4.88'S on a daily driver

[LONO100]

hey fellas, i was making long term plans to upgrade my diff gearing from 4.10 to 4.56 since i threw the 33"s on. ive seen them online for about 230 bucks, but ranger x is now selling a set of 4.88's and id really like to get my hands on them. my question is, are 4.88's to low to be rolling around town in on a daily basis? again, i just threw 33" tires on my 03 ST that has 4.10 gearing. im hoping to make it a little easier for my tranny to roll those wheels around, but what will this do to my MPG, and other factors if a go up from 4.10 to 4.88. i still drive my rig daily too. thansk guys.

 

[legoms013]

I am running the exact setup you propose and I am getting low 18's and as high as 19.2 miles per gallon.

Thats 33" tires, 4.88 gears, automatic tranny, and 4.0L V6.

Very Do-Able.

Only thing is, RPM's are up about 2550 at 65 mph with OD ON

I love the way it drives. Very torque-y and accelerates like a bat out of hell

 

[MidnightRebel07]

With the locker and it being a DD I would seriously only go with 4.56's with the 33's. For the on and offroad driving you do 4.88's is gonna be too steep IMO. Even when I do my SAS, SOA and 35's I'm only going upto 4.56's and I'll be doing more aggressive rock crawling/ trailin' then you do. In the end it's up to you but I think you'll put too much strain on the drivetrain parts.

 

[IZwack]

I think you'll put too much strain on the drivetrain parts.

in terms of strain/force/stress, the higher the gear ratio in the differentials, the less strain there is upstream because of the less torque required to move the vehicle. The RPM will jump a bit but torque is what breaks parts upstream.

 

[legoms013]

With the locker and it being a DD I would seriously only go with 4.56's with the 33's. For the on and offroad driving you do 4.88's is gonna be too steep IMO. Even when I do my SAS, SOA and 35's I'm only going upto 4.56's and I'll be doing more aggressive rock crawling/ trailin' then you do. In the end it's up to you but I think you'll put too much strain on the drivetrain parts.

The locker has nothing to do with it?

4.88's should be the minimum if you are eventually gonna run 35's (unless you plan on doing a V8 swap). With hardcore rock crawling 4.56's and 35's isn't what I'd run...the BW transfercases just don't have a low enough first 4wheel-Lo gear to run that ratio for me. I'd want a crawl ratio in the mid 50, but you may not even get low 40's with 35's/4.56's.

4.88's isnt gonna stress the drive train at all, its actually gonna make the motor work more efficiently and the tranny will also actually have less strain on it that with 4.10's/4.56's. Try riding your bike up the hill in 3-3, legs tired? Now that's drivetrain strain, but the same person in 1-1 can climb the side of a mountain and not nearly be as wiped at the end of the day (you being the drivetrain). This only becomes a problem about 5.13 ratio gears, as the pinion is so small that there is a good change you can break it under the right circumstances. This isn't ever gonna happen with 4.88's and the 4.0L V6...

Plus, if he goes with 4.88's now, if he ever wants to go to 35's, he will be running the perfect setup and won't have to change anything else. We all know it is inevitable and the next logical step. Why waste money on re-gearing twice when you can do it right the first time around?

With my setup I get good gas mileage, it wheels awesome, and drives like a dream. Win, win win. No drawbacks other than a lower cruising speed. I HIGHLY suggest it.

 

[justsomeguy]

I run 5:38's with a detroit daily on 35's. Mine is a manual trans. Had 4:56 and they were to high IMO. Sure highway speeds arn't fast, but it's great otherwise. Keep the RRR's low and gas milage isnt bad either. I am a very patient drive too so.

 

[Glen4X4]

I think you will be fine, If you plan on ever upgrading to 35's then gear it for those so that you don't have to have it done again later on down the road or regret not doing it right in the first place. I'm getting 4.88's in my 96 Explorer atm with 33's and run it daily most of the time.

 

[LONO100]

thanks for all the great discussion fellas, im thinking if i can get the gear for under 100 bucks, im going to get them. ill try them out and see how it goes. i dont know if i have the tools to swap the gears myself, so i was wondering if anyone knows how much i should be paying a shop to do it. thanks guys, hopefully i gain the knowledge you guys have someday!

 

[Glen4X4]

I just paid 400 for both mine to get regeared.

 

[gmanpaint]

Lono, your 2wd right?

Are you going to be doing a 4wd conversion someday?

I doubt your going to be doing much "Crawling" in 2wd and no low range to begin with. 4.88 & 33" is going to wind your engine out fast. 4.56 & 33" is just right.

Like everybody else has said go with the 4.88 if your planning on going to 35" eventually, but if you don't plan on ever doing it(famous last words), I would go with the 4.56. Especially if your on the HWY a lot.

 

[LONO100]

thanks gman, i am 2WD as a matter of fact, i dont do much if any crawling, but i am am off road a lot during the weekends when im out mountain biking/fishing/exploring, and i do occasionally go wheeling but nothing too crazy. i do drive it on the highway and around town too and your point about wearing out the engine prematurely is sending up a red flag to me. im pretty damn sure i wont ever be going higher than the 33"s i have now, and i dont ever plan on doing a body lift so yeah, no 35"s in the future so maybe i should just stick with trying to find some 4.56's. now i am torn. anyone else got an opinion/advice on the matter?

 

[MidnightRebel07]

Lono, that's what I said from the beginning but everyone is under the assumption that you're gonna go upto 35's.

I said I'm going to 35's when I do my SAS, SOA and upgrading to 4.56's when I do that.

You definetly don't want your rpm's higher than they need to be. That's why they added a rev limiter and our trucks got the nickname "exploder". Also the transmissions are touchy when you put too much strain on them.

I'm just looking out for you. I've had alot of chances to get parts for cheap to modify my vehicles but past on most because they weren't what I really needed and would do more harm then help.

Just for example check out Chad's ST. His is a daily driver and he wheels it regularly, runs 35's and 4.56's and he has around 176k miles on the ticker. Just saying, if it works why try and over do.

I've never steered you wrong but like I said it's your final choice.

 

[gmanpaint]

Winding out your engine vs wearing out your engine.

Winding out just means you will reach the higher RPM's faster. You will run out of gearing, and need to shift faster. You will lose top end speed as well. Say with your stock gears you can cruise at (example) 75 mph at 2200 rpm's, but the deeper the gear you go (4.56-4.88, etc...), the RPM's will be higher (relative to the gear set) at the same speed.

Wearing out could happen faster only because your constantly driving at higher RPM's.
The higher the RPM's, the more heat produced. The more heat produced, the faster parts break down. More vibration and stress will occur at higher RPM's, thus more structural break down.

Will you be a lead foot and hot rod your rig? Will you be a normal driver and use the skinny pedal moderately? Will you drive like a granny on her way to church Sunday morning?

If your a lead foot, chances are something will eventually break, but if your a moderate driver, and keep the RPM's low/mid range for the most part, your rig should be more than capable of handling either of the deeper gear sets. It's up to you and how you drive it.

 

[LONO100]

thanks for all the help fellas, i think ill just stick to looking for some 4.56's. you guys are awesome.

 

[MidnightRebel07]

Did you talk with the people at the post office about your mail?

 

[LONO100]

yeah, they said that they would have all of my lost mail delivered by this morning. suprise! no mail today.

 

[OffTrac]

yeah, they said that they would have all of my lost mail delivered by this morning. suprise! no mail today.

That just means they're not going to admit to losing any of your mail. You should have kept track of it better. :

 

[LONO100]

they already admitted it, the postmaster himself!

 

[Gse Brent]

I'm thinking about doing 4.56 gearing and lockers front and rear after everything goes on. My truck came stock with 3.73s on 235/75-15s and now i'm on the verge on putting on my 33x13.50x15s, i definitely want more torque and acceleration for my 4.0L V6. I really dont care for speed, i'm content with 80mph as a top speed.

 

[LONO100]

I'm thinking about doing 4.56 gearing and lockers front and rear after everything goes on. My truck came stock with 3.73s on 235/75-15s and now i'm on the verge on putting on my 33x13.50x15s, i definitely want more torque and acceleration for my 4.0L V6. I really dont care for speed, i'm content with 80mph as a top speed.

if you plan on regearing and you will have the 33"s on long term, im convinced that you might as well go to 4.56's. it seems to be the optimal gearing for 33"s on our tracs.

as for throwing lockers on, i couldnt be behind that more. throwing aussie lockers on my trac was the best mod ive made hands down. i would advise against putting lockers in your front diff however if you use your rig as a DD and a lot in the city and on the freeways. i have read tons of people talking about how it makes the truck harder to steer and handle under road conditions, especially on the road in snow. look up front lockers on daily drivers and do a little reading on it.