94' Ranger XLT Gear Help....

[Greg5567]

I have a D35 front axle and a rear 8.8 28Spline on my Ranger....I am not 100% sure about the rear axle, but as far as I know its stock and someone told me stock was the 8.8 28Spline. Wasnt sure how to find out what kind of axles I had =/ Noob to most of this, trying to learn as much as I can before I go out and do anything stupid with my truck.


So, to my question....I was told "You don't need more power, you need gears, period."

How do I deal with that issue? and what gears are for what...?

I have 38.5" Tires, 8" Suspension 3" Body

I plan on going down to 35's with either 8" Suspension ONLY
(OR)
35's with 6" Suspension and 3" Body


Any help is greatly appreciated...

 

[Explorin94]

I would do the gear first and that is not period. there are things you could do to the engine to help too. You do have the 8.8 and 28 spline axles stock. Considering that the rear is still stock. If you have any questions about the gear there should be a tag on one of the rear end cover bolts. If there isn't one there you can turn and count pinion and axle revolutions, or take the cover off and look at the pimion gear and that will tell you what gear it is. You will have different opinions on what gear you need/should run with the tires you have. Assuming you have the 4.0, a 4.56 gear would be a good all around gear. If you stay with the 38's I would look at a 4.88 or 5.13, depending on your plans for thr truck.

 

[Greg5567]

Switching to 35" BFG M/T KM2 tires and on the rear axle the tab says

53595
3L73
8.8
4F22

and
Yes, I do have the 4.0L V6


My Plan = http://therangerstation.com/forums/showthread.php?t=25697

 

[BlackBII]

Allright, so you have 3.73 Gearing with a Limited Slip in the rear
http://www.therangerstation.com/tech_library/Axles.html

To get your power back to around stock, with 35" tires, 4.56 gearing in the axles would be a good choice, 4.88 if you do some low range rock crawling.

http://www.therangerstation.com/Magazine/Feb 06/tech.htm

 

[Greg5567]

Gonna start off by apologizing cause im not very good at explaining things, so this may be a little difficult to understand...lol


I dont really plan on any extreme crawling but if I am riding on a trail and want to get over an obstacle (somewhat steep hill, maybe rocks...not like little things I can pick up and toss behind my head lol) but you get the point right?


With my truck im pretty much trying to have it able to go wheelin around in the mud with some trail rides kinda inbetween extreme and easy obstacles. So moderate?