Ground Clearance: How Much is Enough?

Brendon Holt said:

Tom, how hard are the 4.10 gears to find nowadays if one wanted to do the re-gear? I feel like I remember some recent posts of people having a hard time locating them out of the 2.4 equipped Libertys.

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Some people do have a hard time for some reason
I am running 4.10s on both the 04 and 03, all four diffs I have under 550 bucks in ( less the lockers)
I also have two sets of extra 4.10s diffs that I have less than 650 in them ( all 4 , front and rear )
Just picked up the last set a couple of weeks or so ago . People know I am always looking and I pay a finders fee for anyone that finds me some, so that helps
I check car-parts.com on a regular basis plus other local yards as well
One set I found in a scrap yard 5 minutes from where I was living at the time, just happened to see their truck hauling a KJ so followed it to see, yep a gasser 4 cylinder
So I guess in the end it's just looking, having a bit of luck and treating people right so they will find them for ya

Brendon Holt said:

Tom, how hard are the 4.10 gears to find nowadays if one wanted to do the re-gear? I feel like I remember some recent posts of people having a hard time locating them out of the 2.4 equipped Libertys.

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Tom seems to have great luck finding them, the rest of us, not so much

I’ve run the last 100K miles with 245/75R16’s. It’s doable but I WISH I had 4.10’s. I still want to regear even though my KK has 169K miles on it now. The best price I’ve found within a couple of hours of me is $2300 for both axles. Add another $700 for a rear TrueTrac. I just can’t seem to find all that cash at one time when there are so many other things in life that need it first.

Also: no KK’s came with stock 4.10 gears so there are no junkyard axles to swap in.

tommudd said:

LOL :0

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Oh tommie tommie....your a funny guy, nothing here is sad, different budgets man simple..regear is awesome, but neccessary? nah you can get by I got over 200k on my jeep same ******,never runs hotter than normal...you do lose some acceleration but it's not the end of the world. That you have a plethora of 4.10s at your disposal is cool. The dude asked for opinions we gave him some. Now if you wanna sell some 4.10s on the cheap let me know ,i might be interested

Brendon Holt said:

So one of the things I'm looking to do more of with the KJ is overlanding type trips deeper into the mountains and surrounding landscape here in Montana (and beyond probably). I've never been super interested in hard off roading or driving through very hard trails just to do it.

So one of the questions I have is, how much ground clearance should I shoot for for those purposes (knowing that there is no magic number, just looking for a general idea)? My all stock KJ on 245/70/16s sits at about 8" under the front skid and the rear diff now. So, what's a good number to strive for as a general rule?

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I'm running the ironman lift and some additional spacers. I think about 2.5 total havent measured in a while. Running 255 70 16 tires. Which are about 30 inches tall.
Anyways i do the same kind of 4wheeling you are talking about and the bottom of my front skid is scrapped bare. No paint left from sliding over everything...if thats and indicator. I'll measure actual clearance tonight for you

Doing10to20 said:

Oh tommie tommie....your a funny guy, nothing here is sad, different budgets man simple..regear is awesome, but neccessary? nah you can get by I got over 200k on my jeep same ******,never runs hotter than normal...you do lose some acceleration but it's not the end of the world. That you have a plethora of 4.10s at your disposal is cool. The dude asked for opinions we gave him some. Now if you wanna sell some 4.10s on the cheap let me know ,i might be interested

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Oh doing doing doing it somehow LOL
Different budgets ??? I highly doubt that at all, I work several jobs to keep it all going , no time to sit around and play mindless games
And if you actually measured and tested the temps you would know , they run any where from 20-30 degrees hotter , that is just coolant temps with stock gearing and larger tires
Common sense, which I know is lacking in todays world, but common sense tells you it would run hotter, with more wear and tear
Been lifting and regearing ones for years, not just the KJs
My 78 Dodge van on 38s ran almost 45 degrees hotter until I regeared it ( back in 1979 ) then back to normal
My 79 Ford F150 short bed on 38s I bought new ran hotter when going from 12-15s to 38 mudders with stock gearing, same with my tj, all 3 XJs etc
Its all common sense type things
But good luck and by the way my name is Tom , but if you want to be a smart ***, I can completely ignore you and your 10 year old name calling. So are you an adult or ??? LOL
I love these " debates " always have

your and you're are two different words, above you're would be the only choice to use.

By the way I'll part ways with some to " friends" and guys I do lifts for but......no one else

tommudd said:

Oh doing doing doing it somehow LOL
Different budgets ??? I highly doubt that at all, I work several jobs to keep it all going , no time to sit around and play mindless games
And if you actually measured and tested the temps you would know , they run any where from 20-30 degrees hotter , that is just coolant temps with stock gearing and larger tires
Common sense, which I know is lacking in todays world, but common sense tells you it would run hotter, with more wear and tear
Been lifting and regearing ones for years, not just the KJs
My 78 Dodge van on 38s ran almost 45 degrees hotter until I regeared it ( back in 1979 ) then back to normal
My 79 Ford F150 short bed on 38s I bought new ran hotter when going from 12-15s to 38 mudders with stock gearing, same with my tj, all 3 XJs etc
Its all common sense type things
But good luck and by the way my name is Tom , but if you want to be a smart ***, I can completely ignore you and your 10 year old name calling. So are you an adult or ??? LOL
I love these " debates " always have

your and you're are two different words, above you're would be the only choice to use.

By the way I'll part ways with some to " friends" and guys I do lifts for but......no one else

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Again tommieboy no need to get flustered...I know a thing or two on temps and keeping vehicles cool , I live in Az unfortunately, so if I tell you that in my experience, on my vehicle I've been able to run this set up and not over heat in the desert or in the mountains or on the I-10 during afternoon traffic , and that the power I lost is negligible..its cuz it's worked so far..and yeah budgets are budgets and they are different from person to person..example I can't work multiple jobs or play mindless games ...you should come out to az one day and we can take the rigs out see how yours does

tommudd said:

Oh doing doing doing it somehow LOL
Different budgets ??? I highly doubt that at all, I work several jobs to keep it all going , no time to sit around and play mindless games
And if you actually measured and tested the temps you would know , they run any where from 20-30 degrees hotter , that is just coolant temps with stock gearing and larger tires
Common sense, which I know is lacking in todays world, but common sense tells you it would run hotter, with more wear and tear
Been lifting and regearing ones for years, not just the KJs
My 78 Dodge van on 38s ran almost 45 degrees hotter until I regeared it ( back in 1979 ) then back to normal
My 79 Ford F150 short bed on 38s I bought new ran hotter when going from 12-15s to 38 mudders with stock gearing, same with my tj, all 3 XJs etc
Its all common sense type things
But good luck and by the way my name is Tom , but if you want to be a smart ***, I can completely ignore you and your 10 year old name calling. So are you an adult or ??? LOL
I love these " debates " always have

your and you're are two different words, above you're would be the only choice to use.

By the way I'll part ways with some to " friends" and guys I do lifts for but......no one else

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Tom, you have no idea what you’re talking about. You MAY have been doing this for a while, but that doesn’t mean you’ve been doing it right. I can tell you from actual educated experience that regearing is not completely necessary. You talk as if the minuscule amount of extra wear and tear is going to make a difference of 100k miles on the life of the drivetrain. Hardly.

A-A-ron said:

Tom, you have no idea what you’re talking about. You MAY have been doing this for a while, but that doesn’t mean you’ve been doing it right. I can tell you from actual educated experience that regearing is not completely necessary. You talk as if the minuscule amount of extra wear and tear is going to make a difference of 100k miles on the life of the drivetrain. Hardly.

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LOL

Doing10to20 said:

Again tommieboy no need to get flustered...I know a thing or two on temps and keeping vehicles cool , I live in Az unfortunately, so if I tell you that in my experience, on my vehicle I've been able to run this set up and not over heat in the desert or in the mountains or on the I-10 during afternoon traffic , and that the power I lost is negligible..its cuz it's worked so far..and yeah budgets are budgets and they are different from person to person..example I can't work multiple jobs or play mindless games ...you should come out to az one day and we can take the rigs out see how yours does

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I've been to Arizona many times ding **** ( since you want to keep calling me names )
common sense is out the window on this one

tommudd said:

LOL

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It’s ok, we will still give you a participation trophy for your effort. “LOL”

tommudd said:

I've been to Arizona many times ding **** ( since you want to keep calling me names )
common sense is out the window on this one

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Ok ok tommiesan I'm gonna go for a drive in the ol jeep and get some iced coffee, with the ac on and not running hot... it's hot here in the valley,I'll be thinking of you

jeeptorino68 said:

I'm running the ironman lift and some additional spacers. I think about 2.5 total havent measured in a while. Running 255 70 16 tires. Which are about 30 inches tall.
Anyways i do the same kind of 4wheeling you are talking about and the bottom of my front skid is scrapped bare. No paint left from sliding over everything...if thats and indicator. I'll measure actual clearance tonight for you

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That would be great!

And to bring it full circle what I did learn was that re-gearing is a contentious issue and that I'm probably gonna rock the 2.5" from the OME lift and throw some 245/75/16s on it. Seems to be a tried and true setup and it sounds like it's a good balance between little bit taller tires and not too much loss of power/MPG. Quick maths seems that it would give me around 9" or so under the diff and, uh, 11" or so under the front skid. That's not bad.

Brendon Holt said:

That would be great!

And to bring it full circle what I did learn was that re-gearing is a contentious issue and that I'm probably gonna rock the 2.5" from the OME lift and throw some 245/75/16s on it. Seems to be a tried and true setup and it sounds like it's a good balance between little bit taller tires and not too much loss of power/MPG. Quick maths seems that it would give me around 9" or so under the diff and, uh, 11" or so under the front skid. That's not bad.

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Bro sounds good! That is a good lift and a good size for tires..you gonna have fun on the trails with that set up

Doing10to20 said:

Bro sounds good! That is a good lift and a good size for tires..you gonna have fun on the trails with that set up

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Now I just gotta dig up enough pennies!

Brendon Holt said:

Now I just gotta dig up enough pennies!

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Yeah that's always the rub, I've always found my tires on offer up or craigslist and I've managed to get good deals most I've ever paid is 450 for all 4. Check out rocky road outfitters they got the Ome gear

I like the lift and my tire size is pretty close.

Beat the pinch weld down and use a heat gun to chop up and reshape the fender liners. You can even use a flat scraper and torch to weld the plastic a little. Get the scraper red hot with the torch and then press it down flat on the plastic to melt it.

I noticed power loss even offroad in 4 low, there is a hill near my house by a lake and pre-lift/tires I was just barely able to make it up (everything was stock and saggy). After the lift and tires I just dont have the push to get all the way, I get 3/4's up and its like I am stuck in maple syrup, can only go back down, up just digs me in more. Sadly one of my favorite fishing/swimming spots is on the other side (because this hill keeps the filthy casuals out).

definitely noticed the power loss pulling my tent trailer up hills. It was barely noticeable before, now I have to prepare for long/steep hills.

mrlavalamp said:

I like the lift and my tire size is pretty close.

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I was about to ask what your setup was then saw your signature. How did you get 3.5" out of the OME 927/947 lift? Clevis/spacers/exrtra isos on the back?

pretty much.

I did the econo lift (aka mudds lift) and my suspension was so saggy before I got more like 5" out of it all said and done.

My tires rubbed on the swaybar near lock really bad so I installed some hub adapters ("spacers"). Pushing the wheels out that extra inch on each side really cleans up the look of it lifted, and "seat of the pants" when I first put them on it felt a lot more stable and less tippy post lift/tires.

About 9 or 9.5 inches clearance under my front skid