In a few weeks, my 07 will be going from stock to sitting on 35's with a 3.25" suspension lift, rugged ridge front bumper with a 8500lb winch, smittybuilt side steps, and a fresh set of 17" rims which is evident if anyone looks in my garage, there are a million boxes taking up enough space to piss off my wife anytime she sees them. My dreams are finally coming together... However, with the auto tranny and 4.11 gears, i wanted to gear up. I was thinking 4.88s. I saw on another thread that someone paid 1300 dollars for gears and labor. SOOOO... i called my local off road over charging @@s of a shop. They want 2800 effalumpin darras!! Is this normal for SC? Do i really live in such a rip off place? And while i am asking questions, i would also like opinions on leaving my gears the way they are for 6 to 8 months. Mostly flat driving around where i live with only two or three really tall bridges that i can think of. I have a k&n intake, gibson headers, volant axle back dual exhaust, and a superchips flashpaq. I didn't know if anyone had a setup that was close to mine. I was going to postpone my gears in favor of my back bumper. I'm thinking a stock back bumper would look strange on an otherwise built jeep. Any opinions would be greatly valued.

 

I got quoted $1600.... I live on long island if I can get that price here on my first quote, u are being ripped off MAJORLY.

 

You can do better on gears. Northridge and SLC are doing it for $999. Find another shop through a local Jeep club or 4x4 club.

 

You want 5.13's!!

 

Do you have a 4wheelparts wholesale by you? Get a quote from them. Also, if you join (or belong to) a club and get a club number, they'll give you an additional 10% of parts and labor.

I've never installed gears myself. I've paid $560 for one axle, and $850 for both the two times I've done it. And I'm in California. Not the cheapest place for labor.

 

Just talked to another wonderful "4x4" shop... they said i was right to want 4.88 for my setup and driving habits. Unfortunatly, i will never get to 37's, so the guy said 4.88 would be good for me. Plus i dont have anywhere major to wheel like most of the people on here. Just a little bit of mud and a few ditches to run. The shop i called second said straight off the rip, $2000-2300 to do front and rear.

So i guess the general idea is get the gears now, and wait on the rear bumper?

And i think the closest 4wheelparts is in North Carolina.

 

What kind of places are you calling? Maybe you should try to find a local club who could recomend installers who are cheaper. You shouldnt be paying over 1500 imo. I would def do the gears 1st too. I do think u may want to go with 5.13s with auto. Do u have a rubicon?

 

4.88s for a 6spd, maybe. With an auto, you want something in the 5s. Remember, once you get 35s, you may want 37s. Gear once and do it right the first time. Consider 5.38s!

 

No i have a X. That is why i was asking, i was going with what the guy suggested. I put in my jeeps info at a conversion site, and the 4.88s were closest to stock. But now that i'm typing this, i just remembered that my stock gears are a little weak with the stock tires on it....

 

Look for the gearing chart here. You will see that 5.13s are what you want for 35s and an auto.