The difference in 4LO between 4.88's and 5.29's is 44:1 vs 47:1 on the crawl ratio. Not a real big difference. Where as going from 4.10 to 4.88 is 37:1 to 44:1, bit more difference. I run 35's with 4.88's and a manual tranny. I think this ratio is great for the street, and decent on the trail (not quite enough below 3mph). But 5.29's wouldnt give me what I need on the trail, and I think would be too much on the street. Here is a quick comparison, using 33's (32" rolling radius), and 5spd gears for 3, 4 and 5 at 60mph



4.88's 3rd gear 4831rpm, 4th gear 3332rpm, 5th gear 2832rpm
5.29's 3rd gear 5237rpm, 4th gear 3612rpm, 5th gear 3070rpm

There is only a 100 rpm difference at 65mph on OD, not a whole lot, and only 400 rpm if your screaming up a mtn pass, or passing someone. Not much power difference in 400rpm, and you run out of the gear at a slower speed, so you are back in 4th quicker and less pulling/passing power.

When looking at low gears, using 32" rolling radius and a 3.93 first gear, and shifting at 4000rpm there is 2mph difference, still not a lot.

If you plan to stick with 33's get the 4.88s, if you might want 35's or larger then 5.29 wouldn't be a bad idea. But 5.29's with 33's is really overkill, there isnt enough difference on the trail or street, but your speedo will be reading fast (lowrider effect). My speedo reads about 4% fast when I put my winter tires on (285/75/16) with 4.88's.

Also no matter what size tire dont run a 5.71, no body reccomends them for offroad use, the pinion is too small and cant take the offroad stress.

As far as lockers go ARB, best one out there. It's open on the street and locked when I need it. I dont like selectible lockers the are limited slips when not locked. In my experiance LSD's 'lock' when you dont want them to (on ice) and dont 'lock' when you want them to.

 

Gears and locker, first things first.

 

I felt like it was about perfect in OD at 70mph. The 3.slo could actually accelerate from 70 on up without a tail wind or going down hill. The only time I felt like the rpms were running too high in OD was on a trip back from Santa Fe, NM. The speedlimit was 75 or 80 mph and everyone including the truckers were doing going over that because there was a good tailwind and drop in elevation over many miles. I was holding back on the throttle to keep from reving over 4000 rpms at about 85 IIRC. I should also point out that my BFG mud-t were nearing the end of their useful life at that time. I point that out because a 33" mud tire with 1/2 inch of tread worn off turns into a 32" tire. Something to also consider.

 

Have you ever read ZUK's theory on that? http://zukaz.tripod.com/410suck.htm

 

Haddent seen that before..

On a side note, how do you like the BJ spacers with the 4", I am considering putting them in for more droop.

 

I like them

 

THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR YOUR IDEAS AND INFORMATION

I would really like to thank everyone for all of the information that you have given me over the past couple of days. I hate to say that I'm not going to be able to use the information and ideas, but not at this time. I have some personal issues that have come up dealing with my wedding and some other things. I'm just going to have to settle for some lesser projects right now. I can do a few small things like swaybar disconnects and some other things here and there.

THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR YOUR IDEAS AND INFORMATION

 

Save your pennies, I actually made money changing gears. I bought a set of complete 4.56 diffs for 250 and sold my 4.10's for 350.00. smart shopping locally! (made about 75.00 after fluids) self induced labor

 

Just make sure and set up your gift registry at your local 4-wheel fab shop.

Problem solved.