4.56 vs 4.88 debate

Yep.. better than the oil filter debate that leads to virtual fistfights and deeply rooted arguments..


I had an 8.8, 3.08 stock with NO limited slip in my 93' manual trans 4.0L. Couple years back I picked up a complete matching dana35 front end and matching rear axle in typical 3.73 fashion with a Limited Slip from a 94' Ranger 4x4 donor along with the entire I/P wiring.


Recently have picked up a Std cab 94' Ranger 4x4 as a donor parts truck for the 4x4 frame and body swap. Again I have a whole other prewired dash which will need reworking to my cab. I have the entire interior with exceptions to a few things still yet to be done before completing even the interior swapping itself which I have other questions about but that's for another thread..


As I am preparing this frame for my needs and wants, boxing in the frame, among other things necessary structurally I will be forced into simultaneously at points working in the suspension and hanging axles attributes. There will be measures taken to strengthen the few weak spots in the Dana35 setup and adding the rear 8.8 truss work. While I am updating and going through them I may as well work at the gearing and ARB Air lockers front and back which leads me into a buying question based upon gearing.


4.56 or 4.88


Now before the arguments are strewn around I understand and know that on paper tire sizes arent what they say. According to nearly every calculators math i've played with so far.., 3.73 gets me some MPG back but on the 34"-35" range 4.56 will put me in basically OEM specs with the Manual trans and 4.88 would put me more into a power band of things so it seems relevant that for the 130-200 RPM's more I'll be turning. Logically if I stay 35's which for what I do, I think 37's are just really uncalled for; and I'll likely stay 35's for more than several reasons. I'm leaning towards 4.88 gears. I could at this point not care too much about doing 100mph, I'm that ass who does 65 MPH anyway, and there is an engine swap in the future.

My intentions are more a gear ratio that does a bit better in pulling without having to drop down a gear or two for that matter.


So whose swapped to 4.56 or 4.88 on here. What & Why did you pick the gearing you did, how long have you ran that setup and after said time, regrets? Do it again? Add your comments below.

Do 4.88 with 35's without question. I have a 93 expo- 5spd d35/9inch' on 33's and sometimes wish I had 4.88's. But I do lot of freeway so the 4.56 is nice.
Everything is trussed and extended frame plated etc, so there's more weight than your ranger.


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not an exact answer to the 4.56 vs 4.88 but i would 100% go with 4.88. i have 5.13 in mine and back when i had the 5 speed and 35s i could drive more than comfortably on the highway at high speeds with out spinning immensely high rpms. these 4.0s are dogs, i personally wouldnt go less than 4.88 with 35s. cruising 80mph (gps) was no issue. also if you have a pre 95 gauge cluster you can re gear your speedo drive cable to calibrate it to your tire/gear combo. not sure of the later years

If you think you'll stay in the 33-35" range and are definitely regearing, I'd go 4.88 as well. The only reason in my mind to drop down to 4.56 is if you might ultimately come back down to 31-33" tires, where 4.88 might be a little low for street use, particularly long highway runs.

I have 4.56 and 33's and a 4.0. I think it's perfect for street driving, but it's not quite low enough for off roading.

Definitely 4.88 (or lower) if you will be running 35's.

Or stick with 4.56 since you know it will be good on the highway and do a doubler kit. That my plan.

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The difference in RPM on the highway is minimal. I have a 4 cylinder, but I went 4.56 with 29" tall tires! (235/75R15). My highway mileage actually improved with that setup, albeit only slightly.

Just go 4.88.

For 33s I think I stick to 4.56. If you are 100% going with 35s I think 4.88 is the better choice.

87xjmike said:

Or stick with 4.56 since you know it will be good on the highway and do a doubler kit. That my plan.

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Click to expand...

The .32 difference won't make up for a doubler anyway.

Not knowing really how committed you are I would be tempted to go 4.88 in case you opt to go to 35's down the road you already have the better gear. If you are pretty committed to 33's it probably doesn't matter much but I would still lean towards 4.88's being a little bit more of a good thing.

One step in gear ratios is not a groundbreaking difference.

I run 4.56 gears with 33" off-road tires and I think that is ideal. I also run 31" tires when not going off-road. I think that is too low gearing fro 31" tires. Granted it does accelerate nice but highway driving requires higher rpm than I prefer and I get about 1 mpg or more drop in mileage with around town driving compared to when I had 4.10 gears with the 31" tires. The 4.56 gears do work well with the 31" tires when towing and I can use 5th gear which was not good when I had the 4.10 gears.

If you are going to run 35" tires I recommend 4.88 gears because that is similar to running 33" tires with 4.56 gears. If you end up with 33" tires, running 4.88 gear would be kind of like running 31" tires with 4.56 gears. That would be good if you tow a lot but not great for anything else. The OHV 4.0 is not a high rev engine and you don't want gears that make you need high rpm to get down the road.

If you are going to make a engine change, all recommendations are off without knowing what engine you plan to use.

I run a 4 cylinder and 35's, so 5.13's were a must, and offroad with the 8:1 compression ratio before the turbo kicks in wish it was lower sometimes...

Lots of great comments and suggestions.. thanks!

35's will be the largest I need and will go, at least on the 2 current Ranger Rigs and for the Xterra 4x which will all be sharing tire size, type, wheels, even bolt patterns so the (2) Rangers at some point will be converted to 6 x 114.3 so any of the vehicles go down while on the trail or were to suffer mass tire loss. All of the spares will interchange for simplicity and ease of carrying on. Within the trio at least two vehicles will always go and both on farther expeditions opportunities will have multicarriers on both vehicles and the trailers will be a second spare; which is an additional 4 wheels and tires. I know Overkill, but you'd have to understand the logic of it and the setup. Crazy I know but.. when you see the end results and setup.. It'll make sense in the bigger picture.

And as for daily driven, yes mostly but neither myself nor the woman drive 90MPH anywhere anyway and if we had to, we have other vehicles for that. This "Trio" of vehicles are for literally special purpose eventually. I know, seems vague but no spoilers yet and 5.13 just seems over the top even for me for the application.

Below is some compiling of my research based upon the current tire specs, but people I think will get the point of what I'm doing.











At 65MPH RPM would be 2574 +/- (4.88) a whopping 200 RPMS less @ (4.56) should be closer to 2405 - 180 or so RPM's less.. minuscule really but the shift points, and that little bit on both ends will help between low crawl-ability and some power delivery I think.

Like I said, I'm not worried about top end - wrong vehicle.