Debate over practical lowest gear ratio for ROCK CRAWLING -
(NOT mud-bogging, casual trails, sand dunes, pavement-pounding or mall cruising)

I ran with 200:1 and found it perfect for the gnarly stuff.

I'm at around 90:1. Was good once when I had 33's, but with the 35's I could be lower for the nasty stuff. Have to ride the clutch a little. But on the flip side, I have gotten good at just driving the trail. Haveing to make quick decisions while wheeling the hard trails has been a great asset. Plus it makes me look smooth!:grinpimp: I am in the works of gaining a lower option so I can go to 37's. 120-130:1 would be nice.

I'm at 114:1 with an auto tranny, so you can multiply that ratio by 2 or 2.5.......

It's the shait...........:cool:

I am at 120:1, and want for deeper gears. I am hoping my diesel swap will make 120:1 more practical.

I use 215:1 on the technical stuff, 3rd gear double low nets me 104:1 for anything that needs wheelspeed. I'd like about 50 more hp so I could use a single case in low for verticals (more wheelspeed). Present motor is a 1.6 16v turning 42's.

Toy is at 68 to 1 (4.7's and 4:10's need to add another case )

I am at 225:1, and use it for when I mucked it up, and sitting at a weird angle and want to recover without rolling. The other times is when I want to "finess" something. I have also accidently used low-low to blow the clutch to pieces.

Of course, I'm still on the stock 1.3 turd, and I have no plans to polish that.

Most of the time, I run around in high-low (dual toy tcases, 2.28:1/4.7:1), or in high/low.

I have no plans to go lower, but I do have plans to drop a 2.0 liter engine in, sometime in Feb/March time frame. The delay is due to CA smog laws, I don't want to deal with green sticker just yet.

Don't really feel you can overgear your junk.. if first is too low... use second or third...

I don't think I have ever seen to low :)

i'm sittin around 80:1 *stock tranny - 4.16 case - 5.29 diffs* on 35 inch boggers, 1.6 16v engine, it's fine for the hammer down situations, but i think it needs more gear. a 6.5 may be the anwser, or more likely putting the 3 speed auto back in with a kicker set up, or try to make something interesting :D

The crawl ratio in my old Subaru wagon was.... are you sitting down? 22:1 :emb4:

(yes, it had real 4WD hi/lo and not AWD :flipoff2:)

I enjoy bringing a smile to ppls faces. Hopefully this brings one to yours!

I'd like to trade my 4:1 case for a 6:1 case to go with the 5:12's and Rock Block...Any takers....lol

216:1 here, can never go too low. But I can switch my RockBlock from low to high if needed, or just use a higher gear.

100:1 with 35" boggers, 16 valve suits me just fine on the rocks. I probably wheel a little faster than most but putting along is somewhat borring now days. The 16 valve and the reve limiter is just to much fun:evil:

Now in the other hand, our current build will be in the 140:1 range with a 16 valve and 37"s.

L8rz

Chris.

I am currently 3.54*2.28*2.62*5.89= 124:1 reduction with the 1600 8V and 37 inch tall tires. I find that I do not need to use clutch, but I could use a bit more gears to be really comfortable.

In plans for next year is a 2.0 already sitting in my garage, waiting for a transplant as well as a 4:1 D300 I have lined up.
This should give me a 190:1 with the 2.0L. Should be sweet.:D

The only time I feel I'm geared too low is when I am on the highway. I am at about 120:1 in low gear but the motor screams in high at highway speeds.

I'm at 116:1 and like it. I can run over stuff without killing my engine all of the time or slipping the clutch. When I had a 4.16 case, 5.42s, and 33s, it was really easy to kill on technical stuff. Either that or I'd be going faster than I wanted to getting bounced all over hell.
Travis..

Im at 108:1 at its perfect for 99% of what I do. Rarely do I wish I had something lower. It also keeps my axles from binding up and breaking. I know that when I kill my motor that I need to back up and try a different line.

Alot of the people that I get stuck behind with really low gears throw their rig in its lowest gear and keep it there the whole trail:rolleyes: My old rig was 195:1 and I rarely if ever put it into first gear

4.3 vortec with 4l60E trans
ratios are 1st= 3.06 2nd=1.63 3rd=1 OD=0.7 1st case 2:28 2nd case 5:01 axles 5:71 For 1st gear it is 199.58 with out the torque converter multipier. guess times that by 2... ya I am happy LOL

79:1 at the moment, diesel engine conversion, and I want lots lower.
The only problem is hitting low 5th on fire roads etc and wanting more gears.
Cant beat a lower ratio though.

212:1..on 37s....and i still want lower........

Stock zuk tranny, 6.1 tcase, 5.29 toy gears on 35s. Not low enough for the really technical stuff. Dropping a 1.6 16v in, hopefully that helps.. Someday I'd like a kick tranny & tcase mated to my zuk case :smokin: can never go to low in my opinion.

My dads rig on the otherhand... 1.3 with 4.89 case, rockblock, 5.38 gears on zuky axles with 31's measureing out to 29 3/4" tall hehehehe :flipoff2:

tintop thats a little disconcerting... currently 6.4:1 and 4:10s on 35s lookin to go 5:29 and I thought that would be low enough.... :rolleyes: guess I'll have to consider my options to go lower 8:1 case? any rock blocks for sale?

nobody seems to have wasted money so far!!!:grinpimp:

nobody seems to have wasted money so far!!!:grinpimp:
...or we are just denying that fact with the justification that touching clutch every third trip is bad...:p

I'm at 90:1. Works pretty well for me.

Ive got a Maruti LWB zook, Sidekick 16v auto, with dual hilux cases 2.28 + 5.0 and Hilux diffs with 5.29 = 171/1, turning 38" Boggers. Its all good mate !

110:1 was ok, but with a 4cyl wasnt enough to spin big tires. Thats why I am upgrading to a vortec v6 and portals

Wifes rig is at 143:1 and is awesome there....1.6 8v Toy axles and 35's. Amber can drive this pretty much with out touching the clutch, and mob the trails. Here she has to switch into high range to get between trails. Where a 6:1 case and a crawl box would be best.

Old green buggy was at 211:1 on d44's and 37's, that was bad ass!! If that 1.6 16v had more juice to it, it would be a perfect combo for pleasure and comps.

Current buggy is at 46:1 with an auto(powerglide), 4.3 vortec and 40's. With this setup, im going to drop it down to about 52:1 and should be perfect there, at least for comps.....This will give me good crawling ability, have enough of a low gear to do really good technical front and rear digs with tires full of water, and be able to get it up the verts when needed.