Another Locker Q

[Chris]

I have Man Jerk's 4:88's front and rear on my 55 with an ARB in the front.

MY 62 has 4:10's and a Lock Right in the rear.

What would be the most effective use of these different gears and lockers for my 62?

Thoughts:
Put the ARB in the front of the 62 with the 4:10's
Put the 4:88's in the 62 with the ARB and add Lock Right to rear
Leave it alone and wheel

Open to your thoughts considering ease of doing any changes and effectiveness of any change...

Of course I have to drive it with the new 5 speed before consiering making any changes.

[Jimmy]

Switching from an auto to a manual is a big deal when it comes to offroading. Definitely wheel it first to see if you notice a difference.

You may find that the simple change from an auto to a manual leaves you wanting for deeper gears. The deeper the gears, the slower you'll crawl and give you better control over obstacles.

But, do the math to see if your RPMs will be too high with 4.88s, the 5th gear, and tires you run. I would guess no, but that's for you to figure out.

[Chris]

Yeah, I've thought about that and will have to wheel a bit before doing anything. I just hate having the gears and ARB sitting in a truck I'll eventually get rid of. I'm pretty sure I'll stick with the 4:10's since I do like to cruise on the highway. Probably choose to move the ARB to the front of the 62.

[Jimmy]

A quickie look at the RPM difference looks to be only around/approximately 400 rpm at 70 mph. Those were based on the guess that the overdrive ratio is .70:1

An extra 400 or so RPMs would be a bonus if you find yourself struggling on the mountain passes. :)

If it were me and I already had the 4.88s, I'd be looking for a reason NOT to go to them. :) Best to do it now, than find yourself wanting later!

[Man Jerk]

Drive it and see how it feels before you do anything. On the road.

Off the road is obvious. Drive the 62 the way it is and ask yourself if you could live driving 400 rpm slower.

*If you decide to stay with the 4.88's then you will have to trash 2 sets of bearings and set up the Ring and pinion in 2 diffs.

[Brody]

I would go with a rear locker over a front anytime. You can do so much just having the rear locked up, many times not even in 4 wheel drive.

The higher the gears, the more crawl you are going to have. I just balanced the tire size and gear ratio out when I did my set up and am at my factory ratio again. I can actually go up to a 39" tire and still be within my best performance/best mileage ratio.

As has been mentioned before, I know of no one who has ever said " Gee, I wish I had installed higher (lower numerically) gears." It is expensive enough that you really only want to do this once, too, so spend some time doing the research. Randy's Ring and Pinion, 4 Wheel Parts, and numerous other sites have a gear ratio to tire size charts that show best mileage/best performance/best power charts, which you should certainly use as a guideline for your particular rig and driving style.

[Chris]

All good responses, thanks. :thunb:

Like I said "I have to drive it with the new 5 speed before considering making any changes" and with any luck at all I'll be driving it home from Grand Junction this week.

I'm certain that the stock gearing will be great on the freeway from what other's with the same setup have told me. 5th gear let's these dogs fly in the fast lane though it's still slow in getting there. The lower 1st gear will be a nice off-road change too.

I'm curious to see how differently it behaves with the auto locker and 5 speed in place of the slush box. I imagine I'll have to make some changes in my driving but expect it to be just fine.

I'm just not sure I want to give up the 4:88's newly installed in the 55 along with the ARB. I always planned on putting one in the 62 and to sell the 55 with it just rubs me the wrong way.

Timing is everything, this whole tranny change in the 62 and gear change in the 55 could have worked out so much better if it was a few weeks earlier. Yeah, I know it's hard to anticipate a failure like this. ;)