I have a Sahara with stock 321 gears, a 2.5" BB, 33's and a 6-speed. It is not my daily driver so interstate rpms etc are important but not the main priority. I've finally decided to re gear, and i have searched the forums for the last hour and I still can't decide between 488 and 513. I will definately be getting 35's next, but that could still be a year or so away. Will I regret not going 513 when these 33's wear out or will 488 and 35 be OK with the 6-speed. All I do know is 321's are terrible even with the 33's. I would appreciate any suggestions.

 

488's w/ 6 speed

 

I don't care to drive faster than 65 either. I would like to be able to go off road without going to 4 lo everytime like I have with the 321's.

 

4.88s unless there in any thought of 37s in the future..

 

I'll let you know how the 513's work on th 15th of March, gears goin in on the 9th. My 35's are wore down to 33 1/2

 

I have 4.88s with 35's on my short wheelbase sport manual with K&N air intake and cat back and the thing truly rocks - on road and off! On road I can sit on 100 m/h (in Dubai you can do this on the road between Dubai/Abu Dhabi and I drive this road a lot) and I got done for speeding at around 155 km/h (96 m/h) by a speed camera becuase they have recently dropped the limit just before you reach Abu Dhabi.

Anyway, a friend has 33's and 4.88s and I would say for desert driving that is not as good as my setup becuase he doesn't maintain his speed as easily as he revs slightly too high whereas my gearing for desert is just right. I think if you are doing any slower/rockier stuff then 5.13's may be the go, especially if you are going to go to 35's or 37's, but for 33's with a manual I would not go higher than 4.88!

 

With what is listed in my signature, RubyDoo does 72 mph @ 3000 rpm.

 

There is a pretty simple chart from TirePackage that can put you on path.
It presents recommendations for gearing based on tire size.

If you are going for 33's:
3.73 for fuel economy
4.11 for balance
4.88 for power

If you are going for 35's:
4.11 for fuel economy
4.88 for balance
5.13 for power

Whole chart is listed:
hxxp://www.tirepackage.com/aux_incl/gear_ratio.html

 

thanks for all the replies. I'm thinking 488- Should be pretty fun for the next year or so with the 33's, and still be good enough for the 35's later.

 

That'll work out fine!