Gear Ratios ?? Help

[Gary]

Not sure where to post thses questions...Please help.

I have a 2004 Rubicon with 35" tires. It's great off-road however on the highway, it is very slow. I have made no changes to the tranny, transfer case or diff. It's all stock. Suggestions?

Does anyone know the fix to allow me to engage my stock lockers while in 4-high?

What about disengaging the rear locker? Currently I have to shift out of 4-high to disengage.

Many more questions to come...I'm new at this Jeeping thing!

Thanks

[4 Wheelers Supply]

Start with a gear ratio change to 4.88s. It will help wake up you Jeep on the highway.:)

[Gary]

Forgive my ignorance:o ...the 4.88s are for the ?? What kind of $ are we looking at?

[Stu Olson]

The front and rear axle differentials contain ring and pinion gears. Changing the ring and pinion gears to a deeper setup, such as 4.88, will help compensate for the bigger tires, which is what killed your highway performance.

Gears are in the neighborhood of maybe $200 per set (been a while since I bought any) and labor to install them run anywhere from about $200 to $300, depending who does them.

[Sedona Jeep School]

Does anyone know the fix to allow me to engage my stock lockers while in 4-high?

What about disengaging the rear locker? Currently I have to shift out of 4-high to disengage.

Many more questions to come...I'm new at this Jeeping thing!

Thanks
Gary, Welcome to Jeephood.

There is a good reason why your lockers are designed to not engage in 4H. The higher RPM's required to produce the same torque as 4L mean an exponentially greater chance of misapplied power and stress to U-joints, drive shafts, axles, etc. Translation: you are much more likely to break something. Whenever the 4H locker question comes up, what I want to know is why do you want to use your lockers in 4H? Sand? Mud? You are talking about situations which require advanced driving skill and a healthy relationship with your fabricator. :D

Your rear locker won't disengage? Just to clarify: You depress the locker button down once for rear lockers, and a second time for front lockers. Then, each time you depress the locker button, it turns the FRONT lockers on or off. To disengage the rear lockers (or both front and rear simultaneously), you must LIFT UP on the locker button. Is it that you are doing this, and they still won't disengage? How about after rolling forward or backward a few feet?

Did Stu tell you what JEEP stands for? Welcome to the club!

Happy trails :)

[LKD TJ]

Did Stu tell you what JEEP stands for? Welcome to the club!

Happy trails :)

No one warned me what Jeep stands for and just wanted to say welcome to the other side.

J - ust
E - mpty
E - very
P - ocket

Good luck

Go with the 4.88, with 35's they will make all the difference.

Welcome to the club!!

[Gary]

I see where I went wrong...when reading the owner's manual :o it referred to lifting the lever to disengage the lockers...I thought that was the 4H/4L lever :o . This is why I prefer those picture books!!

On the bright side, nobody but the 5000+ members of the club will ever know of my stupidity :D !!

Thanks for the info.
Gary

[tyota]

I see where I went wrong...when reading the owner's manual :o it referred to lifting the lever to disengage the lockers...I thought that was the 4H/4L lever :o . This is why I prefer those picture books!!

On the bright side, nobody but the 5000+ members of the club will ever know of my stupidity :D !!

Thanks for the info.
Gary

everybody has to start somewhere, atleast your fortunate enough to have this club that is very helpfull

[Sedona Jeep School]

On the bright side, nobody but the 5000+ members of the club will ever know of my stupidity :D !!

I don't have trouble keeping a secret, but all the people I tell can't keep their mouths shut! ;) :D

Glad we could help!

[jeepnut7261]

Doanwooryaboudit!

My first real jeepin experiance started with my friend George.
I had been thinking about a new vehicle for awhile. I wanted to get another bike to commute with, but my wife was concerned about safety. (what me worry?)
So she said, your friend George has a jeep, and he seems to like it, why don't you get a jeep?
So I did.

George took me out to Apache Junction, to see a trail called Box Canyon, and we were driving along dirt roads, thru sand, over bumps and humos, and I thought, WOW, now I'm JEEPIN!
Then we came to a point where the walls of a canyon narrowed, and it was blocked by a ledge that was about 2 foot high.
George stopped.
I stopped.
I got out, George was under his front end, apparently searching for wedged squirrels, or loose lizards in his suspension, and I said, quite innocently (stop laughing, I can do innocent, really)
"Well this is cool! SO do we turn around here?"
He finished whatever arcane adjustment he was engaged in beneath his rig, and, grabbing a handfull of tools, he bent under the front of my jeep. My new jeep. My pristine and innocent, virginal jeep. As yet untouched but for manufacturers hands.
"Just need to disconnect your swaybars, and we can get going."
"Go where? Theres a wall in the way. Haven't we been on the trail you told me about?"
George looked at me with the look usually used for the weak minded, or terminally confused. (I get that alot, I don't know why, Usually from my wife)
"We were just on the access road." He replied. "The trail starts here." And he pointed to the rock ledge that I assumed halted our forward progress. Then he started to wrench things around under my jeep.
I didn't want to complain, I didn't want to seem ignorant as to what he might be doing under there, and I did want to know where we were going from here.
He handed me a couple of bolts, "Don't lose these, you'll want them later" he said gruffly. Then he started to let air out of my tires. Well everyone has a point beyond which he will not go. I had to ask.
"say George, I'm not the type to complain, but the time has come for me to explain, that if you let any more air out, I'm going to be stuck way out here, (and at this point he went to the next wheel and repeated the process) and I have only one spare tire."
He laughed at my humor (he thought)finished his tour of my tires, (amazing how quick it is to let out, but so slow to refill) and answered "You need to lower the tire pressure to increaes the surface contact, and get better traction."
He lept back into his jeep, and said, " Just put it in 4lo, and follow me"
Turned one tire into the ledge, drove up and over.


My life has not been the same since.


The one bright light in all of this, besides my new love, Jeepin, is that when I do the next modification, the next upgrade, I can always tell my wife,
"Honey, the Jeep was YOUR idea":D

and I get that look again. :confused:

[Wind_Danzer]

Awesome story!!!!!

As for gearing, do you have a manual or auto?