Gearing
Fabulous write up. I did mine today, but I didn't have access to a press. So how did I get the bearings on the pinion and the carrier? Good ol' fashion physics. I replaced my front carrier seeing I have a 6 speed X, 3.21's. I placed the new carrier, in the freezer along with the new pinions. I left them there while I deconstructed everything as listed above. When it came time to install the bearings in the pinions, and the new carrier, I put the bearings in the oven at 325 degrees for about 15 minutes. After they got nice hot (and expanded) bearings, I pulled out the frozen (and contracted) pinions, dropped the shims necessary on and then dropped the bearings on. Dropped all the way to the bottom where I needed them. Just a little trick if you don't have a press, everyone has an oven or a freezer.
Ok I am looking to go to 35's I have the automatic 4.11 gears, it seems that there really is not DIRE NEED to install the 5.13's or anything else. Does this seem right? It is right at the line of good/good and best/poor. any more advice, I have read over and over this thread and noticed some say go for it some say dont. Im thinking it is one of those try it and see deals, sound about right?
First of all AWESOME write up!!
This answers almost all of my questions and I really liked the chart with ring and pinion suggestions at the beginning. Having said that.... do you happen to have the pictures of the painted patterns for setting the ring and pinion gears? You mentioned that you had some coming and it is a little confusing for us wanna be DIY guys. Thanks again for the help and the education!
Everyone always asks what gear for what tire size. To keep it in the factory range, an easy method is to make a ratio. I'm using my mathematical knowledge and have seen others use this method, even on TV.
Use this formula: Future gear ratio = current gear ratio X future tire size divided by current tire size.
For example. Rubicons have 4.10 gears with 32" tires (you can get a more precise result by using the actual diameter of the current and future tire), but you want to go to 37" tires. Thus, 37 X 4.10 / 32 = 4.74 Future gear ratio. Use that as a approximate and find the closest gear ratio for your liking. If you want more power, go for numerically higher gear ratio. If you want better economy (to a point), use the numerically lower gear ratio.
Always remember that you'll be losing power with the increase in tire size, and rotational mass causes the greatest decrease in power. That's why bicyclist spend so much to have an incredibly light wheelset, it frees the most power.
Use this formula: Future gear ratio = current gear ratio X future tire size divided by current tire size.
For example. Rubicons have 4.10 gears with 32" tires (you can get a more precise result by using the actual diameter of the current and future tire), but you want to go to 37" tires. Thus, 37 X 4.10 / 32 = 4.74 Future gear ratio. Use that as a approximate and find the closest gear ratio for your liking. If you want more power, go for numerically higher gear ratio. If you want better economy (to a point), use the numerically lower gear ratio.
Always remember that you'll be losing power with the increase in tire size, and rotational mass causes the greatest decrease in power. That's why bicyclist spend so much to have an incredibly light wheelset, it frees the most power.




talk about "you learn something new everyday" ...thanks for the insane detail
