I have read 1000s of posts about re-gearing. I have a 6 speed manual with 3.21s. i had a difficult time making a decision on gears. Here is what I found:

1. Those who did not re-gear say it is bearable. My question is compared to what?
2. Those that have re-geared are very happy. Cannot find many complaints.

i based my decision on the ones who re-geared. I decided that re-gearing is a must and went with 4.88s since I drive on highway quite a bit, and it is my DD. By the way my tires are 33.5 inches. 4th, 5th and 6th are useless. The gears should be here this week.

Did I make the right decision?

 

Since you have a six speed, I think so. Especially if 35s are somewhere in your future.

 

you're gonna find out. no just kidin, like you said its hard to find a complainer. the only ones i've seen are the 5.38's wich is a little high. it would be ok if its a trailer queen trail rig.

 

I had 3.73s on mine with the automatic and had low RPM issues with 33s. If you are going to go with 35s in the future, take a lesson from me & get the 5.13s. My next purchase is 35s which will be an awesome combination. I love the 5.13s.

 

But he has the six speed. Different problem, different answer.

 

It's my understandng that if you do alot of highway driving that 4.56's would be better as the RPM dont run as high as they would with 4.88's. However with the 4.88's you'll get an extra boost in power that you didnt have from the get go and some say you'll get better mpg with 4.88's too.

 

I ran the stock 3.21's for about 2 months with 35's and a 6 speed before I re-geared to 4.88's. I called the 3.21's and 35's bearable also - basically it meant I could drive it, but it sucked.

With the 4.88/35 combo, everything was just about right. 1st gear was a little short for DD, but I just started in 2nd (unless I was on a steep hill, then 1st came in handy). 1st gear in 4lo (with an X t-case) was very nice for steep decents and rock crawling. 6th was good for highway driving, but I needed to down shift to 5th to pass or when I came upon a long steep hill.

Solely for info purposes, just in case you decide to go bigger down the line - I now have 37's on mine, and the 4.88's are actually pretty good with them. 1st gear is a little more useable around town now, and my crawl ratio isn't bad - not as good as it was when I had the 35's on, but still good for crawling.

If you're staying with the 33.5's for a while, you made the right decision by going with the 4.88's - the 5.13's will be a little much with the 33.5's (in my opinion - FWIW). 6th gear should be good for you with the smaller tires also. If you do decide to jump up to 35's (or even 37's) in the future, the 4.88's will be fine with them, and save you the additional cost of re-gearing it again later.

Hope my info eases your mind.

JD

 

^ x2. Hardly any 4.56 available tho...4.88's are next best for 6-Speed. Your in the right direction

 

I heard they're pretty hard to come by, when I re-gear its probably gonna be 4.88's because they're readily available.

 

Thanks for the inputs.....now is ther anyone in south carolina that wants to come over and install the gears. Beer!