hey all,

Im trying to get feed back on the rigs your running (DD) with these axles. Im to a point with a 3.5 RE lift and 31/32s that i may have some funds to upgrade my DD. I want bigger tires, lower gears, rear locked, and maybe an inch more lift. $$$$ easier said than done so i would like some examples of whats working for you and any choices you wish you had not made for a daily driver.

In a perfect world I would run 4.56 gears, ARB rear and 33-35"tires. currently shes on 3.73 and factory rear traclok + 189,000, auto. LSD is toast by now and my want to upgrade is for trail/traction ease while keeping it DD. with the lsd i cant just toss in a lunchbox. I think if i was really building smart ide end up with 33x10.50x15, gears, and some locker/traction device, sliders. thoughts?

I wheel moderately technical trails at the worst, and i like high alpine passes (so i dont want to be dumb if 35s are going to make brakes laugh)... I have a DB winch bumper needing a winch because i find myself in trails way into the woods and a smart capable rig while wheeling alone is very important.

I hope im not being too vague in asking for help, though i dont want to waste money nor short my efforts for building this jeep further, so I look to those that know better.

i wheel in colorado if that helps any of your suggestions.

sincerely,

thank you for your help

 

D30hp ,C8.25, 4.88's, Spartans front and rear.
6.5" of lift. 33" tires but going to 35's when these wear out.
Daily driver but not on interstates. My Heep likes 65mph and below.

I'm in Montana and pretty much wheel the same stuff you do in Colo. Nothing to technical, just 4wheeler trails, some rocks and lots of snow in the winter.

For a winch I went with the Smittybilt 9500 XRC comp. I use the crap out of it when snow wheeling and it hasn't let me down yet. It's also very affordable.

 

If you go with a lunchbox, you will need to pick up an open carrier. those 3.73s's will work with 33's and be great or DD Duty, but it wont win any races. You can always grab a Detroit Trutrac for the rear if you want to stay with a LSD type rear. If you jump to a lunchbox locker, Aussie and Spartan are pretty popular options. I am currently running a Chry8.25 and Dana 30HP with 3.55's Spartan rear on 33's with the ax15 tranny for DD Duty (200 miles a week). I use 4th quite a bit on the interstate and she struggles. works just fine on the trails, but i am gathering parts for 4.56's.

33x10.5's are a great size. TMK, you are limited to about 2 tires. You might look at 285/75/16's (33x11) for a greater range of tires. You dont need 35's unless its a dedicated trail rig. 33's and good driving will go anywhere 35's do.

To add an inch of lift you can easily throw a coil spacer in the front and shackle relocation brackets in the rear. On my XJ i ran liquid engineering brackets and RC 2" shackles along with RE 4.5 coils and the factory spring spacer. I sat at 4.75 front and 4.5 rear and it was perfect with fenders cut n folded and 33's.

 

I have 3.73s on 31s and love it. I find it to be a good DD setup. Still gets good gas mileage and its rare that I need 4th gear on the freeway (manual trans). 3.5" RE lift with a Aussie locker in the rear.

 

I have 3.55s with 31x10.50s and it does fine but I don't think I would want to go with 33s without re gearing, a buddy of mine did that and it turned it into a real turd off road, he basically had to be in 4 low the whole time to accomplish anything. I currently have an open front and factory limited slip rear, but I have two Spartan lockers sitting on the workbench waiting to go in.

 

3-3.5" OME lift with 3.55s and 31x10.50. Open axles front and rear.

 

5" of lift. 33x12.5s. 4.10 gears. D30 and 8.8 (Ford axle). I daily drive the Jeep and it performs well on the street. The RPMS are EXACTLY where they were when stock, the speedo tracks accurately also. For a DD I would suggest 4.10s with 33s. It performs well off road for what I have put it through. My off road use has been limited to beach driving and mild forest trails up to this point.

 

5 " lift, 4.56, e-locker front, detriot rear, 35 " tires.

 

5.5" Lift
4.88's
35's
Spartan locker rear
open front (selectable locker soon)

Ive driven it a whopping 2-3 miles since I got it back together, but i'll have some trail time and miles on it very soon.

 

your transmission matters! If you're running an automatic I'd jump straight to the 4.56's you'll be very pleased even on 32-35" tires.


if you have a 5 speed I'd still jump to the 4.56's lol. That's personal preference but with a 5 speed you could run a 4.10. Factory auto tranmissions are all so crappy that I always choose a deeper gear when feasible

 

Are you talking about the AW4? In my experience it is an excellent auto transmission I have seen them stand up to some pretty hard abuse and last well over 200,000 miles. Mine has close to 240,000 on it right now and still works great. A buddy of mine lost a transmission line on his on the trail and ran it until it couldn't move, he had it towed home and and replaced the line and put fluid in it and it is has been working fine ever since, his has close to 200K on it. Now the Chrysler autos in the Wranglers and Grand Cherokees are known for there problems but the AW4 in the Cherokee is a different story.

 

they're good little transmissions but they do not stand up to prolonged heavy abuse. I'm not saying the ax15 is perfect either, I've seen more cracked bellhousings in that transmission than any other I think. but no, I am talking about all factory automatic transmissions in general (it just happens to be the aw4 in this case). Most torque converters are not efficient, gears are slushy, computer is confused. But let's keep it to my point here which is that you'll definitely want to go with a deeper gear if you have an auto transmission whereas you can drop down to a 4.10 if you have a 5-speed

 

I'm running 4.5" with 32x11.50's and 4.10's. D30 up front with a Spartan and a 8.25 with a E-locker. I've put over 100,000 highway miles on it in the last 5 years and it works great for me.

 

lots of you are running a spartan or detroit in the rear.

is the spartan noisy and does anyone wish they went with the detroit intsead? i assume everyone with spartan wants the locker without burning a hole in their wallet.

any regrets on the locker choice?, I ordered 4.56s now i just need to decide on carriers. the TC is 242 so if the front gets anything it would be a TT. i want an ARB for the 8.25 but i cant bring myself to spend that money unless the road manners of an autolocker are that terrible.

SRB whatchu got on the detroit, are you DD and is it live able?

 

I just put quite a few miles on and offload with the spartan in the rear. You can hear it click around sharp turns but its very quiet, with the windows up I can't hear it at all. The road manners are very good as well.

I was skeptical, but after driving with it, i have zero complaints.