Topic: Dana 44 build What gears?

[Jeffy]

Revisiting this topic. Just wondering what the sweet spot is for these engines. Anyone still running stock and want to let me know where you run at crusing speeds. RPM wise. I found someone else selling a rear waggy 44 locally for cheap and i am going to start getting serious about this swap. I want to get the jeep running as close to stock as possible so i can cruse with it up and down the highway to the trails since i dont have a tailer or anything that can pull a trailer. I may be swapping between some 33's and my 35's for the summer and winter on the street. In that case should i stay 4.88 or go with the 5.13's. I would say 5.38's but i dont want to lock myself into a huge tire. I like to be able to swap between the two if i want.

Well, if you don't want to run 35's all the time when I would go with 5.13's.  5.13's is good for 33's and ok for 35's.

[Bounty Hunter]

I run 5.38's with my 2.5L 5spd and it works great for the 35" and 36" tires I run.  The engine is real happy running 3000rpm in 5th around 70mph.  I wouldn't go any taller, 5.13 is too close to 4.88.

[Mr_Random]

I run 5.38's with my 2.5L 5spd and it works great for the 35" and 36" tires I run.  The engine is real happy running 3000rpm in 5th around 70mph.  I wouldn't go any taller, 5.13 is too close to 4.88.

that sounds perfect, I checked today and being close to stock I'm running 3000rpm at 70, so 5.38's is right on track!

[sbspence]

Rolling resistance of the tires makes a big difference for a 4 banger. I am happy with 35's they are the Baja MTZ's and those roll very well. I am not unhappy with 4.56 gears on my little 2.4l put put it will do 80 mph or better on the flat road. My biggest reason for changing to 4.88's would be a bot more crawl ratio for rocks for highway driving with the 6 speed this works pretty well. 4.88 or 5.13's would make 3 and 4 th gear to short for mountain driving. 4.56 gives really nice gearing for me in 4th and 5th and 6th is ideal for cruising at 65 and up

 
 yep the 2.4 is an altogether different animal! I had an 03 4spd auto and it came with 4:56 gears with 215s from Toledo!  It makes power in a different area than the 2.5 tractor engine. It likes to rev and makes good power on the freeway. It was night and day between that and my 01 2.5 3spd auto w/ 3:73s!