ok guys hopefully this topic will make for a good discussion...

so i have lifted my xj 5" and put some nice 32x11.50x15 tires under it and i love it. my problem is i get 10-12 mpgs and nothing better, i drive 40 miles each day(mostly highway) and i am in college and dont have alot of money so the gas cost is killing me here.

so i was tossing around a few options to fix this problem

1.) buy a little rice burner or somthing that gets 30+mpg to drive to school
or
2.) re gear my xj to bring the ratios back close to stock and try to get 15 maybe 18 mpg, that i can live with.

i will be doing one of the two really soon so heres my reasoning, a little car would be nice for the gas but the problem with that is i love driving my cherokee so much i could not stand leaving my poor baby in the drive way when im at school every day. so i want to go with option 2 but im not sure how this works so maybe you guys could help

i have 3.55 gears now and have 32x11.50x15 tires and drive all highway miles, what kind of gear ratios do i have to go to in order to bring my mpgs close to stock but still keep my rpms and power highway safe and that wont screw up my speedo too bad. and just so you know i will be having a shop put in my gears as soon as i buy them cuz i will not touch diffs.

disscuss on...

just curious. who would go with option 1, the ricer?

 

Here is the perfect link for you

What gear ratio do I want?

Don't buy a ricer! But if you do make it an American car.

 

you could live with 4.10's and 32's, it would definately help, but if you plan on going to 33's in the future, I'd go ahead and run 4.56 gears. your rpm's will be a little higher on the interstate, but it's going to make a huge difference in the amount of load you're putting your engine and tranny through. what i mean is, the lost mpg from running at a slightly higher rpm will be negated by the gain you get in the low end. your drivetrain will be MUCH happier with the shorter gears and you'll be alot closer to 20mpg than you are now.

 

I love me XJ, but I drive a Geo Metro back and forth to keep miles off my other vehicles. It get around 40 mpg in town, so that is nice too!! I get a lot of looks in the car, but I'm 6'5" 235 lbs, so I guess it looks a little strange!! LOL!! You should regear at some point, but another vehicle will keep needless miles off of your xj....just a thought!!

 

Back to what i said...

Please buy American though!

 

The American cars have as good a mileage as many Japanese ones you just have to do your research.

 

Please define that.....


My mom's Camry was built in Indiana..
Her Husband's GM truck was built in Mexico....
And their van was built in Canada... by Chrysler....

Now which of those would be "American"???

My wife's minivan was built in Canada.. by a German corporation....(Guess the make...if you know anything about mini vans, it won't surprise you)

Every single Jeep built during the DC-era could be considered a German vehicle......

Both of your beloved XJ's have TONS of foreign built components under their hood... And I'll bet the 'foreign' content on your Commander is even higher. Not to mention until August of 1987 AMC was 49% owned by Peugot... so your XJ's are 50% Frenchies....

When people say "buy American cars" they never seem to know exactly what they mean by that...

But back to the original poster...

The cheapest car is going to be the one you already own...

Regearing and getting yourself the correct speedo gear is going to be less costly than buying, insuring, and upkeeping a second vehicle.

 

Sorry Stryker, but any car, no matter what the brand, is going to have parts from over seas. It's a reality that we can't get away from, the fact of the matter is that even my metro has a Chevy badge on it, even though it is a Suzuki...go figure!! My Nissan Titan was built state side, and it's a Nissan. Buying an American car in no way assures that you're "truly" buying American!!

 

Well that just sucks... Okay buy cars built in america. Have too keep them michigan people in work!

 

i bought a geo prizm to keep the salt off my truck. best $1200 i ever spent (not really, but you get the idea lol)

 

buying a used car does what to help? its a pretty off topic argument anyway.

re-gear your junk.

 

To Late. Were already outta work

 

I think we are a little off track, but let me say. Any auto that is bought and the money goes back to show a profit in an AMERICAN co. Is an AMERICAN auto. Yes Nissan, Toyota, Honda and the like have assembly plants in north america, but profit goes back overseas. Thats not an american co. RE-GEAR I hope to one day.

 

You mean like your 99 Cherokee... where the profit went to German company???

 

i dont think this guy asked where the profits of the auto companies go...

i still say get another car. that way you can work on the jeep as long as you want and still have another car to drive. buy some junkyard axles with 4.10s and throw those in on the weekend.