Re-gearing our 2021 Jeep Gladiator to Spicer Dana 5.13 gears. Was it worth the cost?
Zeus got a Major upgrade this week! New Gears! We want to make sure all of our giveaway rigs are DIALED IN, which meant slapping some Spicer Dana 5.13's on him. Mechanically, he's dialed in folks and all is left is to mount our SMRT Tent RTT to our RLD Design Canopy and we'll be ready to hit the trails!
Quick heads up... Did you know that you can walk away with the keys to Zeus, our 2021 Gladiator + $10,000 in cash? Simply become a member for $8.95 at HTTP://www.forged4x4.com and you'll get 10 entries to win every month your a member. Or you can make a 1 time purchase in our shop and you'll get 1 entry for every $1 spent!
Here's some fun facts about regearing.
When should you re-gear your rig?
When larger tires are installed, you have several things working against you: the diameter of the tire, rotational mass, rolling resistance, and the added weight of the tires. The diameter of your tires directly affects how hard your drivetrain has to work in order to move the vehicle, what you need to keep in mind is the axle is going to be turning your wheels. The axle shafts are just over an inch in diameter, and they have to turn whatever tires are on your Rig This means that with a 30 inch tire you need to apply 30 times more force to the axle in order to turn the wheel. By re-gearing to a shorter gear, you will increase the amount of force that is being sent to the axle, this allows your Jeep to move the tires with less of a strain on the engine.
How Much it Costs to Regear Your Jeep
Replacing your Jeep's ring and pinion gears is more than simply purchasing a ring and pinion set. There are a number of bearings, seals, bolts, and the differential cover gaskets to worry about. If you're replacing the gears in both front and rear differentials, your overall cost will be understandably more. An entire gear overhaul kit will run you anywhere from $600-$1,200.
Certain differentials can only accommodate certain size ring gears. Generally, the higher numerically you go in gears, the bigger the ring gear. Should you need to upgrade the differential's carrier, this is the time to decide if you want to upgrade to lockers. No reason to do the work twice should you decide on lockers later. A new differential carrier will run about $700-$1,000.
Labor will always vary by region and shop, but you expect a ring and pinion gear installed to be approximately $500-$700 per axle. The being said, a complete re-gear job is several thousand dollars, done properly.
Can you Re-Gear your rig yourself?
Of course, you can do it yourself... However, this is a modification that we highly recommend that you work with a professional. The reason being, there are several elements of the re-gearing process that need special equipment to ensure longevity and proper alignment. As our mechanic told us at ProGear, they get a lot of jobs where someone tried to do it themselves the first time, but unfortunately, the gears didn't last. Do it right, do it light... Do it wrong, do it long as my old coach used to say!Credit: Forged 4x4