Here's my take just to give another perspective. I have a 2 door 2013 JK with the stock 3.21 gears, 35" tires, 3" lift and auto trans. My Jeep has been flashed so the shift points have been calibrated properly and to be quite honest, everyday driving (highway and some around town) is fine for me. I do get lugging / shifting issues when going up steep or long inclines, and sometimes around 70 mph my trans will hunt. This is common, and even our stock transmissions aren't great even with stock tires. With that said, I was going to hold off on gearing because quite frankly, nobody wants to spend ~$2000 on something you can't see. So, I did what ever good Jeep owner did and started shopping for bumpers, lights, winches, etc. But all the while, I had this nagging feeling that I wasn't doing my Jeep justice. Just this week I made the decision to re-gear properly. Here's why. 1) once I do build my rig out the way I want, fully burdened this thing is going to be terrible on the highway and even worse off-road. 2) The added stress on the trans (over time) concerns me. I have had a few jeeps in my day, and replacing a transmission is never fun OR cheap. 3) I'm investing in the long term for this vehicle. I figure that if I build a solid platform in which to build from, everything else will just be gravy on top.
I am currently looking at 4.56 gears but am considering 4.88's. I'll talk with my local offroad tech to get his take, and maybe drive a Jeep or 2 to make the final call. I also just purchased a Superchips Flashpaq F5 to handle the tuning and recalibration once done. Hope my side of things helps a little. Best of luck to you and let us know what you went with!
-Slowroller78
I am currently looking at 4.56 gears but am considering 4.88's. I'll talk with my local offroad tech to get his take, and maybe drive a Jeep or 2 to make the final call. I also just purchased a Superchips Flashpaq F5 to handle the tuning and recalibration once done. Hope my side of things helps a little. Best of luck to you and let us know what you went with!
-Slowroller78
