gear upgrade/stick wobble

**claytonandson** · 06-25-2008, 05:16 PM

i want to upgrade my 3:07's to 4.10's,front and rear. not to sound naive,but do you just sort of re-gut the diff's w/ the new stuff?,or do i need to change axles completely. i only want to do this as i am running bfg radial a/t's 33/9.50/15 and was told i should be running 4:10's. also,what type of shop would do this,if i bought all the stuff,or is this something for the DIY'er?
on a second inquire,i still experience this ever so slight wobble of the stick when letting clutch out into 1st gear. i mean its only like a split second,no other gears or speeds. i did the T/C skid spacers like everyone told me and made no difference. i was told i dont need a SYE,because i only have a 2" suspension lift. any suggestions on either topic,and sorry if posted in wrong section.

**Jerry Bransford** · 06-25-2008, 05:23 PM

With your 5-speed manual transmission, 4.56 would be a better choice with 33" tires. I made the mistake of only regearing to 4.10 for 33" tires and regretted not regearing to 4.56 as everyone pushed me towards. 4.10 is just not optimal around town, and 4.56 is definitely better offroad than 4.10 is. Definitely not a DIY'r kind of job, at least I wouldn't tackle an R&P installation though I do all my other work. Don't buy the parts yourself to save a few bucks planning to provide the installing shop the parts to install. If the shop provides everything and something goes wrong which does happen, they will have to take care of everything under warranty. But if you provided the gears, they'll just blame any problems on the gears/parts you provided and you're stuck in the middle while the parts dealer and installer points their fingers at each other.

Excessuve side-to-side transmission shift wobble during acceleration is often caused by a broken motor mount as the engine lifts up on the broken side from torque. Much less often it will be the transmission mount that causes that side-to-side shifter waggle. But to be sure, minor side-to-side shifter movement in response to engine torque is normal so that's a judgement call.

BlueFlame · 06-25-2008, 06:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by claytonandson

i still experience this ever so slight wobble of the stick when letting clutch out into 1st gear. i mean its only like a split second,no other gears or speeds. i did the T/C skid spacers like everyone told me and made no difference. i was told i dont need a SYE,because i only have a 2" suspension lift. any suggestions on either topic,and sorry if posted in wrong section.

From your description, I suggest that there is probably nothing wrong and nothing you can do to "fix" it.
The engine and transmission mounts flex. They are supposed to. The stick comes up through the floor, it comes out of the transmission. Any time you torque the engine, like when you let out the clutch (or just rev it up!) the stick moves. All manual trans vehicles with the stick mounted on the trans will do that. (The floor-mounted linkage type shifters won't so much)

little4x4 · 06-25-2008, 07:06 PM

i won't say anything as far as what gears to run... but with the larger tires you have made your gearing taller. by doing this you will have to slip the clutch more (rev the engine while letting out the clutch) to smooth out the load that is being applied to the engine. THIS WILL WEAR OUT THE CLUTCH FASTER than if you regear to reduce the load on the engine. Do you have to regear? NO! but it will put more stress on things and wear things faster.

Zamboni68 · 06-25-2008, 07:47 PM

Not to hi-jack this topic, but I have a related question:

After my lift, I noticed the stick shift is close to the back of the opening of the console. With the stiff rubber boot, it will soemtimes knock the Jeep out of 2nd and 4th gear (the lower gears). If the boot is removed, then there is no problem.

For some background information, I installed a 3" Black Diamond lift, which includes an engine mount spacer lift, and a transmission lowering kit to improve the drive-line angle. I'm sure this is normal, but it's annoying. Is there a way around this, or should I get a new shifter boot (i.e. a vinyl one and not rubber)??

Thanks!

**Jerry Bransford** · 06-25-2008, 07:52 PM

You can either do that or, with likely better results, move the console back a tad. It's only held onto the sheetmetal floor with some sheet metal screws, it's easily moved back an inch or so to center up the opening around the shifter. Just remove the screws, move it, and drill some new holes for the sheet metal mounting screws.

grady7 · 06-25-2008, 08:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zamboni68

Not to hi-jack this topic, but I have a related question:

After my lift, I noticed the stick shift is close to the back of the opening of the console. With the stiff rubber boot, it will soemtimes knock the Jeep out of 2nd and 4th gear (the lower gears). If the boot is removed, then there is no problem.

Thanks!

Had the same problem after my 4" rough country lift. did a bunch of research and polled the folks on jf. ultimately decided the new boot was the cheapest / easiest solution. bought a $12 boot off e-bay ($16 shipped), installed in about 15 min (was very tight around the plastic piece that holds the boot). Perfect solution - it actually clicks into the "lower" gears now. I would do this even without the lift if I had another jeep. that rubber boot is a pos.

never monday · 06-25-2008, 08:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by claytonandson

i want to upgrade my 3:07's to 4.10's,front and rear. not to sound naive,but do you just sort of re-gut the diff's w/ the new stuff?,or do i need to change axles completely. i only want to do this as i am running bfg radial a/t's 33/9.50/15 and was told i should be running 4:10's. also,what type of shop would do this,if i bought all the stuff,or is this something for the DIY'er?
on a second inquire,i still experience this ever so slight wobble of the stick when letting clutch out into 1st gear. i mean its only like a split second,no other gears or speeds. i did the T/C skid spacers like everyone told me and made no difference. i was told i dont need a SYE,because i only have a 2" suspension lift. any suggestions on either topic,and sorry if posted in wrong section.

4.56, and a Super 35 kit if you want a locker in the rear. You'll have to buy a carrier if you want to stay open.

pilot-one · 06-25-2008, 08:28 PM

I just had 456 gears put in today from 373 and I'm glad I listened to Jerry. It's great around town but really shines on the freeway. I haven't been off road yet but no doubt will be sweet. It's not a cheap project though. I paid $1300 including master kits for both axles. That apparanly is about the going rate.
I will tackle almost any job on anything including heavy equipment and airplanes. One thing I won't touch is differentials. Leave that to the pros that set them up every day.

**PSYCH0** · 06-25-2008, 08:46 PM

Where do you find a differential 'Pro'? I always had my dealer do my gears and they came out fine but would really like to find a speciality gear shop...

**claytonandson** · 06-26-2008, 03:10 AM

i will follow your suggestion on the re-gearing jerry,but what type of shops do the work,other than dealer?? thanks.

pilot-one · 06-26-2008, 06:27 AM

A differential and axle service shop. The important thing is experience. Make sure whoever does the work knows what he's doing and not just going by the manual.

Zamboni68 · 06-28-2008, 11:01 PM

Thanks for the input guys.

I was thinking of replacing the console with a Tuffy locking unit, so maybe I'll wait until then to do anything definative. For now, I've removed the rubber boot, and it's working fine!

**Jerry Bransford** · 06-29-2008, 10:11 AM

Find a 4x4 shop to do your regearing as they do regearing more than dealers do so they're generally better (more practiced) at it. Plus they're a lot cheaper than any dealer will be.