Matching my gear ratios
 

Ok, so I bought a 97 Cherokee XJ manual 5 speed about a month ago.. Whoever had it before me had 4.10 years in the front and 3.07 in the rear.. It was in a bond of course and the ring gear in the front lost about 4 teeth.. Anyone know if I can just replace the ring gear and not have to have a new pinion too?? I would rather just get a 4.10 rear to match instead of matching the 3.07's.. Plus it has 34" super swampers sooo 3.07's wont do me much good.

Why would you want to just replace the ring gear? I'm sure the pinion is beat up too. Also, who put it in 4wd with mis-matched gears? You or the previous owner? Be honest...

Easy and cheap, swap in JY axles in 3:55 ratio. CL for some 33s.

You won't be able to replace just the ring gear. You need to reset the pinion depth to the new ring, which means master rebuild kit, which means might as well replace pinion too. And, so this doesn't happen again, you of course need to do the same on the other axle...so no matter what, keeping what you have means total rebuilds on both axles.

If it were me, do as I suggest with JY and CL, then bench rebuild the other axles as time and money allow, and do it right, get the ratios you want to run, the master install kit's, and lockers if you can...you don't want to do the same job twice, haha

You can't replace just the ring gear. A ring and pinion is a matching set and you can't mix them or you will have issues with noise or getting the pattern correct.

I figured I wouldn't be able to, it just looked brand new and I've never worked with pinions.

I didnt know for sure if I YJ would align right. Im sure 355's will be better than these 307's. like right now I can climb certain hills without locking it in 4 low lol

Not YJ...JY. JunkYard, lol. Find another XJ with a high pinion D30 and Corporate 8.25 in 3:55 ratio, it was pretty common.

CL is Craigslist, find a set of tires/wheels in 33", and that should get you by on the cheap until you can build up your dream axles, lol