Gears and Lockes or 4:1?

[MStew]

I have my heart set on 4.56 gears and ARB air lockers, but I went wheeling with a guy that has the 4:1 and 4.56 & Arb's. I asked him if he had it to do all over again which would he do first? He reccomended that I get the 4:1 first because I will get a better off road performance than the gears and lockers would give me. What would you guys, and gals, reccomend to do first? Any help from you guys would be great.

-Mike

[mudrat90]

I dont know too much but I think you would get more out of gears and lockers than you would a 4 ot 1. W/o gears and lockers you can just send a lot of torque to a high geared open carrier. Its not that much better than the stock 2.6. With gears and lockers, you get better driving on the road, a lower crawl ratio(through the gears) and the ability to lock the axels, improving traction. But that is just me. HTH

[The Man with the Plan]

Look at it this way, 90% of your driving is on the road. The new gears will get your RPMs back to where they are supposed to be. Plus, unless you are going to a super low crawl ratio (100+:1), it won't do as well as a locker.

What gears and tire size do you currently have? If you have 35's, I would recommend 4.88 gears. That's what I'm running, and I'm very happy with how well they pull in the mountains. However, on flat stretches of highway I top out at about 85 mph just over 3k RPM. If you live someplace flat, 4.56's will be a better choice.

[MStew]

Currently I have 33" tires and 3.73 gears. Next summer I would like to go to 35's. Would the 4.56 still be alright fir 35's?

-Mike

[The Man with the Plan]

Most people run 4.56's with 35's. Seeing as you live here in CO, it might make more sense for you to get 4.88's though. However, if you only have 33's now, 4.88's would be a little low. So, the 4:1 might make more sense. I ran 3.73 gears and 33's for a few months, and it wasn't bad on the road. It was a little tall on the trail though.

FWIW, a buddy of mine just installed 4.88's with his 33's. He's planning on going to 35's when his 33's are toast. He likes them. I think he's pulling 2800 RPM @ 60 mph.

[Rifraf]

I've been thinking about this too, here's what I have come up with.

I have 33's and 3.73s. It's acceptable on the road. 4.10s would be ideal.

When you put it all together, you could get:
Tera 4:1 $1000
Gears, $700
SYE, $300

Or, an Atlas II for near the same exact price. I'm thinking I might just hold out for a while and get the Atlas. Just need that bonus...* dream *

[The Man with the Plan]

Steve, you are on the right track there. The only reason I didn't do an Atlas right from the start was that I didn't know what I know now. If I had to do it all over again, I would get an Atlas even before lift and tires.

[Jerry Bransford]

I'll go against the tide here and say the Tera 4:1 is a very good way to go, if your existing ratio is a good street ratio. If you're running 33" tires and 3.07 gearing, then obviously you still need to re-do your ring & pinion gearing even for decent street performance. But if your existing ring & pinion ratio gives you acceptable or good street performance, going to a lower ratio r&p ratio would just make your street rpms possibly unacceptably high. Tera's 4:1 offers lower offroad gearing than you would get with 4.56 or 4.88 gears yet it retains the stock gearing for the street.

So if your existing gearing is good on the street, a Tera 4:1 would be a very good choice. But if your street gearing is unacceptably high (the engine rpms are too low), then I'd go instead for a lower ratio in your ring & pinion gears. What ratio would be good is dictated by your tire size... what is it, or what is it going to be?

And if you have $2,000 to spend, then by all means go for the Atlas II! If not, $800-900 for a TeraLow 4:1 is a good investment if your present gearing is good on the street.

[MStew]

I currently have 3.73's. I am not totally un-impressed by it on the street. It does just fine. I am running 33" MT/R's right now. I do however plan on going to 35's next summer. Right now I am leaning torward the 4:1. Thanks everyone for all your help.

-Mike

[Jerry Bransford]

With your plans to go with 35" tires, I'll have to withdraw my recommendation for the TeraLow 4:1 and instead recommend that you install 4.56 or (preferably) 4.88 gears in your differentials. 35" tires and the3.73 would be a very tough non-enjoyable combination for the street since the TeraLow only affects your 4Low gearing.