I have a 88.5 sammi, and I am running a 4.16 transfer case, with stock axle gears, 3.73. I have 33 in. tires. Right now I do mostly rock crawling, but I'm moving to Wa soon, where I;ve heard there is more mud?

What I was wondering is, would it be better to go to a 6.1 transfer case, or go lower in the axles. And what axle gears would be best.

"Allons fligner la mud" I live on the east coast of Canada and around here its all mud.....my opinion is being able to turn the tires to clean them...get the gearing to spin them and mash the pedal down...have fun and roll up your windows....

In terms of wheeling in low range, I think gear ratio is gear ratio. The 6:1 will probably leave you with a better street ratio. The downside of 6:1 and 33's with 3.73's is you put an unbelievable strain on your t-case arms and mounts. I had continual problems with my t-case mounting hardware, mounts, etc. until I put the 5.13's in.

How about doing both? If you buy me a set of 6:1 t-case gears, I'll test them and tell you how both of them work :D

Hey dinger, where in WA are you moving to? We've got rocks, mud, tree roots, snow, dust, street, Hondas, etc. There are a lot of guys out here who run 4.16 and 3.73, and 33's. I run 4.56 r&p, 33's and currently stock T-case. (4.16 kit later on) So far I've been doing ok, but then the zuk's only been running for 4-weeks, no serious trails yet. I know the most favored setups out here all depend on the driving style you like. I think that once I get the T-case kit in, I'll be set up for almost any trail in WA or OR, not including dunes, because I'll still be able to sling mud when I get into it, and still crawl ok. However, that's not to say that my setup will be ideal for you. I'd say if you're moving out here, wheel a little bit, and then make your decision on it then. Good luck,
DR

I'll be in the Ft. Lewis area. The only reason I thought about doing it first, is because I need to fix all the leaks in the axles anyway, so I thought I might as well put gears and front locker in while I have it apart.

Front locker, no power stering? I guess I'll find out how hard it is to turn, huh

i have welded diffs f/r with 15/35/15 swampers, no powersteering. off-road it turns fine, on road it won't turn unless the hubs are unlocked. i did replace the stock rag joint with a u joint from a tracker and it improved my sttering input dramatically, much easier to turn with the ujoint rather than the POS ragjoints that easily fail under high stress and old age.