So with Ripp's very recent price drop for their Gen 2 Supercharger, I've almost saved enough for stage 2 ($4900) intercooled unit. This is going on my daily driver 2009 4 door unlimited x (D30 up front, D44 rear with 3.73 gears), currently rubicon 17" wheels with the 32" stock tires. I hope to have finances in order by July. I'm attracted to the supercharge option for performance gains in daily driving, towing (will be towing a trailer ~1000-1500 lbs only) on a move from Ohio to Texas later this year, as well as improved fuel efficiency, and future performance gains for off roading once I get settled.

1. Is everyone with a Ripp SC running 89 octane or does 87 octane still work for daily driving/fuel efficiency?

2. I intend to regear in the future. Which gears do you recommend for light off roading/camping and max tire size 33" (which is likely the biggest I will go for this daily driver). 4.88? Thoughts? Brands? Will a supercharger on 3.73 gears not work well in the mean time? Should I save up more and do the regear and supercharge at the same time? How much do gears and install run typically?

3. Can anyone recommend a good shop to do the regear near Columbus, Ohio? With the price drop from Ripp, there's also a huge price advantage to have it installed at an authorized dealer ($250 for Gen II SC units), are there any authorized dealers near Columbus? My other option is to install it with the help of my girlfriend's dad which would be fun, and get some bonding time in too.

Thanks in advance for the advice.

 

If the plans are never to run more than 32", 4.88 should be your very max. I have 35"s and only reason I want 5.13 is to go bigger at some point. If this Jeep is your DD 4.88 might be too high. i understand the plan to tow, but you're not towing full time.

Just give it time. If the 32" tires are enough for you a year or even 6 months down the road, 4.56 gears maybe what you're looking for. But, if you need bigger, and want to crawl a bit more, 4.88 or even 5.13's might be in your future.

Take it from a jeep with 3.73's and 35's, I need a regear. I plan on 5.13's only due to larger tires in my future.

 

Aside from not asking about a hemi....
If you are sticking with 32" and a ripp, I wouldn't go lower than 4:56. Anything more and you'll be revving high.

 

Interesting thoughts, thanks for the feed back so far. I may not even regear for a bit until I start off roading more then. Any one run Ripp Supercharger on stock 3.73 with 32" or 33" tires in an auto? Can you comment on performance, mpg, towing, octane used? Not regearing could save a bit of cash and buy time to save up more.

Thanks for the hemi recommendation. I've thought about it, but I want the simpler and easier to install solution of the Ripp SC.

 

You will be fine without regearing with this setup

 

Their kit runs like a dog on 87. You'll need to run at least 89, but better yet the 90+ octane stuff. Don't ask how I know.

 

I'm running the Gen II kit with Ripp's headers and stock exhaust for over 8000 miles now on my automatic '08 Rubicon 2dr (heavy vehicle with bumpers, winch, hard top, Rusty's 3.25 advanced lift etc etc). I started out with the stock 410's and had upgraded to BFG km2 35's and it was fine but still had gear hunting on grades etc....I went to 513s and Ripp got the tune tweaked. Now it runs like a scalded dog and I can get 20MPG if i'm running flat roads and driving average 50-60 MPH. It drops to around 17.5 when I'm having "fun" driving and it really is alot more responsive and just plain quicker once you find the sweet spot in the skinny pedal. I've surprised alot of vehicles with it's performance...lots of fun! (although it's still not a true hot rod) Recently I drove it up here to Ontario for the summer from Georgia fully loaded with gear, clothes, extra tube doors, hitch haul loaded etc. and averaged 18.3 MPG running the hell out of it on the highway. Covered 1068 miles in 15 hrs of actual drive time. I always run premium fuel but its worth it. I found the 513s to be perfect...the trans has much better shift points and seldom looks to down shift at highway speeds like it always did before. Go for it, you won't be disapointed.

 

I'm also thinking about dropping one in the very near future. Do you think this was money well spent? That is, did you get a good bang on your buck for what you paid for? Everything I'm reading points into that direction, just trying to gather more info before hand.

 

I have a 2007 with RIPP stage 2 kit. It was an easy install, took about 6 hours to do it. youre going to have to run premimum fuel with the kit. I have 5:13 gears, 35" and 6 speed. With the gears it also depends on what you plan on doing with the jeep. I wish i would have done the RIPP years ago.

 

It's well worth the money. Gotta run at least 89. Premium is better. Don't buy it for better mpg. Mine went down slightly. Buy it for the power. If you can afford it get the headers. They make a huge difference down low. I have 25 k with the SC. Last 6k with both and I wish I had done both from the beginning.

Mike