hilly it gets. I can tell you that if you were to get a gear change you would likely not feel the way you do, but you did only call it "tolerable".

I have two JKs. One on 35s (3.8L) and 4.88 gears. (It's still a dog.) The other is on 37s (3.6L) with 4.10s and soon to be 5.13s and is assisted offroad by a 4:1 TC.

Both Jeeps have trouble in OD at 60MPH (country roads) but do okay at higher speeds.

This said; the real difference is when you offroad. If you crawl or need to do tight technical stuff you will likely overheat (hot oil warning) and are much more likely to snap driveshaft joints. Locally this isn't an issue as most of the Ohio spots are dirt type trails where you can run higher trail speeds. But if you go to a place like Rausch Creek and do Blacks or Reds (even some Blues) you will realize why everyone says you need new gears.

swanny2369

Awesome to hear! I've got 35's on the way for my 14 6speed with 3.21's after plenty of reading on the subject this confirmed my suspicions as well.. I don't use much of 6th gear as is right now anyway, and 5th has plenty of power and rpm to spare. and 1st is a bit short IMO. might be just about perfect for what I want