I am new at this and am looking for some advice on how to slow my CJ down in 1st low range. I have just started 4x4ing and the group I am in my Jeep is much faster than the other vehicles (not jeeps, land cruisers and land rovers). This is making things very difficult for me. Does any one have any advice on how to correct this?
Slowing down bottom speed for rock climbing
- Thread starter Zamjeep
- Start date
Utah_jeepster
Super Moderator
I think your referring to your crawl ratio. I least I hope I am.
If your going to play in the rocks, then there are several ways to get you into the very low range gearing needed.
First is to regear your axles to 1-1.5 lower than your tire size recommends, most go for 4:88's or 5:33. What ever is the lowest they can stuff into axles. Second is either a tera-low 4:1 for there transfer case or opt for a Atlas II transfer case. Third is they have the room most will drop in a Klune doubler. This will give them several options for lower than 4:1 reduction in there transfer case.
All of this comes at a price, for most "normal" type of off roading, I.E. mud, sand, and such you will be geared so low that you will be the last one. Another point is with all this torque multipliers your drive lines, axles shafts will need a major upgrade, stock will not hold up.
But being able to climb a near vertical rock face.....
If your going to play in the rocks, then there are several ways to get you into the very low range gearing needed.
First is to regear your axles to 1-1.5 lower than your tire size recommends, most go for 4:88's or 5:33. What ever is the lowest they can stuff into axles. Second is either a tera-low 4:1 for there transfer case or opt for a Atlas II transfer case. Third is they have the room most will drop in a Klune doubler. This will give them several options for lower than 4:1 reduction in there transfer case.
All of this comes at a price, for most "normal" type of off roading, I.E. mud, sand, and such you will be geared so low that you will be the last one. Another point is with all this torque multipliers your drive lines, axles shafts will need a major upgrade, stock will not hold up.
But being able to climb a near vertical rock face.....
69jeepcj
New member
As mentioned above, it all comes with a "high" price, axle gear change front and rear probably close to a 1,000 installed. The larger your tires are the more gearing you will lose. If your jeep is a 80,s model, they usually came with 2.72 (I think that's it) gears, the mid 70,s to 81 used 3.54 gears and the same axles ( 3" shorter though) and will bolt right into you current cj. Probably the cheapest route if you are strapped for money. the t-18, np435, 465, t176 are good transmissions with low first gear. The t-18 (hard to find) and t176 came in the cj,s, the t176 in the 80,s and t-18 in the 70,s.
3 options,
Regear your axles (or swap in a set already re-geared, might be cheaper)
Low-max gears in your transfer case (like 4:1 mentioned)
Swap in a trans with granny low 1st gear like a sm420 or a T18
All this comes at a price, if you can do the work your self, the t-case would be the cheapest unless you find a stupid good deal on used axles already geared deep.
With out knowing the year of your CJ, hard to give exact advice.
Regear your axles (or swap in a set already re-geared, might be cheaper)
Low-max gears in your transfer case (like 4:1 mentioned)
Swap in a trans with granny low 1st gear like a sm420 or a T18
All this comes at a price, if you can do the work your self, the t-case would be the cheapest unless you find a stupid good deal on used axles already geared deep.
With out knowing the year of your CJ, hard to give exact advice.
Thanks everyone for your input. A bit of back ground, I live in Zambia so can order parts from the US but shipping isn't cheap and getting them fitted is challenging. I have been fixing this Jeep up for a while now, it was an ex Israeli arm vehicle and was in pretty bad shape. I have taken a lot of abuse over the years because it hasn't been that reliable so don't mind spending a bit of money on it if I can get it to where I leave the others at the bottom of the hill. I am not very technically advanced so didn't follow all the jargon but what would seem to be the easiest fix would be a transmission with a granny gear? Would this just fit on or would I need to modify things and where would I get one of these. My Jeep is either a CJ7 of a CJ8 I am not sure how to tell which, when buying parts sometimes I find what I need listed under one sometimes under the other. Cheers Rob
steady.foot
New member
The only real diference between a CJ7 and a CJ8 is the wheel base. Most parts will interchange. Here's a chart to tell the different models apart. Smith's 4x4 Parts - Jeep Identification
Similar threads
