BT00561

I have read a million things on gears lately, but looking for anyone that has been in a similar situation. I currently run 13 JKUR, Auto, 35s, 4.56 gears.

Looking to go up to 37s.

I do a lot of road trips all over the country and crawling but I have to drive 3 hours to the closest offroad place. My rig is on the heavier end with full steel skid plates and built up as an overland rig, I also pull an offroad trailer that has some weight to it.

Since I have 4.56 gears I feel that 4.88s aren't that big of a change. So I have been thinking 5.13 gears instead.

Lets hear what you guys think.

BoraBora

You're right, never jump 1 gear size. However, you made a good point, and it's the exact same sentiment I have towards 5.13's... I don't want to be at 3500 RPM on the highway.

Since you have the Rubi transfer case, your crawl speed is already far superior to a Sport with 5.13's, so if you're just looking for more power why not opt for a tune or supercharger?

resharp001

Having been on 37s and 5.13's with the 3.6L, I can tell you that it wears ya down a bit on the interstate. I think I would run around 3100-3200 rpm at~75mph. The fuel gauge drops quickly and the engine hums quite a bit. On the plus side, there's not a ton of downshifting. . It is nice around town, just the longer drives that wear on you. If you had 4.10s then I'd say go to 4.88s, but that does not make financial sense with your current situation. It's a pickle.

icrashbikes

I have 37s and 5.13. I'm perfectly happy with it.

BT00561

You know I know it thought about the supercharger route. As for a tune I have been able to go in and change the settings through the superchips traildash programmer.

BT00561

That is kind of what I'm worried about. The only saving thing about it would be that I would be pulling my overland trailer with me and the gear would help with it through the mountains and trails.

BT00561

What did you have before hand? And what sold you on the 5.13 over 4.88s?

resharp001

I will say this about superchargers. I'm sure that there are plenty of people that happily run them with no issues at all. I have a few friends who have big builds, and both have Ripps. They have great resources at their hands. One of them has had a Prodigy, a Sprintex, and now the Ripp. I've seen all of these systems have issues, and it is the one thing that scares me about going FI. If you spent that much money and everything worked as it should, great, but I've seen a lot of money spent only to end up with many issues. Not to say FI is always a headache, but it's not the slam dunk it's made out to be IMO. Just things to consider. A lot of their issues are shifting point related.

BT00561

Good info to have. I've never looked into them for my Jeep only for my older Mustang I had at one time.

icrashbikes

Before this I was on stock Rubicon gearing (what is that, 4.10?) with 35s. Which was also fine. It was pretty sluggish bumping up to 37s so I took a guess at the gearing based on all the same things you're looking at. I put plenty of highway miles on mine but I don't drive terribly fast in the jeep and I still manage 15-16 mpg. I did a full highway tank a few weeks ago and I think it was over 17 mpg. I have a 6 speed and the Rubicon tcase and it all just works well for me with this setup, from highway to crawling. I like the jeep-ness about it too. It's loud, revs out like a dump truck and it does wear on you on long trips. But so does driving without the roof or doors so for me it just adds to the charm.