lockers and gear ratio questions

[Buckeye]

Looking for some information on Lockers. I want to put some on my 02 TJ. I really dont know alot about them. Any info would help. Also would it be worth it to upgrade my gear ratio form 3.73 to something higher? How much power am I loosing or what kind of factor is this playing on engine performance vs. power???

Thanks

Jeep Specs

2002 Wrangler Sport/TJ
4.0L
35"Goodyear Wrangler Tires
4" SkyJacker Suspension
1" SkyJacker Spacer
Dana 44's
3.73 Gear Ratio

[GreatWhite]

4.88 is good but if you want to drop it into low and let your jeep idle over stuff 5.13 is great creepin and crawlin. power is fine your just not gonna have any top end speed. gonna take a lil more gas to get up to full steam.

[LawsonEOD]

Auto or manual?

[sevenslats]

Tranny will make a big difference. Autos can get away with 3.73s and 35s with a decent low range. Manual, I'd recommend 4.56s for a Daily Driver, 4.88 for >75% trail driving.

[crazy4ink]

I have 4.56s with my manual tranny and m 36s. I can still get down the highway at 65 mph and I still have good offroad manners too

[Buckeye]

Its a manual

[LawsonEOD]

Just like Geoff and Rob said, 4:56 for Good all around driving and a DD, You could go to 4:88 but will give up just a little more top end for some really nice lows on the trail. My Vote is 4:56 gears, Detroit full locker or EZ-Locker, in the rear and your choice of selectable locker up front. I run the EZ front and back but you do have to get used to the driving differance with a non-selecable upfront. Easy to do but some people do not like it, personal preference. JMHO

[naturalbornmudder]

my vote would be for 4.10's, perhaps 4.56's. I wouldnt go to 4.88's if you plan on staying with the goodyear 35's. If you plan on going ot another brand later or a size bigger, than 4.88's would do you fine. But with the Goodyear 35's only measuring 33", you have the 4.0L motor which has a great deal of low end torque, plus the fact that if you are gonna wheel around here, you'll do a bit of highway driving to get there, I wouldnt want to go as steep as 4.88's The depth of gear, IMO, would only benefit you on the trail about 10 to 20% of the time. Guys I am talking to that have 4.0L/NV3550/D44's/35's are getting a few(2 to 3) MPG difference between 4.56's and 4.88's

I guess it comes down to what is worth it to you.

[GreatWhite]

well yall all no me i m going with bigger tires like always thats why i said 4.88

[crazy4ink]

As far as lockers, it would depend on how much you want to spend on them. For the money, you can't beat ARBs or OX lockers. They are open when not engaged, then they basically turn into a spool when you engage them. I am running an OX locker in the front and love it. Darkchild on here is running them front and rear. They are cable driven, so you don't need any kind of OBA to lock/unlock them. I'm running a Detroit Truetrac in the rear and have not been real happy with it. Chief is running Truetracs front and rear and loves them. I don't like the fact that it will still unlock sometimes on the trail. I wish I would have spent the money on a spool instead, just personal experience.

Whatever you decide, if you are going to drive on the highways during winter, which you will need to do to get to some of the trails,make sure your front locker is selectable. (mostly for your own safety). You could spool the front, but then you would need to do the manual hub conversion so that you could unlock one hub to make your front spool into a limited slip style.