gears gears gears

Maybe it’s the weight of the beadlock wheels that make the difference? I have no idea, just a guess. It looks like your wheels are probably reasonably light or at least not excessively heavy. Nice build btw!

All that said this thread is informative and potentially valuable for me since my 392 just arrived and I want to put on 37’s with KMC beadlocks on it and have been mulling over 4.56 or 4.88 gears.
The rims are 20x10. The tires are Nitto Trail Grapplers. The weight of my spare made my tail gate sag with the Mopar reinforcement kit, I had to upgrade to the Teraflex Hinge reinforcement kit. They are pretty heavy. I know beadlocks are heavy. Just trying to put real world stuff out there. I’ve had my 392 longer than most but I am no expert and my Jeep is a street racing mall-mud crawler.
 
Okay, there are literally 100's of 'what gears should I run' and 'when should I regear' posts on this forum. Please check them out because y'all might learn from them and be able to quickly determine the answer that works for you and your specific build. But, in the interest of fun, I'll open class on Gears 101 for all you mall.crawlers out there.

First, the internet is full of experts and they all have opinions... But most of jeep forum experts run spacer-lifts, wear skinny jeans, off-road with a rooftop tent, and carry decorative traction boards 🤓. If this is you, or you drive a Taco, this is for you! If you don't know what a Taco is,... this is also for you. If your forum profile also includes your preferred pronouns... I think you found this forum by mistake and Taco = Tacoma



Step 1:. Ask yourself a few simple questions if you are considering a re-gear --- Have you lost a little pep and can't hold 8th gear? Do you think the gearing is too agressive for the type of off-roading you do? Do you have a dedicated crawler that you trailer to the trail and on-road use is not a concern? Maybe you keep breaking gears and you want to move down from 5.38 to a 4:88?

Step2: What are your expectations and how much is it worth to you to regain lost performance? For example, performance loss (392, not a Prius) that you will experience by running a full set of 37" tires, on headlocks, is comparable to throwing a few fat kids in the back seat and going for a drive. Expect to pay $1,500 to $3,500 to re-gear your Jeep.

Step 3: sanity check... Are a few fat kids enough to necessitate a re-gear on a jl 392? Your call! I went from a stock weight, roughly ~5,103 lbs, added a.bunch of mods, and now weigh in at 6,300+... I regeared from 3.73 and went to 4.56 and I did that after all the other mods. 8th gear is back and I find the shift points, in 4-low, to be more comfy. Some pics below. Please notice that spacers were not used to lift this vehicle, rooftop tent fell off on a jeep trip (thankfully, we almost rolled) and my traction boards did not survive their first use.

Lastly, for the internet experts out there... Here is a fun bonus for you- Torque, transmission, and transfer case make the jl 392 a whole other animal compared to any hemi -swapped jk or a tj and it is idiotic to.draw any comparisons. Apples and oranges. Heck, the 3.6JK.and a 3.6 JL aren't even a close comparison.... And I've personally tested this 😁.

✌️
Just a little food for thought. I bought and own a 21 392 XR which came with stock wheels and tires, factory steel winch bumper, winch, and KC light bar. The performance was great, just to remind you this is "STOCK 315 BFG's with 4:56", BFG's are maybe 34" tall on a good day brand new. Now I added 37x12.50x17 Trail Grapplers on 17x9 beadlocks, upgraded to a real winch bumper, lost the light bar and guess what, I lost a lot of zip. I essentially went backwards from what you did. So to get back to what my XR stock ratio was with the now 37's my options are to go 4:88 which would get me within 50 +/- lower RPM of the factory set up, 5:13 would be about 100+/- higher RPM, or go to a 38" tire with 5:13 and get within 25+/- RPM of stock. So I guess what I'm saying is if you want stock XR performance with 37's 4:56 will not get you there and trust me it's a very noticeable difference when you lay into the throttle. I'm sure going from 3:73 to 4:56 was a huge improvement but you do not have stock XR performance with 37's and 4:56's. Yes all of this depends on actual tire height.

I am actually leaning against "the norm" and really thinking I'll go to 38's and 5:13's. Now that will open another whole can of worms for everyone. Yes the pinion is weaker, yes I should probably upgrade to Dana 60's or 70's to go that low if I going to wheel it. This Jeep most likely will never be in a situation where I'll bind up the drivetrain and hammer down on the throttle. I have a crawler and a SXS to thrash on the rocks and crazy stuff with. Will it get "wheeled" yes just not to the point of possible carnage but I will have my "stock XR" feel when I hit the gas.

Oh and just one more point or opinion I'd like to throw out there. If you own a 392 with 37's or really a 392 at all and are worried about you MPG you need shop in the 2.0 Sahara section at the Jeep dealer next time
 

Attachments

  • 392.webp
    392.webp
    763.5 KB · Views: 6
Just a little food for thought. I bought and own a 21 392 XR which came with stock wheels and tires, factory steel winch bumper, winch, and KC light bar. The performance was great, just to remind you this is "STOCK 315 BFG's with 4:56", BFG's are maybe 34" tall on a good day brand new. Now I added 37x12.50x17 Trail Grapplers on 17x9 beadlocks, upgraded to a real winch bumper, lost the light bar and guess what, I lost a lot of zip. I essentially went backwards from what you did. So to get back to what my XR stock ratio was with the now 37's my options are to go 4:88 which would get me within 50 +/- lower RPM of the factory set up, 5:13 would be about 100+/- higher RPM, or go to a 38" tire with 5:13 and get within 25+/- RPM of stock. So I guess what I'm saying is if you want stock XR performance with 37's 4:56 will not get you there and trust me it's a very noticeable difference when you lay into the throttle. I'm sure going from 3:73 to 4:56 was a huge improvement but you do not have stock XR performance with 37's and 4:56's. Yes all of this depends on actual tire height.

I am actually leaning against "the norm" and really thinking I'll go to 38's and 5:13's. Now that will open another whole can of worms for everyone. Yes the pinion is weaker, yes I should probably upgrade to Dana 60's or 70's to go that low if I going to wheel it. This Jeep most likely will never be in a situation where I'll bind up the drivetrain and hammer down on the throttle. I have a crawler and a SXS to thrash on the rocks and crazy stuff with. Will it get "wheeled" yes just not to the point of possible carnage but I will have my "stock XR" feel when I hit the gas.

Oh and just one more point or opinion I'd like to throw out there. If you own a 392 with 37's or really a 392 at all and are worried about you MPG you need shop in the 2.0 Sahara section at the Jeep dealer next time
OMG, my old post and back when I was still on stock axles, 37’s and 4.56 gears!!!

You should totally do it if you’re not going to wheel it and you don’t mind the higher rpm’s.

But I also want my wife to put a Whipple supercharger in her 392 and we only drive her Jeep to the grocery store and back.

Jeepers can go crazy on upgrades… but very few are really necessary as long as AAA is a phone call away and the gas station is down the street 🤙

Cheers 🍻
 
Okay, there are literally 100's of 'what gears should I run' and 'when should I regear' posts on this forum. Please check them out because y'all might learn from them and be able to quickly determine the answer that works for you and your specific build. But, in the interest of fun, I'll open class on Gears 101 for all you mall.crawlers out there.

First, the internet is full of experts and they all have opinions... But most of jeep forum experts run spacer-lifts, wear skinny jeans, off-road with a rooftop tent, and carry decorative traction boards 🤓. If this is you, or you drive a Taco, this is for you! If you don't know what a Taco is,... this is also for you. If your forum profile also includes your preferred pronouns... I think you found this forum by mistake and Taco = Tacoma



Step 1:. Ask yourself a few simple questions if you are considering a re-gear --- Have you lost a little pep and can't hold 8th gear? Do you think the gearing is too agressive for the type of off-roading you do? Do you have a dedicated crawler that you trailer to the trail and on-road use is not a concern? Maybe you keep breaking gears and you want to move down from 5.38 to a 4:88?

Step2: What are your expectations and how much is it worth to you to regain lost performance? For example, performance loss (392, not a Prius) that you will experience by running a full set of 37" tires, on headlocks, is comparable to throwing a few fat kids in the back seat and going for a drive. Expect to pay $1,500 to $3,500 to re-gear your Jeep.

Step 3: sanity check... Are a few fat kids enough to necessitate a re-gear on a jl 392? Your call! I went from a stock weight, roughly ~5,103 lbs, added a.bunch of mods, and now weigh in at 6,300+... I regeared from 3.73 and went to 4.56 and I did that after all the other mods. 8th gear is back and I find the shift points, in 4-low, to be more comfy. Some pics below. Please notice that spacers were not used to lift this vehicle, rooftop tent fell off on a jeep trip (thankfully, we almost rolled) and my traction boards did not survive their first use.

Lastly, for the internet experts out there... Here is a fun bonus for you- Torque, transmission, and transfer case make the jl 392 a whole other animal compared to any hemi -swapped jk or a tj and it is idiotic to.draw any comparisons. Apples and oranges. Heck, the 3.6JK.and a 3.6 JL aren't even a close comparison.... And I've personally tested this 😁.

✌️
This has to be the best post I've seen on this forum :ROFLMAO: 🍻
If I may, I'd like to pick your brain on my setup and what you recommend I regear to, as you mentioned; the forum is a hornets nest on opinions.

Bought a used '22, I assume it is not an XR package because it came with all the XR accessories but the tazer shows 3:73 and my understanding is that ONLY the XR package came with 4.10....🤔
Stock steel bumpers, no rear tire, 3" lift, 20lb 17"aluminum forged wheels, 38" Nitto TG's.
I live in FL, daily drive with mixed highway (I see 8th gear often)/ street, and do some light/moderate wheeling, but I love to bang through the gears with the paddle shifters. May move to 40's next for sh!ts & giggles.

I think that covers the basic info needed, so now; 4:88, or 5:13?
 
Where’s the popcorn when you need it?
As Prodrequez said ,he is putting new Currie axles with 4:88s and 40’s. That is what Currie run in all their 392’s.
It didn’t seem like enough gear to me but that is what I was told also. Probably because the 8 speed has such a low first gear. My axles will be here in 2 weeks. Right now I am running the stock 4:56 gears with a 40” KM3.
It surprisingly does hold 8th gear and performance around town is fine.
But I live at sea level.
The OP stated he lives in the mountains. If he likes the feel and performance of an XR on 35’s go to 37’s and 4:88’s. If he decided to go bigger later he won’t have to regear again.
I also have a 2020 2.0 I run on 39s when I go wheeling. I put the 315’s off of my Moab on it around town. I run 4:88s in it. It runs awesome on the 35s! :)
 
I just put Currie Extreme 60s under my 2022 392 XR. The Jeep came stock with 4.56 gears, and I have used them with the stock 35" tires, 37" tires and 40" tires. When I talked to Currie about setting up the new axles for 40" tires, I suggested 5.13 gears. They said that they have run all the gear ratios on a 392, and that for on highway use the 4.88 gears are the best. For extreme rock buggy trails, I could go with lower gears like the 5.13s. For "normal" off-roading on trails like the Rubicon, Dusy, Pritchet, they still recommended 4.88 gears, which is what I went with. I'm really happy with the 4.88/40" combo on a 392. It drives great.
 

Create an account or login to comment

Join now to leave a comment enjoy browsing the site ad-free!

Create account

Create an account on our community. It's easy!

Log in

Already have an account? Log in here.

Back
Top