33's and 4.56's... Shoot even if you move up to 35's the 4.56's will still serve you well.

I only went with 4.88's because I don't drive much highway and its mostly a trail rig/toy.

Dont be so indecisive, just pull the trigger.

 

I want mine to be, but its unfortunately multi-purpose.
Plus I like driving fast on the highway, more time spent at the destination

Pretty much decided on the gears. Brake parts arriving on Tuesday hopefully. Can't wait to get them installed - he says he has Motive and G2 gears but prefers Motive. I am going to let him choose - he promised to build me a solid gear setup so I will just leave the install up to him

Unfortunately it is 30 miles to get back to my house from his place. Haven't figured out what I am going to do about that yet - probably just keep driving from bar to bar and waiting an hour for cool-down in between

EDIT:
Also, I get to keep my rear axle which might help offset the price, but I doubt it''s worth much even though it has like $300 worth of brake parts on it

 

Get the 4.56's and if you decide later you want to run 35s then build a stoker or get a Golen.

 

RwkHaus also has great deals on gears and install kits. I got my master instal kits, front and rear 4.88's and yukon D30 carrier for the steeper gears for right at 500 bucks shipped. They are USA standard gears with Koyo bearings in their install kits and a Yukon carrier.

Just food for thought

 

You'll be happy with 4.56's and 33's. It's also not the end of the world if you move up to 35's. Like I said, I run 4.56's and I find it to be a nice combination of offroad and on road driving. I can cruise the highway noooo problem. I went through the same indecisiveness when I was going to gear my rig.

For the record, I run motive gears and G2 gears. Can't remember which axle got what but they're good setups.

 

Well, 8.8 install is tomorrow morning - fingers crossed

 

you do what feels best, but me driving my jeep with the 4.88s feels great. for me. i live in a very mountainous area and stay away from the interstate. ittl do 75 but i dont. i run 65 at 2600-2650 and hardly ever go over.
i could not justify 4.56's in the same but different way you just cant justify 4.88's
Guys have been running 4.56's and 33's or 35's for years. tried and true.

 

Just an fyi for your travel times when you take your trip. Your looking at about 20+hrs of driving for every 1000 miles, especially if your only doing 60 mph. Good luck and have a safe trip

 

What bars?


You'll love 4.56's- IMO it's the perfect balance for CO's highways, intestates, and offroad. And once you get used to the 8.8 under there all the other XJ's with their 8.25's look flimsy.

 

Woot! Gears are installed

I talked to him for a solid hour before the install, and we both agreed that my heart wanted 4.88s and especially considering that I want to move up to 35's the next time I got tires. If I went with 4.56s I feel like I would always regret it and I do want to move up to 35s when I need tires next

Feels CRAZY powerful compared to the 3.07s! I have about 15 miles on them, stopping to let them cool and grab a beer for an hour. Helps that we got a cold snap today and tomorrow, super windy which will help with cool down times.

I just need to get 2 issues sorted out,
1. The e-brake cables I have are not long enough and one is actually longer than the other so only one will lock up right now and I have like 3" of travel in the E-brake cable which makes it feel like it's going to snap and super tight. Need to research what cables people run with the 8.8

2. Speedo gear is wildly inaccurate. Is this the one I want?? (the charts all say 41 tooth, and this says it will fit all late model 231j's)

https://www.ebay.com/p/?iid=17196871...pp=true&chn=ps

Also, the finned diff cover didn't fit which is a bummer. Apparently the ABS tone ring is hitting and with the 4.88s he said it was really close anyways. Bummer, figured it would be nice while towing.

Yeah, 20 hours is a long drive in one shot but I have really bad insomnia which usually helps. Might just catch a few hours rest in the Jeep or consider a motel


Edit:
Also, I am well aware that I am indecisive as HELL!
LOL I think I was just fighting the urge to go 4.88s, but in the end I caved. Mixed feelings - feels a bit steep for 33's but now a can't wait till these tires are up so I can move up to 35's

 

all the cool kids do 4.88s.
too many xj guys i talked to who did 4.56s regretted it after adding more weight an more tire

 

Good you finally got them in and are happy. To bad your C8.25 has 3.07 or I would be interested in it.
On a side note I was having some insomnia problems and this **** puts me out with no side effects in the morning. I ordered it on Amazon.

http://nocturest.com

 

Yeah that was a big one, Right now I have no bumpers, no armor, no tire carrier, hell - no spare tire even. Minimal weight and if/when I go up in tire size and add 300lbs of bumpers and another 80lbs of tire, etc I think it will be beneficial. Plus I am only moving back to FL for 6 months or so and will be back in CO before I know it (long steep grades in the mountains)

Also, I secretly yearn to be cool...

Might have to try it - my sleep habits have been terrible lately (sleep like 2 hours one night, then 8 the next, then 4, then 12 on the weekends).

Yeah, I am going to go ahead and clean it up and paint it this weekend, and put it up on CraigsList for super cheap.

Or if you want - buy it for the ZJ Disc Brake parts in the rear, and get a free axle to build at your leisure. Shame - spent like $300 in conversion parts and ended up swapping to an 8.8 anyways
Probably going to have to beg someone to take it off my hands because of the 3.07's.


EDIT:
Also - the MORE brake cable kit sucks *** - the cables are literally not the correct length for a ZJ brake swap - the passenger side is about 3/4" too long. I am going to see if I can get one side to engage (right now I think the e-brake shoes are rubbing a bit), and get a spacer welded on to take up the slack instead of having to get completely new cables (my stockers are long gone)

 

Fiddled with the rear brakes a bit - I think I can get some thin DOM style tube, cut a slit in it, slip it over the excess parking brake cable and get it welded to it wont slip off. That should effectively take care of the extra 3/4" of cable

Something like this, but with an ID smaller than the cable-end;




Other than that, going for another break in run in a few mins, probably 30 mins before I let it cool down all night.

 

That looks like the right speedo gear.
This is the one I put in with 4.88 gears. Within 1mph of my gps.