I know what you mean, I learned the hard way too. I was setting up a rear diff gears and blew the threads off the pinion with it, that was a bad day. The thing is a monster.
I have it. Really nice, better than expected. Comes in one box. Easy to put together and install. Lots of room. Sturdy. Overall, im very pleased with them.
Buddy of mine and myself have spent the last 4 weekends (1 axle every Saturday) regearing our Gladiators. Pain in the butt doing it on the ground. It went well. Results are similar to yours. We are both on 35's so went with 4.56 Spicer gears. Lot of work but well worth it.
We have 3 jeeps, 2 being Wranglers
The Wranglers have Falkan AT3's and BFG KO2's, the Gladiator has Mickey Thompson Baja Legend EXP's. I like the Mickey Thompson's much better.
We have 4.56 on our wrangler, with 37's. I think they are perfect. 17 mpg and its in 8th on an incline. Unless you are doing alot of heavy towing or climbing the face of a boulder its fine. 4 to 1 low on a Rubicon works real well with 4.56. Hell the difference between 4.10 and 33's and 37's...
I have Rancho brackets and adjustable lower control arms. I have the arms set to the length of the arms that come with the mopar 2 inch lift. The lift on the truck is a combination of Rancho springs and teraflex spacers and measures 3 1/2 inches over stock. It rides and handles great, tires...
I have both. And I do offroad. I dont slam my Gladiator on any boulders but have been thru some ruff stuff and have never hung up on them. If you never offroad I think your results will be better with the brackets.
Just installed these on my Gladiator, 315x70 17 on Method 305 wheels. Not many miles yet but so far I've been surprised how well they drive on road. Smooth and much quieter than I expected. I will get them offroad here soon. Also white letters out, like a proper Boomer, lol.
I had these on mine with 3.73 gears. They were fine, 18 to 19 mpg avg and they saw 8th gear. Inclines and head winds may drop it in to lower gears, but it did that on 33's also. Power was fine also. If you want to try out 35's I dont think you will make a better choice for the money. You can...