You guys have convinced me to try gearing before a motor swap i think. I was thinking 4.88's with 31's or 32's. I know 4.88's match with 33's. So what does that mean power/performance wise with 31/32? My truck does do highway trips at over 75mph regularly but is also a city truck and trail truck; needless to say it gets around. So thank you for any help guys. Appreciated. Also was thinking about lockers, was thinking of limit slips basically front and rear. could i do slip in rear and locked up front? also looking at going to manual hubs over my current setup with auto hubs. i'm running right now a 3.0 with 30x9.5x15 and my truck feels a tad gutless, hoping gearing can help with that. it does have 200,xxx miles, but that's really not a whole lot. Still at about half engine life i'd say. Had a bronco at 350,xxx that had been worked and beaten yet drove strong till the day i sold her :/

Here's a gearing chart, Gearratiosanddiffs . If you gear higher than your tire size, like you're thinking about, you'll see better acceleration and easier climbing, but higher revs on the freeway.

If you ever need 4wd on pavement (ie, snow) and have automatic hubs, the only locker you should be looking at for the front diff is a selectable, i.e. ARB. If you have manual hubs, you could get away with a limited slip like the TrueTrac, but even that will affect your steering a bit so be ready for that any time the hubs are locked in - I've got a thread on that somewhere around here. If you never use 4wd on the road, and have manual hubs, you could get an automatic locker for the front, but I don't think anybody will recommend it. As far as the rear goes, you could do anything but a spool and still be very streetable.

If you're jonesing for a locker, I'd put a Spartan automatic ($250 at rockauto, and you can install it yourself) in the rear, and then if you still feel the need for more, save up for a TrueTrac or ARB in the front. The selectable would be more expensive but would be the best option for a street/trail rig.

Just to put a plug in for Yukon, I have their Grzzly locker in the rear with open front. Nothing stops me off road except my own ignorance. A littlemore exspensive, but great locker.

3.0 is gutless! go w/ 4.88's a detroit in the rear and leave the front open.

Everything they ^ already said.

I have the 3.0L with 4.88 gears. I use 31's in winter and 33's for offroad. Big difference when I went from 4.10 to 4.88. Much more power and faster pickup with 4.88's and 31's. With 32's it could be pretty enjoyable to drive. Running 33's with 4.10's worked, but plan on leaving earlier than usual, and make sure when you see a hill to down shift. Running 33's with 4.88's works out pretty good. It's still not going to win any races but it does keep up on the highway, and I don't need to downshift going up hills on the highway. It still loses some speed, so I just give it a little more gas before I hit the hill.

My rear is welded, so let's say it is like it is spooled. I've had no issues, but not for you daily driver, so yes stay away from a spool or welded for a daily. But people do run welded rear on dailys. It's just not the most elegant way to do it.

For front I run an ARB. I think that is the right way to do it.

As for engine swap. I think you might get even more performance with a gearing change in your transfercase. Small engine gets you to the trail with less gas, 4.7 gears give you all the 4Low power you need.

how fast can you go with the 31's and 4.88's? (top mph with rpms a guestimant would be fine too) decent mpg? (i know wrong car to drive but still curious) Well the 3.4L gives more power but is also more efficient, comparable mileage with performance improvements basically. Wonders of technology.

3.0 + 4.56 = No issue on or off road. I almost re-geared to 4.88, but was convinced that 4.56 would be fine and they are.

but i have literally no power going up hills, it's like have an I4 trying to push a F-350

Is yours and automatic? I just down shift to 4th and on rare occasions 3rd and roll righ up the mountain. I will be getting 33's the next time I buy tires. If I notice any poer loss at that point I may re-gear.

For the most part I can cruise control at 80mph on highway with 31's x 4.56 with a 3.0. Granted I have worked hard to make sure my 3.0is in great running order.

Manual, yeah but i have to drop to 4th and keeps it up around 4-4.5k rpms just to keep it going up the hill :/ My 3.0L i've tried to keep it up and repair it. I was thinking about going with 4.88's and running either 31's or 32's. so it'd be nice to here from CAN since that's what he's running.

with 4.88's and 33's i can hold a constant 75mph at around 2900-3200rpm. sometimes i dont even have to downshift into 4th going up hills. i have a 22re. you should have no problems with the 4.88's

You don't even know how happy this makes me. So if i understand this right, with 32's i'd be around 3100-3400 at 75mph? With 4.88's. That sounds good and cheaper than a swap

ya that sounds about right. but keep in mind all motors are different. mine is almost completely rebuilt... and its a 22re... but you shouldnt have a problem with the 32's with 4.88's. (that is if yours in a 5 speed... sorry to lazy to read back through all the posts haha)

Just do the 4.88's already...... It'll handle up to 35's just fine. I run 4.88's on 37's in a second gen runner, 22re, 5spd. I'm not winning any races but it'll do highway speeds w/ the a/c on.

is there a site to get them off of or any parts store will do? Look's like ill be trying the 4.88's and probably switching to 31's or 32's. Mine is a 5-speed so it should be fine on that aspect. (told myself i'd never drive another automatic after i got rid of my 3-spd bronco, good truck but it was auto)