Regear/Axle Advice

[TheHops]

Having recently stepped up to (very light weight, BFG KO2) 37s, and with a bit more play money on the horizon, I'm finally considering regearing and doing some light axle work. I have a 2020 Rubicon with the 6spd, with just under 41,000 miles on it. My Jeep is heavy, but the wheeling I do is very moderate--primarily dirt/gravel trails/fire roads, with occasional rocky ascents/descents if they're between me and my camp site. I'm not hopping my way up or down anything crazy, since it is my DD.

I have never done a regear before, nor have I done much with axles, so I'm looking for some advice from those more experienced. After much research, I have a decent idea of what I want, but I'm curious if I'm missing anything. Here's what I have planned:

-Dana Spicer 5.13 swap
-Dana Spicer Chromoly rear axle shafts

The most accessible/recommended installer I found quoted right around $2,500 after tax for parts and labor in upstate NY. Does that seem reasonable?

Additionally, I was wondering about front u-joints, as I've read they can be a weak point stock. No known damage to my current ones @41,000 miles, and I've read that OEM joints are Dana Spicer. With that in mind, would it be worth swapping out OEM for Dana Spicer 5-7166Xs, or are those basically the same as stock?

Considering my use case: Are there any other suggestions? Unless the stock front/chromoly rear axles are prone to exploding with light offroad use (they aren't, that I'm tracking) I'm not really interested in more expensive options like RCVs front or rear, but if you have glowing/negative reviews on them, I'd like to hear them.

Thanks all!

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[DarthAWM]

Beyond reasonable, my guy wants $2800 for gears and labor, no new axle shafts

 

[TheHops]

Beyond reasonable, my guy wants $2800 for gears and labor, no new axle shafts

Oh, damn. Well, that's good to know. It's been hard to get an idea because a lot of the posts with quotes that I'm finding are pretty old.

 

[JT1]

Pretty good deal.. I got mine installed for about $1800 all in, but in a way cheaper part of the world.

If I had to do it again, I might have done 4.88s. The 5.13s came available first, though and I jumped since the world was shut down for covid.

 

[TheHops]

Pretty good deal.. I got mine installed for about $1800 all in, but in a way cheaper part of the world.

If I had to do it again, I might have done 4.88s. The 5.13s came available first, though and I jumped since the world was shut down for covid.

Is yours auto or stick? What tire size?

From what I've turned up in my research, the 6spd benefits from going a step deeper than the auto? I'm fully content with my 37s right now, but admittedly, they're on the smaller side--actual size is around 36.6", I believe. In the event I ever go up to true 37s, or 38s (not likely), I was thinking the 5.13s may be nice.

 

[JT1]

Is yours auto or stick? What tire size?

From what I've turned up in my research, the 6spd benefits from going a step deeper than the auto? I'm fully content with my 37s right now, but admittedly, they're on the smaller side--actual size is around 36.6", I believe. In the event I ever go up to true 37s, or 38s (not likely), I was thinking the 5.13s may be nice.

2021 6spd.. same tire as you with 5.13s.

Around town and on low speed highways (55-70mph) it's perfect. But at 80+ I keep looking for 7th.

the 4.88s would lower 80mph rpms by about 130 (2580 for 4.88s and 2713 for 5.13s)

 

[TheHops]

2021 6spd.. same tire as you with 5.13s.

Around town and on low speed highways (55-70mpg) it's perfect. But at 80+ I keep looking for 7th.

the 4.88s would lower 80mph rpms by about 130 (2580 for 4.88s and 2713 for 5.13s)

Nice, thanks for the info. That may be perfect for me then. I'm an incredibly leisurely driver. I typically set my cruise on the highway at 65, and I think I can count on one finger in nearly 5 years the amount of times that I've gone over 80 mph. 6th gear has been unusable since I put on 35s--I spend 90% of my time in 4th. If I could get that back, that would be fantastic.

 

[kevman65]

For a price comparison, call your Jeep dealer and see what their price is for the same set up.

Be sitting down when you do.

 

[JT1]

Nice, thanks for the info. That may be perfect for me then. I'm an incredibly leisurely driver. I typically set my cruise on the highway at 65, and I think I can count on one finger in nearly 5 years the amount of times that I've gone over 80 mph. 6th gear has been unusable since I put on 35s--I spend 90% of my time in 4th. If I could get that back, that would be fantastic.

If you don't plan to ever run over 70, 5.13s are awesome. Offroad in 4L 1st gear, I rarely have to hit the gas to climb onto big rocks either.

4H 1st gear is SHORT, shift into 2nd in the intersection short. Downshifting on the highway is a pretty rare thing now too, so you can actually use your cruise control.

 

[steveorama]

Having recently stepped up to (very light weight, BFG KO2) 37s, and with a bit more play money on the horizon, I'm finally considering regearing and doing some light axle work. I have a 2020 Rubicon with the 6spd, with just under 41,000 miles on it. My Jeep is heavy, but the wheeling I do is very moderate--primarily dirt/gravel trails/fire roads, with occasional rocky ascents/descents if they're between me and my camp site. I'm not hopping my way up or down anything crazy, since it is my DD.

I have never done a regear before, nor have I done much with axles, so I'm looking for some advice from those more experienced. After much research, I have a decent idea of what I want, but I'm curious if I'm missing anything. Here's what I have planned:

-Dana Spicer 5.13 swap
-Dana Spicer Chromoly rear axle shafts

The most accessible/recommended installer I found quoted right around $2,500 after tax for parts and labor in upstate NY. Does that seem reasonable?

Additionally, I was wondering about front u-joints, as I've read they can be a weak point stock. No known damage to my current ones @41,000 miles, and I've read that OEM joints are Dana Spicer. With that in mind, would it be worth swapping out OEM for Dana Spicer 5-7166Xs, or are those basically the same as stock?

Considering my use case: Are there any other suggestions? Unless the stock front/chromoly rear axles are prone to exploding with light offroad use (they aren't, that I'm tracking) I'm not really interested in more expensive options like RCVs front or rear, but if you have glowing/negative reviews on them, I'd like to hear them.

Thanks all!

I've been looking at going to 35s from 33s on my JTO which has the 3.73 gearing and the best price I've found locally here in Central TX is $2,500 parts and labor just for regearing so again I think if you found someone willing to do the gears and axle shafts for that price I would jump on it.

Regearing effects more than just offroading adventures too. Going from the factory tire size of 32 to 33 for me was very noticeable in the MPGs. So I can only imagine what you would experience going from the factory 33s to 37s with 4.10 gears. When I had my TJ I regeared it to 4.10s with the intention of later running 33s, but while I ran 31s I didn't even need to use 1st gear for most take offs as the shift point into second was almost instantaneous.

 

[TheHops]

I've been looking at going to 35s from 33s on my JTO which has the 3.73 gearing and the best price I've found locally here in Central TX is $2,500 parts and labor just for regearing so again I think if you found someone willing to do the gears and axle shafts for that price I would jump on it.

Regearing effects more than just offroading adventures too. Going from the factory tire size of 32 to 33 for me was very noticeable in the MPGs. So I can only imagine what you would experience going from the factory 33s to 37s with 4.10 gears. When I had my TJ I regeared it to 4.10s with the intention of later running 33s, but while I ran 31s I didn't even need to use 1st gear for most take offs as the shift point into second was almost instantaneous.

My mpg drop from stock 33s to 35s was pretty painful. I did it at 1,000 miles so the engine wasn't even broken in yet, but I lost 3 mpg if I recall. Those 35s were very heavy though. I actually *gained* around .5 mpg by switching to 37s because I cut 11 pounds per tire. I lost another 2 for the roof racks alone (horrible aerodynamics), and maybe 1 more for all of the extra weight (bumpers, rails, camper shell, etc.). I usually hand calculate around 15 mpg per tank, and again, I'm a very conservative driver. I'm the guy that beats EPA estimates on just about anything I drive, lol.

If I get 1 or 2 mpg back from a regear, I'd be stoked about that.

 

[Panthers65]

Go with the 5.13's I"m running the same BFG's and I am very happy with my 5.13's.

IT's a Jeep, it's shaped like a brick so it's going to struggle above 80 no matter what you do. I'd rather overgear a Jeep and make towing/around town/off-road much more enjoyable. It might mean I have to do 5% slower on the interstate, but that's a worthwhile trade for me.

 

[Idlethunder]

Pretty good deal.. I got mine installed for about $1800 all in, but in a way cheaper part of the world.

If I had to do it again, I might have done 4.88s. The 5.13s came available first, though and I jumped since the world was shut down for covid.

Hope you don't mind me asking but what shop did you use? I recently moved up to 37s and will need to regear soon.

 

[Billyj7175]

Another thing to possibly think about, is if you ever plan on towing anything. If so, I'd vote the 5.13's for sure.

IIRC, you lose a tooth on the pinion going from 4.88's to 5.13's as well.

I'm happy with my setup running the auto 8spd, with 4.88's on RidgeGrappler 37's, (which actually only measure 35-3/4 @30psi on the truck). However, I don't plan on towing anything other than a small utility trailer.

 

[JT1]

Hope you don't mind me asking but what shop did you use? I recently moved up to 37s and will need to regear soon.

Actually, the place I used let me order my own parts, he had recommendations for what kits to buy but didn't care what else I brought. Place is called Axles Transmissions and Transfers on N Lewis in Tulsa. Labor was somewhere around $1000

Fair warning he's a crusty old dude and the shop is ugly, but that guy knows what he's doing and does overflow re-gear work for a couple of the big Jeep shops in town.

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