http://www.offroaddesign.com/catalog...-assembled.JPG
way better then short gears and you can still drive on the highway ;)
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http://www.offroaddesign.com/catalog...-assembled.JPG
way better then short gears and you can still drive on the highway ;)
I agree with you on taller gears will equate to better gas mileage on the highway, and if I lived someplace like Kansas I'd likely leave it stock and call it good, however I've driven way too many rigs with stock gears, that were dogs in the mountains with anything much over stock tire size.
If your rig sees much street time it's all about finding a happy medium, and while the OP didn't specify any performance goals in the power area, I'd assume he'd still like a reasonable level of performance.
Definitely get a Ranch Hand bumper.
Your gas mileage will actually get better if you go with new gears, you are way out of your power band with the 37 inch tires, .4.56 would get close to stock rpm at given speeds, you climb mountain passes in 3rd rather than 2nd and you will get yoir towing ability back
In the rear go for a heavily biased gear driven limited slip, i am running a similar rig and love the limited slip
It really depends. I'm too lazy to look for it but you can figure out the stock gear ratio and factory tire circumference and do the math based off the circumference of the new tires and determine what gear ratio will be closest to the stock setup.
I had a Dodge Ramcharger on 44" tires that (off the top of my head) had 7.30:1 gears and usually got around 14mpg with a 440.