Re-gear opinions 2020 JL Wrangler Pentastar 6spd manual

[Jeepjunkie]

I still think 4.56 and manual with 34s is perfect. Slow enough offroad and good daily driving.

debating 37s eventually and just going with a rubi tcase for slower offroad vs regearing again, weaker and weaker ring and pinion the further you go.

also, maybe i just got a deal but why is everyone saying 2k for gears?
All the JLs are newish and wouldn’t need a master rebuild kit yet or not worth doing.

i did dana spicer gears and paid cash for labour and it was $1550 Canadian.

which is $1180 usd

I’ll also consider a tcase swap, but the new atlas case looks awesome and is gear driven.
I also think 4.56’s are a great ratio (have 33’s now going to 34’s next).

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[floridawolfman]

I just drove 23 min on Interstate 4 with 2 passengers, 120lb Hammerhead bumper and 80lb winch on 33" with my 3.45 gears.
winding out 4th to 60mph to shift to 5th. Went up a slight incline not even a hill and dropped 5mph immediately and had to downshift to 4th to gain speed and move to other lane so I wouldn't block traffic. Getting on the ramp I had to give it everything and wind it out to try and merge.
I know how to drive and shift. I understand people saying screw 1st, and lose 6th, its overdrive, just work from a lower gear.
"hell no". This thing is neutered like this. My situation like I said is mostly highway, some city, little off-road. Dropping to a lower gear isn't helping mileage or the same power I had before. Yeah, you can get by, but its still not the same.
I don't throw money away, but driving it like this is ain't gonna get it. I will be re-gearing as planned. I know everyone has a different opinion about it, because everyone's application is different. In my situation, and my type of driving, re-gearing is the answer. Florida is flat, and it still sucks lol.

I've rode shovelheads with suicide shift, semi trucks, 52 ton Army Tanks, 6x6, 4 spd hot rods, etc, and this is just weak-ass in this state, and I don't mean fast, I mean no power for a 3.6, and the only cure isn't more cowbell, its re-gearing. It's nothing I didn't expect, and planned on re-gearing. In a different type of driving I would look at some other options. In lower gears, still feels like pulling a load. Nothing I didn't expect.

Still learned a few things reading everyone's different driving requirements. Always learning something.

 

[Jeepjunkie]

I went from 3.45s on 33”s to 4.56s on 33”s with the manual 6 speed. I realize this is all just personal preference but for reference here is my experience.

Off road (4-lo):
- slower crawl ratio from th 4.56 make some technical obsticles easier than with 3.45s.
- because of the increased wheel torque in first, stalling and bogging in first much less common.

On road:
- 6th is useful as slowly as 60mph with good acceleration
- at 2500 revs in 6th I hit 72-73 mph, the engine is quiet at even faster speeds
- I noticed little (<1/2 mpg) fuel mileage decease (until I loaded up the weight with gear and armor, and destroyed any aerodynamics with lights and removing plastic lower dam).
- I drive round trip 250 miles on one trip all highway for work each week. Regearing made that trip much more enjoyable, and much less shifting at speed.
- in traffic the lower first gear ratio makes “traffic crawling” easier because I can go slower before pushing in the clutch.
- slower reverse speed.

Happy wheeling in 2020!

 

[beaups]

I just drove 23 min on Interstate 4 with 2 passengers, 120lb Hammerhead bumper and 80lb winch on 33" with my 3.45 gears.
winding out 4th to 60mph to shift to 5th.

You didn't "wind out 4th" at 60mph. 3rd winds out around 100mph and 4th winds out around > 120mph. 5th is the wrong gear for your situation at 60mph. Of course you can regear and effectively turn your new 5th gear into your current 4th gear or even 3rd gear. Either way, you'll need to be in the right gear, and you weren't.

 

[floridawolfman]

You didn't "wind out 4th" at 60mph. 3rd winds out around 100mph and 4th winds out around > 120mph. 5th is the wrong gear for your situation at 60mph. Of course you can regear and effectively turn your new 5th gear into your current 4th gear or even 3rd gear. Either way, you'll need to be in the right gear, and you weren't.

Not winding out to max, I didn't say redline, I said winding out 4th to 60. Winding 4th out to 60 to shift into 5th, I take 4th up to 60, get 5th. No 6th unless at about 75 or lags.
I'm winding out the gears into a higher RPM than normal rpm with these tires and gear set.
5th was fine for my situation at 65+ , as I said it dropped 5 mph going a very light incline to 60mph, so shifted back to 4th to accelerate.
And 4th was where it shifted fine into 5th with no lag. I know where I shifted and its where I needed to.


I have a 107 Harley Road King that I tore down, bored out to 117ci, 468 torque cam, etc and I have to wind it out into higher RPMS to stay in my power band. Not redline.

 

[Oletimer]

I just drove 23 min on Interstate 4 with 2 passengers, 120lb Hammerhead bumper and 80lb winch on 33" with my 3.45 gears.
winding out 4th to 60mph to shift to 5th. Went up a slight incline not even a hill and dropped 5mph immediately and had to downshift to 4th to gain speed and move to other lane so I wouldn't block traffic. Getting on the ramp I had to give it everything and wind it out to try and merge.
I know how to drive and shift. I understand people saying screw 1st, and lose 6th, its overdrive, just work from a lower gear.
"hell no". This thing is neutered like this. My situation like I said is mostly highway, some city, little off-road. Dropping to a lower gear isn't helping mileage or the same power I had before. Yeah, you can get by, but its still not the same.
I don't throw money away, but driving it like this is ain't gonna get it. I will be re-gearing as planned. I know everyone has a different opinion about it, because everyone's application is different. In my situation, and my type of driving, re-gearing is the answer. Florida is flat, and it still sucks lol.

I've rode shovelheads with suicide shift, semi trucks, 52 ton Army Tanks, 6x6, 4 spd hot rods, etc, and this is just weak-ass in this state, and I don't mean fast, I mean no power for a 3.6, and the only cure isn't more cowbell, its re-gearing. It's nothing I didn't expect, and planned on re-gearing. In a different type of driving I would look at some other options. In lower gears, still feels like pulling a load. Nothing I didn't expect.

Still learned a few things reading everyone's different driving requirements. Always learning something.

Your exactly right. With 4.88s i can pull sunshine skyway bridge and loose hardly nothing in 6th gear at 60. I would trade it if not for aftermarket gearing.
I still want a lower first and especially reverse.

 

[beaups]

Not winding out to max, I didn't say redline, I said winding out 4th to 60. Winding 4th out to 60 to shift into 5th, I take 4th up to 60, get 5th. No 6th unless at about 75 or lags.
I'm winding out the gears into a higher RPM than normal rpm with these tires and gear set.
5th was fine for my situation at 65+ , as I said it dropped 5 mph going a very light incline to 60mph, so shifted back to 4th to accelerate.
And 4th was where it shifted fine into 5th with no lag. I know where I shifted and its where I needed to.


I have a 107 Harley Road King that I tore down, bored out to 117ci, 468 torque cam, etc and I have to wind it out into higher RPMS to stay in my power band. Not redline.

Shifting out of 4th at 60 mph when it hasn't even hit 3k rpm yet (isn't yet in it's power band) while needing acceleration is bad driving. Why would you shift into a gear that is only barely 2k rpms? You can put 8.20 gears in your jl, if you drop it in a gear that's at 2k rpm at 60mph while needing acceleration to merge is going to have the same poor results. You need the engine to be at the correct speed for your situation, regardless of what gears you are running and what gear # is printed on the shifter. Shifting into a 2k rpm gear in that situation is just bad driving.

 

[Oletimer]

Shifting out of 4th at 60 mph when it hasn't even hit 3k rpm yet (isn't yet in it's power band) while needing acceleration is bad driving. Why would you shift into a gear that is only barely 2k rpms? You can put 8.20 gears in your jl, if you drop it in a gear that's at 2k rpm at 60mph while needing acceleration to merge is going to have the same poor results. You need the engine to be at the correct speed for your situation, regardless of what gears you are running and what gear # is printed on the shifter. Shifting into a 2k rpm gear in that situation is just bad driving.

Its not bad driving if your geared right. I can shift from 5th to 6th all day long at 2400 and go on with it.

 

[beaups]

Its not bad driving if your geared right. I can shift from 5th to 6th all day long at 2400 and go on with it.

It's bad driving if you need more power than the 2400rpm is producing. The number of the gear matters not. I'm really starting to think people actually don't understand how gears work.

 

[Toycrusher]

Its not bad driving if your geared right. I can shift from 5th to 6th all day long at 2400 and go on with it.

So the formula is rpm / transmission ratio / t-case ratio / axle ratio x wheel circumference / 12 / 5280 x 60

2000 rpm / 4th gear (1:1) = 2000 / t-case ratio HI (1:1) = 2000 / axle ratio (4.1:1) = 488 x wheel circumference (35" tire = 110") = 53,680 / 12 = 4473 / 5280 = .847 x 60 = 51 mph

You can change ratios around but in the end, you can get close to the same desired rpm/speed by picking your combination

 

[Oletimer]

It's bad driving if you need more power than the 2400rpm is producing. The number of the gear matters not. I'm really starting to think people actually don't understand how gears work.

Look at the flat torque line , if your up around 2000 after shift your not gonna gain much more.
Maybe you don't understand how gears work. How many gear swaps have you had ? If a person can't afford gears fine. Just don't pretend its makes no difference.

 

[Oletimer]

So the formula is rpm / transmission ratio / t-case ratio / axle ratio x wheel circumference / 12 / 5280 x 60

2000 rpm / 4th gear (1:1) = 2000 / t-case ratio HI (1:1) = 2000 / axle ratio (4.1:1) = 488 x wheel circumference (35" tire = 110") = 53,680 / 12 = 4473 / 5280 = .847 x 60 = 51 mph

You can change ratios around but in the end, you can get close to the same desired rpm/speed by picking your combination

You can , but with a manual it drives so much better geared correctly. And it makes it a much better daily driver, it makes it way easier on clutch in every day woods riding.
Yeah, you can wind it out and get by on 4 gears , but why ?

 

[Boutch76]

Went off roading today for the first time since regearing to 4.56. I used to stall if I didnt get some good momentum going uphill or the incline too steep even in first gear. But today it didn't happened once. It is so much better that I was able to shift all the way to 3rd gear. This would have never happened with the 3.45 ratio. Just sharing today's experience.

 

[beaups]

Look at the flat torque line , if your up around 2000 after shift your not gonna gain much more.
Maybe you don't understand how gears work. How many gear swaps have you had ? If a person can't afford gears fine. Just don't pretend its makes no difference.

The torque line isn't what matters, it's the HP curve and it goes up all the way to redline. Despite your obvious belief, horsepower provides the acceleration and speed holding, not torque.

A conversation about what I can and can't afford isn't relevant, and would have an unfavorable outcome for you. I will say my M5 and my wife's Range Rover have similar RPM in their top gear and also run stock gearsets. And even though they both are far more powerful than my JL, they downshift to accelerate at highway speeds.

 

[Toycrusher]

Went off roading today for the first time since regearing to 4.56. I used to stall if I didnt get some good momentum going uphill or the incline too steep even in first gear. But today it didn't happened once. It is so much better that I was able to shift all the way to 3rd gear. This would have never happened with the 3.45 ratio. Just sharing today's experience.

Gearing needs to fall in an appropriate range for drive-ability. The 3.45 ratio on non-Rubicon models was an insult. Stock should have been 3.73 or 4.10 for all Wranglers. However, when you struggled going uphill, you were in Hi-range? In my Rubi, 4-Lo and 1st is geared so low I can climb a wall at Idle straight up until I roll over backwards