Hey guys, just a few questions for you. I'm a long time Ford guy.. just don't own a Ford 4x4. I was up at the Cinders in Northern AZ a few weeks ago and decided once and for all that my Samurai needed at least 200 more HP :) So I had been going back and forth with different ideas and I think a friend of mine has talked me into what I wanted to do in the first place. Here we go.. dropping a 302/C4/Dana20 into my Samurai :eek: I'll also be putting Dana 44's under both ends of it, so don't worry about that at all. My questions are.. I've never wheeled an automatic. The terrible first gear ration in the C4 (2.46:1) doesn't produce very respectable crawl ratios.. every keeps telling me that it'll be fine.. the converter makes up for it. I'm just looking for examples of what you guys are running in your early Broncos (or any other auto for that matter) as far as gearing combo's go. What crawl ratio should I shoot for? How much is too much? How much is too little? I know that Tera makes a gear kit for the Dana20.. is that a 4:1 kit? I thought I read somewhere that it was only a 3.05:1 kit.. I'm not sure I'd be willing to cough up $800 for a damn 3.05:1 gearset. Also, I'm curious if the Dana20 has any weak links or inbred problems that I should take care of before I start wheeling it? Anywhoo, any advice or encouragement would be appreciated.

Weak link: Rear output shaft.

Originally posted by Vermin
Hey guys, just a few questions for you. I'm a long time Ford guy.. just don't own a Ford 4x4. I was up at the Cinders in Northern AZ a few weeks ago and decided once and for all that my Samurai needed at least 200 more HP :) So I had been going back and forth with different ideas and I think a friend of mine has talked me into what I wanted to do in the first place. Here we go.. dropping a 302/C4/Dana20 into my Samurai :eek: I'll also be putting Dana 44's under both ends of it, so don't worry about that at all. My questions are.. I've never wheeled an automatic. The terrible first gear ration in the C4 (2.46:1) doesn't produce very respectable crawl ratios.. every keeps telling me that it'll be fine.. the converter makes up for it. I'm just looking for examples of what you guys are running in your early Broncos (or any other auto for that matter) as far as gearing combo's go. What crawl ratio should I shoot for? How much is too much? How much is too little? I know that Tera makes a gear kit for the Dana20.. is that a 4:1 kit? I thought I read somewhere that it was only a 3.05:1 kit.. I'm not sure I'd be willing to cough up $800 for a damn 3.05:1 gearset. Also, I'm curious if the Dana20 has any weak links or inbred problems that I should take care of before I start wheeling it? Anywhoo, any advice or encouragement would be appreciated.



I'm running a c4/d20 combo in my EB with 4.56 gears. I have wheeled all over the west and east with only a few situations where I wished that I had lower crawl ratio. I'm fixing that as we speak by doubling my d20. That way I can keep my stock low range as well as add a crazy low range.

The Tera gear set is 3.x not 4.1 and you are correct in avoiding that route. The cost is not worth the minimal gains. Also, I have heard reports of problems with Tera gears (weak). Jack O'brien (JeepEater) makes a 4.1 gear set that is very strong for ~$1500.

The weak link in the d20 is the rear output shaft so I hear. I have never broken one with 36's, but I have a weak stock 302. I do keep a spare output shaft just in case ;) For ~$450 you can upgrade to a 32 spline output from WH to move the next weak link to the front output. I would think with a lite vehicle like a sammy, you won't likely break an output shaft.

terra is only a 3.25 to 1. The JP gears in my opinon are too low for an auto. I plan on going with and atlas in my bronco but it will barley fit in there counld't imagine what you'd have to do in a sammi. I'm running an AOD with a little lower 1st gear and 4.56's. I would think if you ran maybe 5.13's and a t-shift transfer case you would be happy with the crawl ratio. Let us knwo how it turns out for ya! Jake