DIY Gear Swap - Step by Step Pic's - Rubicon 4.88

[ChattVol]

Wow, thanks Chevy for all the responses. Ill definietly keep that offer in mind. Once i am able to put some funds together, id love to take you up on that and regear up at your place just to have someone around to bounce questions off of if i ran into an issue.

As for the tcase regear, good to know. I was wondering myself which would be cheaper, regearing diffs or tcase. Aside from the beneifts from each, money wise, diffs might be cheaper in the end and then you also get better on road manners as well.

The benefit of the rock trac 4:1 is it would be an easy swap id imagine and wouldnt require so many tools to do vs the diff regear.

The main reason I went with the rock trac swap before regearing the diffs is it improves the crawl ratio twice as much as regearing the diffs to 4.88. With a 6 speed, the t case swap was a more meaningful improvement.

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[JD Flick]

You are brave, dude. That's way beyond my skill level

 

[LUV2JEEP]

Here are the torque values specific to the JL axle types.

 

[muddy_tuna]

@chevymitchell judging by your shop and tools I would assume that you have done gears before. I've done gears on TJs and JKs, other than the FAD and different style rear bearing, is everything else essentially the same? I'm about to start a gear install next weekend and want to make sure it's essentially the same with some added steps but nothing super crazy. I've got about 10-15 gear installs under my belt.

 

[vavaroutsos]

@chevymitchell judging by your shop and tools I would assume that you have done gears before. I've done gears on TJs and JKs, other than the FAD and different style rear bearing, is everything else essentially the same? I'm about to start a gear install next weekend and want to make sure it's essentially the same with some added steps but nothing super crazy. I've got about 10-15 gear installs under my belt.

See here.

 

[chevymitchell]

@chevymitchell judging by your shop and tools I would assume that you have done gears before. I've done gears on TJs and JKs, other than the FAD and different style rear bearing, is everything else essentially the same? I'm about to start a gear install next weekend and want to make sure it's essentially the same with some added steps but nothing super crazy. I've got about 10-15 gear installs under my belt.

Hey there.

Yes, it's essentially the same. The amount of space between the smaller carrier bearing and the carrier does not allow for most bearing removal tools to fit. You will end up damaging the cage and you'll be stuck cutting it off.

Otherwise, you shouldn't run into any problems. Everything else is pretty standard. If you have any questions or run into issues, text me at 336-442-9463. I'll do everything I can to help you out.

 

[chevymitchell]

See here.

This is a great video, but doesn't show several of the steps, especially since they have specific DANA tooling they've either fabricated or designed specifically for these axles. Good video nonetheless to get you going in the right direction. Thanks for posting the link.

 

[beckbuilt]

Thank you for taking the time to document the gear swap. The steps and pictures are invaluable! I just ordered gears and am gathering tooling to re-gear my JL.
Couple questions for you...
Is a housing spreader or shim driver needed? I didn't see you mention them.
Will any good race driver set fit the metric bearing races in these axles?

 

[chevymitchell]

Thank you for taking the time to document the gear swap. The steps and pictures are invaluable! I just ordered gears and am gathering tooling to re-gear my JL.
Couple questions for you...
Is a housing spreader or shim driver needed? I didn't see you mention them.
Will any good race driver set fit the metric bearing races in these axles?

You're very welcome.

A spreader and shim driver are not needed.

Yes, any bearing race driver kit should work great.

Good luck with the install. PM me is you needed anything.

 

[beckbuilt]

Thanks again! I may take you up on the PM offer.
I really appreciate guys willing to share knowledge and advice!

 

[Dogboyslim]

Dana/Spicer did a video of this here. These two just convinced me that if/when I regear, I'm paying a professional. Thanks!

 

[beckbuilt]

Dana/Spicer did a video of this here. These two just convinced me that if/when I regear, I'm paying a professional. Thanks!

I understand why some would rather pay a "professional", but that doesn't mean its done correctly... It just gives you someone to point a finger at if you have issues.

 

[beckbuilt]

You're very welcome.

A spreader and shim driver are not needed.

Yes, any bearing race driver kit should work great.

Good luck with the install. PM me is you needed anything.

Shawn, Thanks again for taking the time to explain this process. I just finished up my first ever gear swap on my 2019 Rubicon. With the help of this post, the Mopar USB service manual and a couple gear vendors it went great! They run quiet, smooth and cool. I've always wanted to learn and understand the process.

I drove 300 miles to take my last jeep (2017 Rubicon) to a major 4x4 shop for a re-gear. It came back with a bad front end vibration. After they corrected the vibration, caused from a bent pinion flange (removed it with a mini sledge instead of a puller, because time is money), it would overheat and puke gear oil out of the vent hose. It now had too much pinion bearing preload. After these things and a leaking axle seal were fixed, the gears worked out well. But this left a bad taste in my mouth trusting my vehicle with the professionals.

 

[chevymitchell]

Shawn, Thanks again for taking the time to explain this process. I just finished up my first ever gear swap on my 2019 Rubicon. With the help of this post, the Mopar USB service manual and a couple gear vendors it went great! They run quiet, smooth and cool. I've always wanted to learn and understand the process.

I drove 300 miles to take my last jeep (2017 Rubicon) to a major 4x4 shop for a re-gear. It came back with a bad front end vibration. After they corrected the vibration, caused from a bent pinion flange (removed it with a mini sledge instead of a puller, because time is money), it would overheat and puke gear oil out of the vent hose. It now had too much pinion bearing preload. After these things and a leaking axle seal were fixed, the gears worked out well. But this left a bad taste in my mouth trusting my vehicle with the professionals.

You're very welcome, man. It's a fun process to go through, really. It looks intimidating, but I keep telling people it's something anyone can do. With patience and tooling, you can save yourself a ton of money and become intimate with your Jeep.

 

[JLRubiMD]

Reviving an old but amazing thread for some question for those more experienced than myself, which is anyone who has done this since regearing will be virgin territory for me.

I've committed to regearing to 4.88s (JLUR auto, 37s), got a killer deal on Dana Spicer gears + master install kits from NR4x4. After reading ChevyMitchell's write up and watching the Dana video on regearing a JL, seems very doable but I have some questions if anyone wants to help out. Sorry if they are silly questions.

1. How important is a pinion seal installer? Dana makes a $300 kit (SPI401) with several sizes of installers, but I've seen other people just carefully tap them in or use something round that is the correct diameter to seat the seal without damaging it.

2. Can I use the cheaper of these 2 styles of bearing puller? ChevyMitchell has the more expensive clamshell style (top picture), but if I can get away with the cheaper one (bottom picture) I'll save a few benjamins.

3. How do I know if these race driver kits will have the size I need? (most seem to have the same range of sizes, so I am assuming these kits cover most applications.)

4. Any reason this cheap 6-ton HF press wouldn't work...? It's says the capacity is 10.5". It's only $80 from HF and they usually have a 20-25% off coupon. Option two is I use the bottle jack out of my Jeep and weld up a small metal frame to press against, but if I can buy this for $60 and it works well, that's hard to beat.

5. Some people apply a thin layer of RTV silicone to the inside of the pinion seal before tapping it into place, seems like it would add some extra piece of mind. Thoughts or issues with this?

6. Is there any benefit to removing the axles to regear? Seems like extra work, but it it makes the process easier (or getting to tight spaces easier) it might be worth it.

7. In order to use another set of bearings while setting up the rear end, can I just use the old bearings and sand the inside to make them slip over the shafts, or should I buy an extra set of new bearings so they are identical to the ones I am installing?

8. Will a non-digital torque wrench be able to properly measure torque to turn when setting bearing preload? It seems like I could set it to a value and as long as it doesn't click, it'll at least be below that value so i don't over-torque when collapsing the crush sleeve.

Sorry for the list of questions, trying to plan ahead and have everything ready to rock and roll. Also a special thanks to everyone who has already contributed to this thread, extremely helpful.

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