4.56 or 4.88

[tvalentino]

on my 96 xlt 4.0 ohv with 3.73's i am regearing front and rear but not sure to get 56's or 88's... 3in bl, tt, aal, shackles, 33x12.5x15 on 15x10. by next year i want to add a superlift 4" to it and 35's but not yet... i do tow a 21 ft malibu boat to lake berryessa a handfull of times every summer too...

 

[4rd4life]

i vote 4.88's if your going 35 tires

 

[tvalentino]

but i wont be getting 35's and superlift til most likely next summer 2012

 

[SkyJumper]

I personally would not do either until you decide to do the lift and 35's. 3.73's are not too bad with 33's. Just alittle slow on take off, but should be doing ok once you are rolling.

 

[tvalentino]

yea the 373's arent tooo bad i been having them on 33's for about 1 and a half years but when im towing 21ft boat up hill to berryessa its harsh

 

[techieman33]

I would go 4.88's at least, everyone that goes 4.56 regrets it when they go to 35's or bigger with the one of the v6 motors.

 

[tvalentino]

anyone kno what id be taching at on fwy 70 mph 4.88 with 33's approx.?

 

[techieman33]

with 33's
2600 rpm @70mph with 4.88
2425 rpm @70mph with 4.56

with 35's
2475 rpm @70mph with 4.88
2300 rpm @70mph with 4.56

you can do your own figures here
http://www.f-body.org/gears/

 

[SkyJumper]

anyone know what id be taching at on fwy 70 mph 4.88 with 33's approx.?

Hwy speed will be crappy, be like driving it with OD off IMHO. I would wait till the 35's come into play. But if you feel the towing is effecting your uphill climb, then it is all about what you want for the short term. IMHO 4.88's would be too much for on-road with only 33's. But the SSR's usually run true or larger than normal than other mud tires when it comes to overall diameter though. So may not be too awfully bad.

 

[techieman33]

Yeah but if he needs gears and knows he wants 35's then he might as well suck it up and gear for them now. Still cheaper than having to regear in another year.

 

[SkyJumper]

Yeah but if he needs gears and knows he wants 35's then he might as well suck it up and gear for them now. Still cheaper than having to regear in another year.

Exactly, but, towing uphill with 4.88's with 33's may just do more harm to the wear and tear on tranny then just leaving it alone till the 35's come into the picture. Either way this may cause more wear and tear, but I would want to do thi once and not twice in a yrs time.

 

[techieman33]

Exactly, but, towing uphill with 4.88's with 33's may just do more harm to the wear and tear on tranny then just leaving it alone till the 35's come into the picture. Either way this may cause more wear and tear, but I would want to do thi once and not twice in a yrs time.

Towing with 4.88's is going to do less damage than towing with 3.73's. Yeah the revs will be a little higher, but there will be less stress on the transmission.

 

[corkey]

i ran 35's on my 96 and here is what i have to say,,

456 may be enough for highway, but not off road, , and add towing a boat into it and you will be stuck with a 3 legged dog, can get around , but not very good
the gas mileage will be decent but you will not have enough power to pull the skin of a rice pudding,,

 

[corkey]

go ahead, roll 33 on 3:73 gear, than put a 4500 lb boat and trailer on it.

You will need the link to a good transmission shop to go with that , as you will burn up 4r55e transmissions quickly,,

 

[tvalentino]

i towed all last summer 373's and 33's and did burn up my tranny and engine temp was getting extremly hot in red... thats y now that i have the new tranny in im not sure to go with 456 or 488 since next year i want 35's

 

[techieman33]

if you want 35's then just go with the 4.88's, I've read to many threads of people wishing they had gone with more gear when they installed them.

 

[Tbars4]

...Just my .02 cents..

...I've had 4:56 gears and 35's on my Explorer for 3 or more years now...Drive it to the trails on the freeway, offroad it, and drive it home..I also use it locally to haul trailers of material or trash from jobsites..That's it's main job besides getting me to my Ranger...

...I'm totally satisfied with it, don't regret it or it's performance both on the highway and offroad..

 

[FROADER]

Depends on your type of driving, but I say 4.88s.

In my first explorer (a daily driver) I had 4.56 with 33s and loved it. It was fine on the street and was great off-road. I moved up to 35s and it sucked off-road. Around town it's as close to the stock ratio as you can get.

My second explorer I bought just for off-road and it had 4.56 with 35s on it already. I never got around to regearing it because I sold it before I could. I also went up to 36s so it really sucked...

Figure out what kind of driving is more important to you and gear it accordingly. The only disadvantage I see with the 4.88s is that you'll have higher RPMs than with 4.56s. To that I say who the F cares?

 

[jd4242]

4.88s all day!!had 33and 4.88s and loved it,went to 36 and wish i would have went bigger, especially if towing! !never fear the gear!!i have never heard anyone say that they wish they didnt go so big but i have see sooo many people say they wish they went bigger!!

 

[yostyexplorer94]

When I went from 33" tires to 35" tires I noticed a huge difference with my first gen explorer on 4.56's. It downshifted a hellofa lot more than with the 33's. Another factor to consider when people are complaining that they should have went 4.88's over 4.56's is their tire choice. I went from a radial bfg all terrain on stock aluminum rims to a bias ply ltb swamper on a steel rim. Let me tell you those tires are f'ing heavy compared to the 33's. I b*tched to everyone that I should have went with 4.88's! Had I chose a 35" radial on aluminum rims it might not have had the effect it had on my power. You also have a motor that puts out more power than my first generation too.
Now I am running 5.13's with those same 35's cause its as low as I can go with the dana 44 solid and 8.8" fullwidth rear.

Towing a boat around, I would opt in for 4.88's.