Another possibility is a wide ratio truck transmission with a really low
first gear. This may be cheaper than regearing in many cases. Remembering
the four speed stake body Chevy C-30 I learned to drive on, this is not a
race car option, but you will get used to it.

Earle

"TrailMarker" <carrollcaboodle@netzero.com> wrote in message
news:1142084457.941051.252130@j33g2000cwa.googlegr oups.com...
> I was once right where you are now. I have a 360 in my CJ-7 and wanted
> lower gears but didn't want ridiculously high RPM's at 60-70 mph. Most
> folks around here advocate really low gears (4.56 or lower), but they
> tend to have 4 or 6 cylinder engines and/or do rock crawling out west.
> Since you spend a lot of time on the road, you need to choose a gear
> ratio that will give you acceptable RPM's at highway speed. I
> personally couldn't stand to have my V-8 screaming at 3000+ RPM just to
> run 60 mph down the road. You have plenty of power with a CSB 350 to go
> with slightly taller gears (3.73 - 4.10) and thus have lower RPM's at
> highway speeds, and still have decent passing power. That said,
> however, the ability to go slower is a big, big plus off road, and so
> choosing lower gears (4.56 - 4.88) will make your machine more capable
> off road. You can go to the Novak website
> <http://www.novak-adapt.com/knowledge/gearing.htm>
> and calculate RPM's at different speeds (on road) as well as speed at
> different RPM's (off road) and choose the gear ratio that is the best
> compromise to satisfy you. In case you don't know, the T-176 first gear
> ratio is 3.52, and you probably have a Dana 300 which is 2.62 in low
> range. For accuracy, you'll want to know your actual tire diameter, not
> just what it says on the sidewall. BFG's are typically shorter than
> advertised.
> The cold hard truth is that it's expensive to re-gear. The trick here
> is to save your pennies up and do it right the first time and be done
> with it.
> Hope this helps. Good luck.
> Oh, and if you just wanted a gear ratio suggestion rather than all this
> wordiness, I say go with 4.10's. I've got 4.10's with 35" BFG's (which
> are really only about 33.5" tall) and love it.
> TrailMarker.
>


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Another possibility is a wide ratio truck transmission with a really low
first gear. This may be cheaper than regearing in many cases. Remembering
the four speed stake body Chevy C-30 I learned to drive on, this is not a
race car option, but you will get used to it.

Earle

"TrailMarker" <carrollcaboodle@netzero.com> wrote in message
news:1142084457.941051.252130@j33g2000cwa.googlegr oups.com...
> I was once right where you are now. I have a 360 in my CJ-7 and wanted
> lower gears but didn't want ridiculously high RPM's at 60-70 mph. Most
> folks around here advocate really low gears (4.56 or lower), but they
> tend to have 4 or 6 cylinder engines and/or do rock crawling out west.
> Since you spend a lot of time on the road, you need to choose a gear
> ratio that will give you acceptable RPM's at highway speed. I
> personally couldn't stand to have my V-8 screaming at 3000+ RPM just to
> run 60 mph down the road. You have plenty of power with a CSB 350 to go
> with slightly taller gears (3.73 - 4.10) and thus have lower RPM's at
> highway speeds, and still have decent passing power. That said,
> however, the ability to go slower is a big, big plus off road, and so
> choosing lower gears (4.56 - 4.88) will make your machine more capable
> off road. You can go to the Novak website
> <http://www.novak-adapt.com/knowledge/gearing.htm>
> and calculate RPM's at different speeds (on road) as well as speed at
> different RPM's (off road) and choose the gear ratio that is the best
> compromise to satisfy you. In case you don't know, the T-176 first gear
> ratio is 3.52, and you probably have a Dana 300 which is 2.62 in low
> range. For accuracy, you'll want to know your actual tire diameter, not
> just what it says on the sidewall. BFG's are typically shorter than
> advertised.
> The cold hard truth is that it's expensive to re-gear. The trick here
> is to save your pennies up and do it right the first time and be done
> with it.
> Hope this helps. Good luck.
> Oh, and if you just wanted a gear ratio suggestion rather than all this
> wordiness, I say go with 4.10's. I've got 4.10's with 35" BFG's (which
> are really only about 33.5" tall) and love it.
> TrailMarker.
>


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*** Encrypt your Internet usage with a free VPN account from http://www.SecureIX.com ***

 

Another possibility is a wide ratio truck transmission with a really low
first gear. This may be cheaper than regearing in many cases. Remembering
the four speed stake body Chevy C-30 I learned to drive on, this is not a
race car option, but you will get used to it.

Earle

"TrailMarker" <carrollcaboodle@netzero.com> wrote in message
news:1142084457.941051.252130@j33g2000cwa.googlegr oups.com...
> I was once right where you are now. I have a 360 in my CJ-7 and wanted
> lower gears but didn't want ridiculously high RPM's at 60-70 mph. Most
> folks around here advocate really low gears (4.56 or lower), but they
> tend to have 4 or 6 cylinder engines and/or do rock crawling out west.
> Since you spend a lot of time on the road, you need to choose a gear
> ratio that will give you acceptable RPM's at highway speed. I
> personally couldn't stand to have my V-8 screaming at 3000+ RPM just to
> run 60 mph down the road. You have plenty of power with a CSB 350 to go
> with slightly taller gears (3.73 - 4.10) and thus have lower RPM's at
> highway speeds, and still have decent passing power. That said,
> however, the ability to go slower is a big, big plus off road, and so
> choosing lower gears (4.56 - 4.88) will make your machine more capable
> off road. You can go to the Novak website
> <http://www.novak-adapt.com/knowledge/gearing.htm>
> and calculate RPM's at different speeds (on road) as well as speed at
> different RPM's (off road) and choose the gear ratio that is the best
> compromise to satisfy you. In case you don't know, the T-176 first gear
> ratio is 3.52, and you probably have a Dana 300 which is 2.62 in low
> range. For accuracy, you'll want to know your actual tire diameter, not
> just what it says on the sidewall. BFG's are typically shorter than
> advertised.
> The cold hard truth is that it's expensive to re-gear. The trick here
> is to save your pennies up and do it right the first time and be done
> with it.
> Hope this helps. Good luck.
> Oh, and if you just wanted a gear ratio suggestion rather than all this
> wordiness, I say go with 4.10's. I've got 4.10's with 35" BFG's (which
> are really only about 33.5" tall) and love it.
> TrailMarker.
>


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