RockinRobin

Just my opinion... Dirtman shoots from the hip. I also like Northridge. As truly a newbie, I value real life opinions. Sure I wanted to lift, tires, wheels. I tried to follow Dirtmans advice. Stayed with a small lift. Regeared to 4.56, 35" tires. Love the set up. Gas mileage very good for jeep. I believe I just took things better than stock. Read Dirtmans stickie. Use the search for questions that have been answered thousand times and live with your choices.

jadmt

I have personal experience with a 2013 auto with 3.21 and 285/75-16. It is ok off road but terrible if you live in a place where you can drive 70-80mph it is always hunting for the right gear and it would not have been so bad but would always drop down 2 or 3 gears at a time so you would be at 2200 rpms one second and bang 5000 rpms the next. guys who tell you that you will be fine probably live in flat land and never plan on leaving it. I now have 4.10's and it is 100x better.

cormac827

Just because it's better than the 3.8 doesn't mean much.

I can't compare 1:1 because I have a manual and 3.21s-, and 3.6-

I now have 4.10s and plans to go up tire size to a max 34-5.

Dick cepek mud crushers that only really measure 32". These were a chore to drive the jeep with with 3.21s. Not impossible- but very annoying for something that likes to drive(I drive 1k a week)

35s and auto will be live able but will make you fall out of love with your jeep and swear at it and be frustrated and start wondering what you can sell for.

The posts are not negative- Do what you want lol

TheDirtman

I once saw a post where someone was running 40's on a 2008 auto with 3.73 gears and said it wasn't that bad. You are going to get opinions from every side. Its funny how people don't want to spend money on gears but are more then happy to throw away $1000 getting bigger tires on a new jeep for looks + the loss of money on fuel over time from the poor fuel economy. Only you are going to be able to tell if it is going to suck. If you are having a tough time making the decision try on find someone that is running that combo near you and ask them to drive it and check what kind of mpg they are getting.

cormac827

I regearead and locked up before buying awesome set of tires or a lift.

With locked front and rear(and axle armor) I feel more comfortable navigating obstacles, even with less ground clearance


I went with cheapy rubicon springs and shocks now finally am shopping for a quality lift (either that or just throw on my set of xrc armor fenders and 35s and call it a day)

But I am very happy I went gears and lockers first.

AeroSynch

2012 2 Door 6 Speed here.

I ran 3.21s with 35s for 25K miles over 2 years (currently Nitto Trail Grapplers) without much issue and have wheeled it quite a bit. It's okay in flat terrain (Florida) but when rock crawling out of state even in 4Lo you have to use the clutch too much to get it going at times. Highway I did not have 6th until after 80MPH and it was at about 2000RPM.

I just regeared to 4.56s and did a 2100 mile round trip from Miami to Windrock OHV in Tennessee and going 80MPH I was around 2900-3000 RPM the whole way without issue. The change is ridiculous after regearing. 4Lo is awesome and it is very hard to stall, even with the brakes pressed.

Yea 3.21s and 35s are livable but when you regear you will ask yourself why you didn't do it sooner.