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Axle swap or gear swap?

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Old 02-28-2010, 05:45 PM
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Default Axle swap or gear swap?

So I was driving my XJ yesterday and noticed that everytime I came up on a little hill it downshifted to maintain speed (60mph). I'm new to jeeps and I've seen several threads on swapping axles (D44 and 8.8) and didnt know if I would be better off swapping the axle or the gears. I dont know what gears I have/need, I tried checking the way I checked mustangs (count how many times the driveshaft turns during 1 rotation of the tire) but it came out weird (1.75) Any advice would be helpfull, jeep is a 1994 Cherokee sport, I6, auto, 4wd.

Last edited by XJ94; 02-28-2010 at 05:48 PM. Reason: spelling...doh!
Old 02-28-2010, 05:47 PM
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Forgot to ad, 33x12.50 tires and 6" suspension lift.
Old 02-28-2010, 05:52 PM
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swapping gears is a lot cheaper and no fab work needed

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Old 02-28-2010, 06:04 PM
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Name:  gear_ratio_chart.gif
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Old 02-28-2010, 06:45 PM
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From what I've read I have a dana 30 in the front and dana 35 or chrysler8.25 in the rear. How can I tell which the rear is? Do I need a 4wd specific ring and pinion or will a regular r&p work?
Old 02-28-2010, 06:58 PM
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for the front it is a reverse cut and heres the different axle typesName:  diffguardtype.jpg
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Old 02-28-2010, 07:03 PM
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Default axle identifacation

you can check just by looking at it. heres a comparison photo of what the different ones look like.
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Old 02-28-2010, 07:06 PM
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Looks like I have the 8.25
Old 02-28-2010, 07:09 PM
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you can gears from motive gear for $100.00 bucks an axle http://www.motivegear.com/pages/ring...nion_gears.htm
Old 02-28-2010, 07:12 PM
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Originally Posted by XJ94
Forgot to ad, 33x12.50 tires and 6" suspension lift.
With 33's you'll want to regear it. Go with 4.56 or 4.88's.
Old 02-28-2010, 07:24 PM
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I was thinking about 4.10s, I dont want to sacrifice to much mpg but I want it to have better pickup than it has right now. I was looking at summit and they have 4.10s and 4.56s, I think 4.88 would be to steep.
Old 02-28-2010, 07:28 PM
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4.10's should be perfectly ok. A little high but definitely a huge improvement over stock.
Old 02-28-2010, 07:29 PM
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with 4.10 you will get better mpg but lose performance i would go with 4.27 it will be balance you will get good performance and good gas but 4.10 will be fine if thats the route you want to take
Old 02-28-2010, 07:32 PM
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4.27s would probably be better but I havent been able to find them for both axles
Old 02-28-2010, 07:33 PM
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http://www.motivegear.com/pages/ring...nion_gears.htm


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