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What's the best gear ratio?

29K views 40 replies 27 participants last post by  coolbreeze 
#1 ·
If I'm going to drive a lot on the hilly roads of Nebraska, but still do some light trails what is the best gear ratio?
 
#4 ·
Hail Marry question with no INFO provided........:facepalm:

Well let's see: 3.21, 3.73, 4.10, 4.56, 4.88, 5.13, 5.38

^^^One of these should work!!!!!!!

Since this is a quiz, my guess 4.88.....:beerme:
 
#8 ·
We would have to know what year, because of the engine, and is it auto or manual. What size tires do you want to run. Plus where are you going to primarily use it, on, or off road. (just trails, or rock crawling)? On highway will it be used more on level terrain, or in the mountains?

^^^With that INFO given, then somebody can give you a accurate recommendation, but without it, it's a poor guess at best!!!!!!!!!
 
#6 ·
Personally,

1) if you dont need a Rubicon, save the money

2) i'd go with 3:73 if possible

I have 3:21 in mine and its ok but wish it was better. But then I bought mine used so didnt have the option unless I looked forever. Most around here are 3:21.
 
#7 ·
To many variables but I always get the most gear I can.
 
#10 ·
3.73 tends to be the sweet spot between MPG and off road performance. But that totally depends on what size tires you put on. If you go real big you need to get 4.10 or greater. If I were just mall crawling I'd go with 3.21. I have 3.73 and happy enough with the performance for what I do.
 
#11 ·
If you don't have specifics, then there is no way to tell. Your specific Jeep setup would make the difference. Since you don't HAVE a Jeep, it's a data-free discussion.
 
#17 ·
I've got 4.10 on my '15-JKUR. Stock 33" tires. I like the fast pull off the line. Get 18MPG on highway.
 
#18 ·
There's a chart floating around the forum that shows RPM to Gear Ratio and Tire Size at 70 MPH. My JK Man 6 has 3.73 and I'm running stock tires. It's a good middle of the road ratio. I can go to 33-35 tires and get lower hwy rpms but have to work a little harder on the trail. Better trail gears like 4:10 and 4:56 give you much higher rpm's at hwy speed but crawl well.
 
#22 ·
Which factory gear is best depends on your personal preference for fuel economy vs performance. If you read the threads about fuel economy, the vast majority of the owners getting 20+ MPH have 3.21 gears.

On the other hand if you read the threads about rehearing you will be hard pressed to find owners complaining about the gearing they picked is too low (larger numerically as in 4.10). Amongst the factory ratios, 3.73 offers a nice balance between performance and fuel economy unless you plan to add larger than 32" tires later. Regearing is a pain and it is expensive ~$2,000 so it's best to go with 4.10s if possible. Try to find a thread of someone with 4.10 gears complaining their gears are too low.
 
#25 ·
Depends what you want to do. I tried them all and liked the 3.73 best. Wife almost bought a 3.21 for herself but she said something felt off and it just didn't feel right. I tried it and thought the same thing, something is missing with the 3.21 IMO.

Buddy has a Rubicon and I liked it too but hated the loud mud tires.
 
#26 ·
Hi folks! Everyone appears to be really knowledgeable here so I'd like to leverage your help.

I have a 2013 2-dr Wrangler Sport Manual with the 3.6L engine. I have the stock Goodyear Wrangler tires on the stock 17" rims at the moment. I have no lift or other body mods. Per my window sticker, it came geared at 3.21. Here are my questions:

1) When people say "3.73 feels better than 3.21," what do they mean? I'm in NYC where it's mostly flat (except for when I escape town). This is my daily driver and I do go offroading once a month or so. I keep my RPMs between 1500-2300 before I shift into the next gear. I'm able to ride 6th gear at 60mph and higher (begins at 1500rpm). It feels normal, I suppose...so what does a "better" feel mean?

2) I would like to upgrade to 33s for the tires on the same 17" stock rim for now, without lift. I will probably get 1.5" spacers or something like that. With the scenario mentioned right above (mostly street driving but some offroading), should I regear?

3) For regearing to 3.73 in theory, while maintaining decent MPGs (~19mpg average), do I need to purchase anything new? And would I ask the dealership to do this or a specific shop?

Thank you VERY much for your responses!
 
#28 ·
Order the 4.10s... you won't regret. The 3.6L V6 needs more gear out of the hole. Peak torque flattens at 2,000 RPM.. however it makes good HP through the entire curve after 1400 RPM. Remember you have OD.. 4.10s are perfect with OD.

I ordered 3.73s with my 1 ton van... but it has a torquey 8.1L big block.

.
 

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#29 ·
^ You can't just say that. If you could order the 4.1 on any Jeep it would be nice, but that means he'd have to buy the Rubicon.

I also noticed nobody asked about 2 door vs 4 door. The extra weight of the 4 door should be factored in too.

I have 3.73 gears, it's pretty good for what I do. It's better than my 3.73 gearing I had in the TJ. If you are looking at 2007-2011 you might push for the Rubicon with 4.10 gears.
 
#33 ·
No reason to regear unless you're putting larger tires on. The purpose of the regear is to make the vehicle more like stock when you increase tire circumference. If you're not doing that you'll increase torque but sacrifice fuel economy. Really no reason to do that with stock tires.

Even with 35's unless you're going to do some hard core off roading you don't "need" a regear.
 
#38 ·
Mine is an automatic and I have a heavy Jeep at 6100 pounds so I went 5.13 and don't regret it one bit. It really helps in hills and mountains. I feel that if I had gone 4.88, that my Jeep would do a lot of downshifting when going up hills. Fuel mileage ain't the greatest, but then again I didn't buy a Jeep to save money.

And as stated above, front and rear diffs need to be geared the same.
 
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