brutalxj

I would look into that manual **** mod for a AW4 that way it wont always drop into the passing gear. If you lose 3-5 mph up a hill who cares. Your bank account will thank you.

CherokeeMan96

tell me more haha

MUDRUNNER AZ

With 33's and 456 and you have an OD tranny you should be good. I have been running 35's or 36's for years and i have run the 4.88's and i can still tow a 17 ft boat or the quads on the trailer if i need to and run hwy speed with no issue. You say you like to hit the mtns then i would go the 456's and as said above its not just you our vehicle weight you have gear and ppl to add and the rolling mass/weight ot the tires too. If you speedo is off you cna chage the speedo gear to make it right. With OD you can get away with a little more gear. Less gear and it likes to search a lot or you dont use OD at all so mpg's go down anyway.

CherokeeMan96

well guy i bought it from monkeyd with the speedometer and set it to read 5mph fast, that was on 31s cause he had a led foot and a habit of getting tickets so it worked. i imagine shes readin about right with the 33s.

sheepdog

if you wanna know rpm's, go here http://www.grimmjeeper.com/gears.html

just enter your transmission (probably an aisin warner aw4) and transfer case, which is np231 as on your profile, and then mess around entering your tire size and gearing, it gives rpm's at a given speed, and speed at given rpm's, in high and low range, pretty much all the info you want dude. it will help you choose.

im gonna get some 33's and go 4.10 gears as i have a manuel, 3.73 gears would put me almost exactly stock, where the 4.10's put me a little lower geared. w/33's and 4.10's, in 5th gear goin 60, ill be at 1,979 rpm's, high gear at 75 ill be at 2,473 rpm's, and so on. it breaks it down by each individual gear, i think its what your looking for. i saved it in my favorites, and refer to it from time to time. its very useful if your into numbers and $hit like that.

CherokeeMan96

and what do you mean by OD tranny, like overdrive? dont beleive i have that option, not to my knowledge

CherokeeMan96

sweet man, thats exactly what i was wondering, good looks

hidperf

I just went from 31's/3.55's to 33's/4.10's and I can tell you that I will be going to 4.56's whenever the rest of my project is complete. I bought the axles with 4.10's in them already and like you, I thought 4.10's would be just about right. I was wrong. The added mass definitely plays a role and I'd actually say that this combo is worse than my previous. But, I just finished the swap last weekend and have only driven it back and forth to work so far.

This weekend I'll be taking it on a long trip so I'll let you know how it goes. For reference, I got 221 miles on the first tank with the new setup which averaged around 13.18mpg, almost exactly what my old setup was getting.

Also, at 70mph I'm turning 2350rpm. I think that's too low to be efficient.

MUDRUNNER AZ

I think all xj had a Over drive tranny my 92 does and yours in newer so i am sure you do. On the shifter there should be cirlce around the D.

brianglawson

I went to 4.88's on my DD with 33's and I LOVE IT

ahenderl

I have swapped gear sets twice. So far, I have ran:

1. bone stock
2. 31's w/3.55
3. 31's w/4.10 ...nice setup if you don't plan on going bigger...but
4. 32's w/4.10 ...felt sluggish after 4.10's on 31's
5. 32's w/4.56 ...now were talking. Good acceleration, power & highway rpms are very tolerable in overdrive
6. 33's w/4.56 ...I like it just fine, but if I knew day one I'd be on 33's, I would prefer 4.88's

It is a 1997 with an AW4. It is my daily driver and my mileage for a complete tank ranges from 12-15 depending on highway or around town driving (a lot more 12's than 15's). Like stated before, gearing isn't simply a function tire diameter and gear set if you want stock like acceleration and low end grunt. You have to take into consideration the mass of your tires. For me, going from 32's to 33's made a bigger difference than you would think. The extra inch was rather negligible as far as rpm to speed, but the extra weight of the tire is considerable. For that reason, I wish I had 4.88's.

Also, if you have a straight shift, it changes everything. I love the AW4, but it is definitely a power hog. On top of that, first gear is a lot lower in the manuals, allowing you to accelerate decently with slightly taller diff gearing.

I have a '91 Comanche with 3.07 gears on on stock tires (measure 28"). It feels like a total hot rod compared to my XJ when it was on stock tires and geared 3.55's.

xjtrailrider

I say 4.88's, I'm running 35's now but will be going down to 33's on my next set of tires. 4.88's arent bad with 35's but will be much better on 33's. If I could I would go 5.38 if I kept the 35's

My mileage is near stock on the highway w/4.88 and 35's

2KXJJEEP

what kind of RPM's r u pushing on the highway...what around 3500 at 55 MPH lol

jmd025

I run 456s with 33s and love it. Good power, good acceleration, doesnt bog at hwy speeds. Awesome in low range. Gets 16-17mpgs, if I run 55-60 Max gets 18 and some change.

brianglawson

4.88 and 33's with aw4 push around 2,400 for 65mph