[CJ51973]

I presently have a T18A/Dana 20 Teralow 3.15/3.73 axles/33s. I find that Granny is too low for big obstacles. With 10 psi (no beadlocks) I will generally spin out. I go over everything in second with enough speed to not spin. Also, if I get hung in the mud I'm generally done because I have no tire speed in reverse. So here's some stats:

Existing setup:
1st 74.26
2nd 35.25

Remove Teralow:
1st 47.6
2nd 22.6

Regear 4.56 & Remove Teralow:
1st 58.2
2nd 27.6

I guess my question is what do you all think? In KY I run rocks with mud when I can't avoid it. These I'm sure are not as big as the Rockies but it's challenging. 33s are going to be it for my low flexy setup. 4.56 will give me a little more pop at low end on the road. Realizing I go over most stuff at 35.25/1 crawl I don't want to gear too deep another way. Also, do others with similar ratios have my spinning out problem? Is it a factor of no bead locks/single psi?

[401ton]

Kepp the gearing you have and buy or make some beadlocks. If you lowered pressure a bit, you would have more success making the obstacles in a lower gear.

[jeepdaddy2000]

Unfortunatly, I did the same thing. Swapped an 18A as well as converting to 4.10s. My highway speeds have suffered(RPM's

[jeepdaddy2000]

Unfortunatly, I did the same thing. Swapped an 18A as well as converting to 4.10s at the same time. My highway speeds have suffered(RPM's at 50MPH) while first gear when on the low side of the transfercase is almost unusable due to the extremey slow speed. My advice to anybody doing swaps is to do the trans first, then figure out if you need to regear.

[CJ51973]

I did it in reverse. Did the tcase first while I had 31s. Then the tranny. Then 33s. The bead lock thing might be a possibilty. Eatons are $139 at National Tire. It would be about the same $ as regearing. It is nice to have the low highway RPM. As long as I'm driving that fast the 5-O won't be able to tell they're beadlocks.

[1979CJ7]

you could just make them appear to be decorative bead locks. not sure exactly how that would be possible, but i am pretty sure i saw some fake beadlocks at some of road store. idk just an idea as far as that goes. you could just have the whole rim the same color. paint them all black so it blends together better.

[401ton]

Originally Posted by CJ51973

I did it in reverse. Did the tcase first while I had 31s. Then the tranny. Then 33s. The bead lock thing might be a possibilty. Eatons are $139 at National Tire. It would be about the same $ as regearing. It is nice to have the low highway RPM. As long as I'm driving that fast the 5-O won't be able to tell they're beadlocks.

If you do it this way and you get bit by the bigger tire bug in a few years your gears and t-case will still be OK.

[DougW]

Hey CJ51973, I have one too, and the exact same color. Thought your picture was of my jeep.

I also just did a T-18 swap but put in the Dana18/Bronco Dana 20 gear set for a 2.49 transfer case ratio. That gives me 59 to one in low first. It also got me some twin sticks that I adapapted to the D20. I did it for rock crawling and it worked well last time out. I had been wishing I did the Terra Low kit but this seems to be enough. I run 32's and only air down to 15 psi. No trouble spinning the tires.

If you are running 33's, you would do well to go to 4.1 gears, especially if you pull any trailers, like I do. I thought the lower 1st of the T-18 would help but it's hard to shift out of 1st under load; it works but it's rough.

Maybe you should look for the parts to do the D18/Bronco conversion. I bought all of my parts on Ebay, cost about half of what the Terra set does.

BTW what kind of TBI do you have on your rig?

[bigblackblur]

heres a thread I started on another board that you guys might be interested in..

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=444443

[CJ51973]

Junkyard 4.3L TBI GM conversion. See the sticky for details.