So I bought my XJ from a guy who knew what he was doing and wheeled with it. I'm trying to figure out what gears I have, since the mechanic at the shop told me I should regear soon or else I'll blow my diffs out, like he did with his Wrangler. I just had the shop put on my 33s (came from 31s, although I had a set of 33s on for a few months). That's when he mentioned it. In another thread of mine, we came up with that I'm apparently running a 8.25 30 combo. We wouldn't know the gear ratio from that, right? I'm thinking of opening the covers tomorrow and looking, or just spinning the tire and seeing how many times it turns.

I'm looking for any advice. I'm a little worried, since I plan on wheeling with these new tires, but I want to make sure I'll be OK. When I had my other 33s on for a little, I didn't have any problems. I was able to do 60-70mph no issue, although I didn't wheel with them. The guy I bought it from said the only thing I'd need to do if I got 33s would be cut the fenders. He didn't mention the gears, which kind of makes me think he already did, but I could be wrong.


Here are the pics of the axles, although it probably won't help much.


Front:


Rear:





Thanks

 

There should be a little plate on the side of your diff cover on the left there are 2 bolts holding it as well as holding your diff cover

 

Would this be for removing the cover to check the gears?


Thanks

 

People run 35s with stock gears all the time. It's not great but won't blow out the diff. Not even sure what that means. Easiest way I know is to spin a tire one turn and count the times the yoke turns. 3 1/2 turns is 3.55, 3 3/4 is 3.73 and so on.

 

LOL @ this. You regear to help turn the tires over as you go bigger. 33s is right on the border of whether you should regear or if you can just manage. Is your tranny auto or manual? Most likely you have 3.07 if manual and 3.55 if auto. You will be fine to wheel without regearing...i do it almost every weekend with 33s and 3.55's. If you got the money i'd go for it though.

 

hold s. yes

 

Thanks, I'll more than likely go that route tomorrow when I go to check. And it did sound a little odd. I just want to make sure I'll be fine driving and wheeling haha.

Mine's auto. I'm still leaning more towards that I'm not stock, but I'll find out for sure tomorrow. So I'll more than likely be fine regardless what my gears are (stock or 4.56, etc). I am rubbing the paint off my short arm with my 33s for what it's worth, would that be more a size/adding a spacer issue, rather than gearing related?

Sorry for my ignorance. I'm learning as I go more or less, lol.


Thanks

 

I assume you're talking about you rub your control arm at full lock? Yeah that's just your backspacing on your wheels isn't enough to clear it. Common problem. You could add spacers but i don't recomend it. Look into wheel adaptors; they are spacers but they have their own lug studs.

 

u can call ur local dealer ship and give them ur vin # and they can tell u allmost everything bout your jeep thats what i did

 

Yeah, I was a little iffy on spacers. I'll definitely look into wheel adapters.

Thanks

I think mine might be aftermarket though. Judging from my other thread, they might not be stock.

Thanks though!

 

X2

 

So adapters are more durable/reliable than spacers? I definitely need to do something about the rubbing when I turn. Do people usually just add them to the front? And which ones should I consider and avoid?


Thanks

 

you can also adjust the stops you will loose a little turning radius but xj turn tight allready, the bolt is welded to the nut unscrew the hole thing untill the ribbing stops then put lock washers in behind the bolt/nut then tighten it back up .I did this on my bronco worked great never tried on my xj bought new rims with my tires

 

For the gearing, just jack up the rear end and rotate the tire one time. Count how many times the yoke spins and you have your gearing. IT's the easiest way to tell if it's already been regeared.

For adapters, get some made by Spidertrax. I've wheeled with them and have had no issues whatsoever. Properly backspaced rims are better, but adapters will work fine.

 

I'll be looking into adjusting that, maybe for a temporary fix until I figure out which adapters to get.

I didn't want to hi jack my own thread, so I started another one on adapters so I can get the info on them.
https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f59/wh...r-help-118191/


Thanks!