To preface, I am a total offroad noob looking for a daily driver that will see primarily highway mileage - I literally live at the foot of the on ramp, and my office has it's own entrance onto the turnpike, so it really is ALL highway. But I wanna get something that has the added benefit of being fun on the weekends.

I've been seeing a lotta threads about people who regear when installing their new shoes, so it got me to wondering:

Just how big can I go on the stock gears? I was wondering about all of the stock gear ratios in the various lines of Unlimited 4dr models - I mean, it seems to me, the completely uneducated momo, like I *could* run 35's on a 3.21 ratio, but would experience loss in both acceleration and economy In my head, I'm thinking that the lower the gear ratio, and the bigger the tires, the faster my engine has to cycle in order to turn the wheels, no?

So really what I wanna know is - what's the ideal sized shoe for which ratio?
3.21 - 32?
3.71 - 33?
4.11 - 35?

Cuz, when I finally get mine, I'll be all kinds of : that I won't care what I put on it until I wear out the tires it came with. I just don't wanna get that far and realize that I should'a bought it with the Rubicon gearing ratios

 

I currently have 3.21's and 33's.....no way in hell would I go bigger without lower gears. I hate life everytime I hit the mountainsl, and I have a 6 speed.
Sometimes I think I need to get out and push.....

 

im with you chief... if i had ever thought i would go bigger with my tires, i would have gotten different gears.

4.88's or 5.13's are in my future

 

Well how big do you WANT to go? Get the gears you want now instead of spending money at each different upgrade

 

I've got a 2-dr X with 4.10s and 6-speed. It works great with the 35s I put on. 6th is more like an overdrive on the freeway, not really for fast acceleration. With an auto it would be a different story since the computer would be picking gears.

 

I have an Unlimited X 4-door that I just put 33's on. No way I would go with a bigger tire with the 3:21.

 

In a perfect world, as far as tires go, I'll use up whatever I get on her from the stealership and upgrade from there. Prolly start with 32 or 33's. depending on how the finances look, I may upgrade to something larger after the starter shoes wear out.

I'm kinda leaning toward the stock Rubi gears. I'm probably not gonna get too nuts with this jeep since she'll be a daily driver.

So, I'm thinking that there has to be a break even point where you can't get tires any bigger without tweaking the stock suspension. Anyone happen to know where that point might be?

One other thing.... what kinda fuel economy you fellas and fellets seeing with 35" tires on the JK 4dr? This will be a daily driver after all.

 

My 6spd MT with 4.10 came stock with 245/75R16 (31") and it never used 1st gear. It was too low on the road. I quickly upgraded to 255/85R16 (33") and it feels perfect, although I still start out in second on slight down grades. I'm thinking that for my region of the country, it's pretty flat, 35s with 4.10s would be great. If I lived in the mountains I would most likely run 35s with 5.13s.

 

Whoah. 12mpg. I'm getting about 24 in an 01 chevy cav and she's nearly 10!! That's gonna be a punch in the pocket when I finally get rolling. So lesse 2x the fuel tank... and 1/2 the mpg... I think that works out to about 4x the cost of gas I'm seeing now... goof thing it's all highway between the house and the office.

gonna be so worth it.