The 4-lo gear ratio of 2.73 to 1 is good at makig low-end torque. Think if that ratio was lower, like 4:1 in a Rubicon transfer case. Talk about torque!
What I can't believe is that first gear ratio in your 6 speed trans, 4.46:1. I would never have guessed it to be that low. I bet that thing really crawls in first
Yeah, I am just surprised it did that with such little speed.
Yup, 1st gear on the 6spd is very low.... I don't use it around town, it's just too low, I start in 2nd, and it feels just a tad higher then most cars 1st gear. I like the 6spd alot and the slightly lower geared OD will help when bigger tires go on, but 1st gear is odd... it's too low for road use, but not low enough to be a granny gear.
It crawls really well in 1st, which is why I was barely moving and then it would plop down on the belly... put it in 2nd and hit the gas (not wide open tho) and it launched it!
It's quite obvious to me that the biggest thing holding me back is that transfercase skid plate.... much more so then lockers. Going with a lift/bigger tires still dosen't get rid of the problem, so I've been looking at belly-up kits... they require some othing things too, some of them being a SYE/CV driveshaft. I am still on the fence if I want to put money into the 231, could always do a 4:1 kit in the future (lower gearing isn't really needed right now) or just hold off and leave the 231 as-is, and try to find a Rubi 4:1 case. Even in the future when I go to 33" tires, the stock 2.73:1 low range should provide ample crawl in 1st gear, right?
I want to build the Jeep as I go, and learn to wheel it the best I can with minimal mods each step of the way. That road grader is just dragging on everything, and kept getting me hung up. Between a belly-up skid plate and 1" body lift, I can gain another 3.5" of clearance at the belly, 31" tires (which is the plan to replace the GS-A's when they wear out) and a 2" BB in the future would increase that another 2.5", for a total of 6" greater belly clearance, which would be a night and day difference from me being stuck sitting on the belly, or driving over stuff.