I am looking to get some lower gears for my FJ62. I am currently running my stock 4.11s with 33x12.5 BFG MTs, and it's pretty underpowered. I am trying to decide wether to get 4.56s or 4.88s. I know 4.56s are closer to stock, but I think the 4.88s would give me a little better performace on/off road. How much of a difference will they really make?

With the Automatic, a good bit. I think you will greatly notice the upgrade. It is hard to tell on a Manual this change off road, but with an Auto it should be noticable.

I hae driven FZJ-80's that went from 4.11's to 4.88's with 35's and it is very noticable.

One lister Gunracer1 has 5.29's in his FJ-62 and he runs 38" Swampers.

Thanks wngrog, but I still need to know wether to go for the 4.56s or the 4.88s.
I want the 4.88s i just need to know if they will be too low a gear for 33s.

Can gearing ever be too low?:p :p

Can people ever be too dumb?:flipoff2:

We had a guy in our club put in 456 in his FJ62 to try to find more grunt. He was running 33 9.5 which are are pretty tall compared to other 33's. It helped but he probably could have gone to 488's. His engine was on the way out though.

I know those auto have an electronic torque converter lock up which is probably speed or rpm switched. I would not think you would want that TC to lock up to low.

If you are not a highway commuter, I would recommend 488, and then save up for the tcase gear kit...that would be a nice set up. Take care of that tranny, those things are made of gold.

Thats all I know

Kman

Muddogbob, what kind of wheeling do you do with it? I used to think that 4.56's would be a better deal for me, but since moving to 35's, I've been considering 4.88's. I think the kind of wheeling makes a big difference, if you're going to crawl the rocks hard, then go with the 4.88's. If it's going to be a daily driver that pulls wheeling duty on mild to intermediate trails, stay with the 4.56's.

i run the 5.29s with some 38.5x14.5sxs on my fj62 and its still a dog on the road. it put the speedo dead on, but i wish i had lower gears. i will fall in with everyone else if its a mild trail rig/daily driver go 4.56s if it doesn't see a bunch of miles go 4.88. mike

Thanks for the input guys. I guess I should probably stick with the 4.56s then since my rig is a daily driver. I still like the idea of haveing the extra grunt of the 4.88s though. How much of a difference (on the highway) will I be able to notice these gears? And what are the negative effects of running 4.88s?

What's all the rumor about 4.88s and 5.29s having smaller pinions? Anyone says the pinions break easier? I need people's suggestions (please) before I upgrade from the 4.11.

I run a FF rear axle so 5.29 rings don't have to be ground. And I already have a Decker anti wrap bar.

Dave

The lower the gear the smaller the pinion, the (theoretical) higher the chance of failure. That said, Land Cruiser R&P are notoriously reliable, even under extreme conditions, and axle wrap is usually the main reason for rear pinion failure. If you already have that under control, Dave, chances are you'll do all right with lower gears. Depending on the size of the tires, you might even want to go as low as 5.29's, since you don't have to break out the grinder.

I would say go with the 4.56 versus the 4.88, because 4.88s with 33s will make your top gear on the road too low. Assuming this isn't a trail rig, highway rpms are a factor to consider.

One more thing I think is worth mentioning: When you go to 4.56 or high diff ratios and cruiser diffs, you are going to have to plan for breakage. You will need three diffs with the same gearing, and you should always carry a spare diff if you are wheeling where you might break one.

I considered going to 4.88s with my 55 - mostly so I could go to even bigger tires with my 2F :) - but I decided against it in part because I like having the same 4.11 diffs as just about everyone on the trail. My spare is useful to them and vice versa.

I say look to your tranny/tcase for the low gearing you're missing, if you can. But that's less easily done with an FJ62!

Morgan

i have not had any problems with the 5.29s with the 38.5sxs. but i do have a doggy 3f with a factory auto. i had to grind a good bit of the ring gear to fit the 5.29s but it has held up great. i thought i had broke it at gilmer last year, it was popping and jerking but it turned out that my welded spider gears broke free. i built up another 3 rd to replace mine. but when i found out the problem i just welded it back up and took off. so know i have a complete 3rd ready to bolt in. incase i do blow them to pieces. mike

Get 4.88s, never know when you are going to want to run those 35s or when you'll buy the oz t/c gears (which have an overdrive).

Ok guys, i'm getting some good input here, but I'm a little confused. Won't the 4.88s just make me run a higher RPM on the highway than the 4.56s? I was looking through a Gear/Tire size table at http://4lo.com/ (4lo.com if that link doesn't work) and according to the chart, I would be running approxamately 200 more RPM with the 4.88s than the 4.56s. This doesn't seem like a big difference. Wouldn't the higher RPM improve my highway performance, considering right now i have to constantly drop down a gear while climbing hills. Maybe I'm just not seeing the big picture....

It really comes down to personal preference... How often do you drive on the highway at highway speeds? If you have a *long* commute, I'd say 4.56s... Otherwise, 200rpm isn't that much of a difference. Of course depending on which tires you purchased, they may be a heck of a lot further from being truly 33" in diameter... :D

Personally, I am planning on going 4.88s on my 60... and either swapping in an SM420 -or- buy one of those crawl-boxes when they become available. Two tcases would be so damn cool! :smokin:

(I wonder how my TBI 2F stacks up against the 3FZE?) :confused:

Go with 4.88s. The A440 or 442 automatic has a 4th gear ratio of 0.71, right?. That times 4.88 = 3.46. That times 630 rev/mile = 2180 rpm at 60 mph, 2540 at 70. That's a much steeper OD ratio than the 0.845 of the H55F or even the 0.73 of a NV4500. You did say you had a rear FF, right?
Charlie

I do drive on the highway with the rig just about every day, and I make long comutes about once a month or so.

I don't have a full floater.

Does anybody have any info on the 60 series crawler box?

If you don't have a FF then 4.88s require some tooth grinding, you probably know that already. Stock tires on a N. American LC are 28.3". 4.88 is 19% greater than 4.11. 1.19 times 28.3" = 33.7". So you'll be about 2-3% "shorter" than stock. With an H42 that would be undesirable, but with the 0.71 overdrive it may be what you want. The other consideration is Mark's transfer case gears. Their high range is either 8% taller or shorter than stock (0.92 or 1.08). In that case with 4.88 and 0.92, it will change to 4.56, and with 4.56 and 1.08, it will change to 4.88!!
Charlie