Wrangler JK Upgrade Choice: Axle Gear Ratio or Transfrer case?

My current rig has DANA30 front, DANA44 rear, 3.73 ratio, limited rear slip differential, stock 30 inch tire. Nothing exciting and pure stock performance.

I am planning to upgrade it to fit in 35 inch tire. To me, all upgrade should
start from a healthy internal meachnism.

Therefore, I think before resizing the tire, a upgrade in the gear ratio
is needed so that the effective gear ratio will be near stock for on street
driving and really low for good trail performance.

Now I am facing two choices, upgrade axle gear ratio or upgrade transfer case.
My research so far so showed the pro/cons on each choice as

Axle Gear Ratio Upgrade:
Pro: Parts price is affordable, 400 dollars can get both front and rear
pinion/ring pairs.

A lot of ratios can be selected ranging from 4.1 to 5.38.

Can be done with locker upgrade at the same time.

Con:
Expensive labor.

DIY is hard, not only because you have to deal with a lot of stuff
before reaching the pinion and ring part, but also the adjustment of
backlash and preload is quite tricky and time consuming.

have to do it on both front and rear axle

When upgrading the gear ratio, if we do not upgrade axle
(from DANA30 to DAN44 or from DANA44 to DAN60)
it will make the axle weaker.
This is because lower gear ratio require smaller
pinion size or larger number of ring gear teeth, making
contact area between pinion teeth and ring teeth smaller than
stock size.


Transfre Case Upgrade:
Pro: Just need to change one part (transfer case) then two (two axles)

Atlas-4speed unit provide a wide choices of gear ratio. Compared
to it, stock transfer case provide only two choices, the one for street
use is too low and one for trail is too high.

keep the stock axle strenght without weakening it

Cons: Expensive Part, expensive labor

Do not know if it is suitable for DIY, since it seems like a
really big change and you have to at least cut center console
to let the new stick of the transfer case to through


All above is my current research result and there maybe some erros.
corrections/comments/suggestions?

所有跟帖： 

• wow.你怎麽知道我來了。 -殺雨- ♂ (1012 bytes) () 10/05/2009 postreply 13:08:58

• Glad to see you again -wolfmanii- ♂ (1860 bytes) () 10/05/2009 postreply 20:36:17

• 回複：wow.你怎麽知道我來了。 -wolfmanii- ♂ (1860 bytes) () 10/05/2009 postreply 20:36:39

• BTW, what's your JK upgrade status -wolfmanii- ♂ (208 bytes) () 10/05/2009 postreply 20:47:09

• 一點意見。 -殺雨- ♂ (1834 bytes) () 10/05/2009 postreply 22:59:09

• A question about transfer case -wolfmanii- ♂ (383 bytes) () 10/06/2009 postreply 06:37:46

• 分動箱的任務是通過前傳動軸傳送扭力到前橋。 -殺雨- ♂ (156 bytes) () 10/06/2009 postreply 07:19:04

• Just for discussion -wolfmanii- ♂ (192 bytes) () 10/06/2009 postreply 07:41:11

• 回複：Just for discussion -殺雨- ♂ (260 bytes) () 10/06/2009 postreply 18:35:19

• Agree -wolfmanii- ♂ (98 bytes) () 10/06/2009 postreply 20:58:54

• What is the Best all around Gear Ratio for my rig? -wolfmanii- ♂ (408 bytes) () 10/06/2009 postreply 06:39:13

• 4.88，你會喜歡很長一段時間。 -殺雨- ♂ (0 bytes) () 10/06/2009 postreply 07:20:38

• OK, 4.88 upgrade, then about the locker -wolfmanii- ♂ (1086 bytes) () 10/06/2009 postreply 07:59:02

• 回複：OK, 4.88 upgrade, then about the locker -殺雨- ♂ (442 bytes) () 10/06/2009 postreply 18:50:53

• Mechanical vs Air Locker -wolfmanii- ♂ (456 bytes) () 10/06/2009 postreply 20:57:27

• ARB是想鎖就鎖，機械鎖是一直都鎖著的，踩離合器的時候才斷開。 -殺雨- ♂ (118 bytes) () 10/07/2009 postreply 13:18:15

• From what I read, ox locker is like ARB -wolfmanii- ♂ (172 bytes) () 10/07/2009 postreply 18:21:13

• BTW歡迎到加國和我們一起越野。 -殺雨- ♂ (93 bytes) () 10/05/2009 postreply 23:03:06

• I would love to join :) -wolfmanii- ♂ (313 bytes) () 10/06/2009 postreply 06:41:51

• 還 是 先 來 我 這 裏 吧 ， 我 在 北 卡 -蘇武牧狼- ♂ (45 bytes) () 10/06/2009 postreply 19:41:18

• Yes, you are much closer -wolfmanii- ♂ (63 bytes) () 10/06/2009 postreply 21:09:37

• 我自己越野玩 -蘇武牧狼- ♂ (64 bytes) () 10/06/2009 postreply 21:39:21

• 回複：Wrangler JK Upgrade Choice: Axle Gear Ratio or Transfrer case -jeepercreeper- ♂ (51 bytes) () 10/06/2009 postreply 20:57:07

• 目前居住在卡城,calgary. -殺雨- ♂ (0 bytes) () 10/07/2009 postreply 13:24:58