I think I hate my 4.10 gears, what to do?

LOL If I could afford to pay someone to do a SAS for me I'd be all about it.

I've had a couple mechanics tell me that the amount of torque required to rotate the weight of 35" tires and wheels (compared to what Toyota designed them for) could cause premature wear on the steering rack and CVs.

 

I'm in no way an expert and only learning these trucks but from what I've seen from the guys around here I'd think with 35's and all the weight you carry 4:88's would be better. I know one of the guys I deal with here just did a regear to 4:56's with 285'75'17's / 34's with a bed rack, rtt, and full armor and for him they're perfect. You know as well or better than I do you can under gear and have a turd even if it meshes with tire size, you may see better mpg's with a little better torque. Or you can gear a little heavy and realize a good torque gain both on and off road carrying your load better but mpg's suck. Some are lucky enough to find the magic combnation and have it all but in the end it's just part of the game and figuring out which setup suits your needs better.

 

Like your 33" st Maxx aren't already heavy each one of mine weighs 87 pounds whel and tire

 

255/85/16 ST Maxx are 59lbs according to Cooper.
Method NV 16's are 22.9lbs according to 4 Wheel Parts.

So that's roughly 83lbs.

315/75/16 (34.6") ST Maxx are 69lbs each.
So total of 93lbs per axle up front.

That's a pretty damn heavy wheel/tire! Weighs more than my 15 month old Rottie female does. LOL

So far as steering racks go the idea is not only more weight but the wider tire creates even more friction. So the actual power needed to rotate the tire for turning increases quite a bit.

Anyhow, that's what the mechanics keep saying. I just want more ground clearance and ride height. And rubber is how you get true ground clearance.

 

There are several other things to keep in mind when running large tires with respect to steering component wear.

Larger diameter is going to provide a longer lever arm that the steering components must deal with when given a load/torque.

Heavier tires are going to have more inertia and will impart a larger impulse to the steering components.

Moving the center of the tire outward (which most have to do) changes the scrub radius which imparts a larger moment that the steering components must take. How many of us actually try to maintain some semblance of the appropriate scrub? Who even thinks about it?

Bottom line for me is if I can't accept the increased wear inherent to lifts and larger tires then they are not for me. I like to tinker and nothing has ever come from the factory good enough; I choose to live with the increased maintenance requirements.

 

Wheel bearings! The front ones are already complete garbage on our trucks. I run as much back spacing as possible.

 

The 28575/17's seam to be a nice compromise. More height so more clearance but not too wide still in the tall skinny categorie.

 

I think I am in a similar boat, I didn't regear until I went to 35s. Before gearing, I was running stock gears on 33's and yea they don't zip around that well especially with full armor, but I developed a more relaxed/slower driving style. My first gen had 4.88s in it with 35s and although it was flying around town, anytime I went about 60 that thing ate gas. Since my truck is my DD, I opted to go with the standard 4.56/35 tires combo. I can see where having 4.88s could be an advantage, but I think it comes down to your personal driving style. From the lower gears up to 40 mph the truck can be a little slow unless I gun it, but beyond that I like the power ratio.

That being said, my style on trail is more speed than crawling so I don't need as much acceleration since Im already moving pretty good. For a dedicated crawler on 35s, I would consider 4.88s though to get that instant power.

 

Out of curiosity and if y'all are ok sharing....what does it run to change gearing? And where are you sourcing parts?

 

Depends on the shop and location in regards to rates, but I would expect about $1200 for front and rear gears and about $900-1500 to get them installed. Some shops just install them and then give you the break in card, and others will do extensive testing and fitment of the gears which can help with your break in miles. I would call your local shops and see what the going rate is, you can attack this yourself as well if you buy the gears pre-installed in the third member and just simply swap it out with yours and send your core back. I would have considered this if my truck wasn't my DD.

 

$1750 at ECGS installed 4.56 a year ago. 255/85/16 (33" tire) dick cepek extreme countrys. I have weight, armor and more weight. pull about 2500 rpm at 70 mph gps speed. (speedo says 75/76) 4.0 V6 auto.

 

Dang Jimbo, for some reason I thought you had dirties?

 

nah, not ..... yet.....

 

When you do, atleast you wont need to regear!

 

haha, yes, part of the reason I went 4.56. was debating 4.10, glad I did 4.56, just in case

 

I had to destroy rear wheel bearing to separate from axle housing, rear pads fell off of brake shoes as they were pretty scored and got torn off pulling the drums. The metal at the end of the parking brake cables also pretty much crumbled coming off. Brake lines on axle where replaced while i was there and I found my alignment bolts were froze, so I sawsawed those and replaced the lower control arms at the same time. I ended up spending twice what I planned by the time they actually went in but I only got rear true track. Front locker was 1k more if I remember and I don't have on board air.

Moral of story, yay road salt!

 

Holy shit! Mine was bad the first time apart. Could have never done it on a trail. Took and hour and a half for each wheel bearing with a mini sledge, slide hammer, and 2 ft crow bar... with the axle out from under the truck. Easy now, I painted the two surfaces with anti seize. You best bet alignment bolts are smothered too, that was a shitty job.

 

Lol, the typos are still there before I could edit.

 

Does anyone know if the urd stage 4 n/a kit is available for 12s?

These gears got me thinking that it would be nice to free up the revs a little more. It's only 3k to instead of almost 6 as well which means I could actually do it pretty soon if I wanted. Probably a good base for supercharger too? I guess I need to call them, i missed them after work today : (

 

A fucking lot. $2k to $3k. But you might as well buy lockers at the same time. Same labor costs for the most part. Then you're talking $5k to $6k.

East Coast Gear Supply is a safe bet.