Agreed, regear and lock up at the same time. I went from open 4.10's to 4.88 with a lockrite in the rear and a truetrac in the front for about $800. It's amazing where I can go now, even with worn out AT's.

I have a winch too, but it is not nearly as important.

 

what kinda peanuts?

what andy said. im in the same boat, but decided on regearing, as i found a good deal on the front setup (includes spare low K diff + new uninstalled gears) and just gotta deal with the back. still savin pennies to try to find an arb for the front.


in the long run, ill definitely be happier with the gears + front locker, esp w/ 35's. i dont have much of a hardon for a winch now..since most rigs im with are equipped with em already

...of course if youre NOT going to do at least one locker due to limited fundage, get the winch. otherwise..regearing sans lockers will be a waste of money..should you want to lock it..whether it be now or later.

 

My vote is on gears. Since its your daily driver your gonna be using your gears all the time sooo yeah! You could always spend 50 bucks and get one of those 5-ton come alongs for the time being to replace a winch. Gonna take alot longer but you will still get ur ass outta trouble.

 

definitely winch, i got stuck and my truck stayed there for a while. It really sucked.

 

If you do gears wait till you can lock at least one axle..

If you do winch dont waste your time on a 8000, get the biggest one that will fit your bumper. By the normal 150% rule you need a 7500lb winch, put bigger tires, crap in the back.. .and the 8000lb winch will be taxed...

 

Could we sticky one of these?

This seems to be handled once a month. Most of the usual points are made and the original poster gets neither.

A winch looks cool and pulls you out.

Gears/lockers do not and some argue will get you stuck.

All the cats with none say winch.

All the cats will all three say gears/lockers.

There has been some really hilarious stuff in these in the past, but I am short on ideas now.

 

 

I had a Wrangler that was double locked and geared low w/o a winch. I did many hard trails with it and the amount of times I needed to be winched out could be counted on one hand. Lower gearing gives you better control on the trail. Especially with a 5 speed. You don't need to get a run at things and can stay off the clutch. If you've never driven a locked and geared 4x4 offroad, you will never understand the benefits of doing so.