Since your vehicle was specifically engineered for the tires that came on it from the factory, upgrading your Jeep tires may affect your suspension and your overall power. As a result, it’s important to upgrade essential drivetrain components anytime you update your suspension, wheels, and tires. Continue reading to learn more about the importance of stepping up your gear and axle game.
What Do Gears and Axles on the Jeep Wrangler Do?
The gears in your axle are responsible for transferring power from your driveshaft through to the axles shafts, which to the wheels. This process is completed by using two gears together called the pinion gear and ring gear. Your driveshaft connects to the shaft located on the pinion gear. As the driveshaft turns, the pinion gear turns the ring gear, which causes your axle shafts to turn and put your Jeep wheels into motion.
Axle gears have a ratio, which lets you know the number of times your driveshaft must make a complete rotation to turn the wheels one time. In other words, if you have 4.5 gears (4.5:1 ratio), it means that your drive shaft must turn 4.5 times to turn your wheels one time.
Why Upgrade Gears and Axles on Your Jeep?
Anytime you change the size of your tires, it makes sense to upgrade your axle gears. Larger tires will travel significantly further down the road before making an entire revolution. So, when you step up to bigger tires without altering your axle gears, the drive shaft will turn a lot slower as you travel down the highway.
A slower turning drive shaft means your engine will turn slower, which causes your performance and power to suffer. It can also cause your fuel economy to take a big hit. Nothing is worse than being stuck in a mud bog with mud tires that are unable to get you out of the situation. Avoid this scenario entirely by upgrading your axle gears.
In order to get your power back, you can either add an expensive super charger or upgrade your axle gears. Anytime you upgrade to larger tires, you should always choose a higher numbers for gears. Whether you are driving down the highway or crushing rocks in a local trail, ensure your Jeep has the right amount of power with appropriate axle gears.
Contact Palmer Custom Jeeps Today!
The professionals at Palmer Custom Jeeps by SORS are the Jeep experts. Anytime we upgrade tires on a Jeep, we make sure to explain the importance of having the appropriate gears and axles.
Contact us today to learn more or to begin the customization process of your Jeep.