Swaping Gears

Hey guys. I want to know what gears can be swaped into 57 willys cj. I think I have 5.38s not sure but I would like to change out for highway use. I am putting in a sm465 so the granny will help in wheeling. but I checked out rpms with my gears and 3500 at 65 just wont do it for me I plan on an overdrive later but still will only get me down to 2700 rpm any suggestions. thanks!!!

 

You have a number of options, some which will require changing the carriers. The granny low in the SM will cover a lot of ground on the low side. That being said, you will want to decide what gear combo will give you the desired RPM's at your highway speed with the tire size you want to run. Be sure to plan this out well, as major changes in tire diameter in the future well effect your final drive ratio. There are a number of ratio charts out there, might try a serch.

 

Like you, I wanted more highway friendly gears for the 63 I am building. I had a tough time finding gears with a better ratio for a Dana 25 front and a Dana 44 rear.

I found 3.73 gears for my Dana 44 at R&P in your part of the country. Highly recommended my Nickmil. My expereince was excellent as well.

Website www.r-p4wd.com

Phone 503-557-8911 in Oregon City

I never found 3.73 gears for my Dana 25, so I searched for 3.73's for a Dana 27 that I have and finally found some, then ended up buying a complete Dana 27 from McRuff. I still have a carrier and gears for a Dana 27 in 3.73 that I may let go. If you have a Dana 25, they won't help you though.

I also think I have a Dana 44 with 4.27 gears if you end up needing that ratio. I can't rember what shape they were in. I remember that the front ones had water in them and were pretty pitted though. They might not be any good.

Good luck looking for highway friendly gears. It can be a challenge. I had also bought some gears from a guy in Vermont that was parting out a bunch of old gears. Good to work with too. I would probably try R&P first though.

Jim