Gearing and tire size brainstorming
 

Hello people of the forum.
My 94 Cherokee Sport had 4.10s with front+rear Aussie lockers, but the owner that had that done when I purchased it had a shop do that and they messed it up every which way possible. backlashes were all wrong and pinion depth was never set correctly. It was almost like they just threw the gears and locker in and that was it. :brickwall:

I plan on redoing both axles 100% from scratch. I have been master-debating between 4.88s or just 4.56s.

here is what I have to work with and what I want to do with this Cherokee.
Year:94
Engine: 4.0L I6
Transmission: AW4
Transfer Case: NP231
Front Axle: Dana 30
Rear Axle: 8.25
Tires: 265/75R16
Lift Specifications: 4.5" Long Arms
Misc Accessories: Snorkle in Cowl, 4 GrandCherokee Disc brakes+BrakeBooster, 62mm ThrottleBody, GrandCherokee Power Steer Pump, sway bar quick-disconnects

I am currently debating between continuing to run 32"s or if I should bump it up to 35"s(I wouldn't mind cutting away the fenders :head: )

I enjoy crawling more than going through puddles of water and dirt :naughty: , I don't want to build a mud truck. I am honestly leaning more towards the 35"s but I am worried that only a 4.5" wouldn't provide enough suspension travel to handle 35"s and look good doing it(I have long arms) because if my tires were new now they would rub at max flex.

I don't need this to be a daily driver to get me to the other side of the world at a moments notice but something that I could jump in and drive to Grandmas house and take her out to lunch in would be nice.

mpg? naaa

ride quality? naaa

A mean rig & ride to work and other places in a radius of 100 miles to home? that's my goal.

please give me your input on what you think? what gears&tire size do you think?

also, what lockers are out here that i can manually engage and disengage so they won't contribute to self destruction again? and not something that will break the bank and make me have to live inside the Jeep.

Its not a DD

You dont care about ride quality

Go 35's add longer bump stops and a spring plate in the rear to stop the max up travel

As far a selectable locker.....there are only a few to choose from and ARB will break the bank if cosat is a concern so look cheaper...

Consider Detroit Tru Tracs front and rear

Gear and tire size - hopefully this will give you an idea of options

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.che...012dfccf89.jpg

I personally wouldnt do 4.88s unless you did go up to 35s. 4.5" lift on 35s is plenty if you bump stop it and have cut fenders. I know a number of people with 4.5-5.5 of lift on 35s properly bumpstopped that works great.

I'm running 35s on about 5" of lift. Fenders are trimmed but nothing to extreme. Just bumpstop accordingly. Creepy Fabrication (I think) on eBay sells spring plates for the rear for a decent price. I like mine so far.

Also I have 4.56s with my 35s and I am happy with the performance of my jeep. I still take it on trips on the interstate going 80 (new interstate speed limit in MT!!) but it does awesome on trails too. Still get about 15-16 MPG too!

heck yeah! my Cherokee was a beast on the interstate in Florida, a little bit difficult to keep in my lane but I have probably gotten it up close to if not over 100mph, hard to judge with the tach ending at 85 and driving a death contraption. I loved driving my cherokee, I've been stuck driving grandparents convertible PT cruiser to school because cherokee is down and school is 90 miles away(one way) my cherokee got better mpg than the cruiser. cruiser gets about 21ish buy you have to use premium gas because it is the 2.4L Turbo srt4 engine. so it ends up costing more in gas than my jeep was. Jeep got about 20mpg everywhere.

the worst part about the cruiser is.. it is purple.