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So, the debate, at least for me, is settled

I watched all the videos. Scrubbed all the forums. Checked all the pricing too.

Like a lot of us, My JTR rides on 37 mud terrains on a mopar lift. For everyone who says the 4.10s are fine with this kind of set up, you are right. You can get down the road just fine, no surging, reasonable power. Its also true that doing so comes with a lot of gear hunting on the highway. But its seriously not an issue, you’ll just spDend a lot of time in 6th going down the road.

But, as decent as the 4.10s are with allowing you to get down the road, the 4.88’s are a game changer, and its not even close.

Elite Offroad here in Birmingham did a great job dropping in some Dana Spicer 4.88 gears and master install kit on my JTR this week. We used a Superchips Flashcal to dial it in. This thing will never be a hellcat in terms of pep but it moved itself with way more ease with the new rings. Very peppy, and more importantly, super smooth at part throttle. The jeep also uses all its gears and settles in to 8th without bogging. It shows off the strengths of this 8 speed well, up hill downshifts arehandled crisply and the engine never lags or bogs.

All of us have different driving styles. But for me, on the highway running 70 on flat ground i could achieve 20mpg running 2100 rpms. Pic below confirms what I saw.

We’ll put it on a trail after the break in period but I am expecting greater control off road and also less need for 4 lo on average trails here in the southeast. Hope these notes help any who are trying to make a decision. Zero regrets here, its really a no brainer and highly recommend.

Jeep Gladiator There is no debate, go 4.88 gears (my review) D6500408-81E6-477F-B1BC-216A43660D87
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I think I'm going to drive up and have them do the 4.88's in mine as well... What did you end up paying using the Dana gears and master install kits? They quoted me $500 an axle for labor only. So, I'm curious what your total for the F&R was including gears & install kits... Thanks.

I'm also going to get them to put in my EVO parts and adjust everything since I no longer have a shop with a lift, and since my local tire shop has no clue how to do any of that stuff...
 
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They quoted me $500 an axle for labor only. So, I'm curious what your total for the F&R was including gears & install kits... Thanks.
Bama $500 an axle is right on top of what I paid, I think their shop labor is $105 or so an hour @ 5 hrs an axle. The total will depend on the type of parts a little. I think the rack price for dana spicer rings and install kits is around $550 or so an axle. Then figure on $100 or so of lube and smalls and around $250 for a calibrator like the flashcal. Hope this helps, talk to owner Josh Balch to firm it up.

We had a bunch of other stuff done, had the front axle out, so this just me trying to ball park off the invoice. We had about 20-25 hrs in our project. As far as quality, I highly recommend. Their attention to detail is very good, all the way down to marking all the bolts after torquing. Welds on my truss and armor were clean tight and straight. Solid shop. Highly recommend, more competitive than others in town and also more consultative.
 
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Bama $500 an axle is right on top of what I paid, I think their shop labor is $105 or so an hour @ 5 hrs an axle. The total will depend on the type of parts a little. I think the rack price for dana spicer rings and install kits is around $550 or so an axle. Then figure on $100 or so of lube and smalls and around $250 for a calibrator like the flashcal. Hope this helps, talk to owner Josh Balch to firm it up.

We had a bunch of other stuff done, had the front axle out, so this just me trying to ball park off the invoice. We had about 20-25 hrs in our project. As far as quality, I highly recommend. Their attention to detail is very good, all the way down to marking all the bolts after torquing. Welds on my truss and armor were clean tight and straight. Solid shop. Highly recommend, more competitive than others in town and also more consultative.
:like:’ I’ve got a Tazer JL Mini, so I don’t need a flashcal for flashing the ECM with the new gear ratio (Tazer does this, as well). I was hoping to stay under $2K total.
 

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This thread helped, 4.88's are on the way for the 37's I have on now.
 
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This also helps me make my decision on who to let do my gears... Other than one mechanic I know, I've always done my own... It's hard to find good shops you can trust to do quality work. And with your recommendation, I'm feeling a lot safer about letting them do the work. Plus, they're only about 1.5 hours northwest of me. :like:
 
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This also helps me make my decision on who to let do my gears... Other than one mechanic I know, I've always done my own... It's hard to find good shops you can trust to do quality work. And with your recommendation, I'm feeling a lot safer about letting them do the work. Plus, they're only about 1.5 hours northwest of me. :like:
Thats awesome. Its a good crew. The owner spent a couple hours with me on a saturday. Honestly the vibe there is like a bunch of cool guys hanging out and talking jeeps more than a sales pitch. Cant say that for most places.
 

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Thats awesome. Its a good crew. The owner spent a couple hours with me on a saturday. Honestly the vibe there is like a bunch of cool guys hanging out and talking jeeps more than a sales pitch. Cant say that for most places.
Yeah, the first guy I talked to about getting a quote, never sent one, and then I called back the next day, and talked to someone, I think named Jimmy (I think he might be the owner?), and he sent me one. He talked on the phone for a while and wanted specifics on what I wanted done. He was a cool dude, and seemed to know what he was talking about, which is a nice change of pace from most of these "offroad" shops, that really only know how to change oil, and hire HS dropouts that couldn't cut it as an oil pit guy at an equipment company...

They never once tried to sell me on stuff, he just said, so, what do you want to do? And I told him the situation, and he was like, "Yeah, we can do that! I'll get you quote and shoot it right over to you." And he did within a few minutes. Granted, the labor seemed a bit high, but we'll negotiate once my rear springs finally come in, and I can put those with my other parts, and set a date with Elite to get it all put on on a Saturday morning.

I'm half-tempted to cancel my order for the JKS 1.5" rear springs, and try to find some 2" lift rear springs. Might order a set from the Mopar lift. Does anyone know of another company that makes 1.5" to 2" lift rear springs?
 
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4.88s here too. I have a video of why they are the best overall. 35s to 40s they cover a large range of tires as well as they maintain a larger pinion head for strength.

 
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4.88s here too. I have a video of why they are the best overall. 35s to 40s they cover a large range of tires as well as they maintain a larger pinion head for strength.

Yep! Jumping to a 5.13 the pinion head drops significantly in size, which reduces gearing strength. That's why I will never go over 4.88 again, unless I'm bumping up axle size to a 2.5 ton Rockwell.
 
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Yep! Jumping to a 5.13 the pinion head drops significantly in size, which reduces gearing strength. That's why I will never go over 4.88 again, unless I'm bumping up axle size to a 2.5 ton Rockwell.
The 4.88 is as big as I would go on the D44. If you move up to a D60, then I would suggest a 5.38 or numerically higher due to the larger ring and pinion.
 
 



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