Gearing options & rebuilding transfer

[mick85]

Ok im in a bit of a dilemma here!! here is the story put simply...

The transfer in my 95 1.3 zook is pretty much knackered i think or close to it, it engages H2, H4, and L4 but its an effort just to pop it into the right gear, that and its leaking transfer fluid badly so im thinking about getting it rebuilt along with a new decent clutch while im at it because the one i have now is like pushing my foot into a foam sponge!

The dilemma is that I want to replace my current 30 inch at's with some 31/32 inch muds in the next few months... now currently driving the zook on the highway towing the ski is a bit of an effort for the little motor gear and tyre combo so im thinking that in order to push the 31/32's around im going to require a gearing change for the rear diff in order to compensate for the larger diameter of tyre and ive heard if not changing the gearing it just wears the clutch out quicker? the engine at the moment is stock but may receive soon a slight exhaust change as my muffler has some holes ,but nothing major, thats about it.

A mate whos a mad keen worlds best mud zook driver etc reckons you can fit up the 1 litre transfer to the 1.3 and it lowers the gears better for offroad and also thinks that it will be better for bigger tyres but clearly it will only be better for pushing them about when you have 4x4 engaged and still run like shit onroad until you change the rear end....?

so my questions are....
1. whats the best diff gears to run in the rear end for a stock 1.3 zook motor to push the 31/32's around - anyone done this?
2. rebuilding the transfer is there anything important to know and can it be a diy job with the right parts
3. any expierence with different clutches, preferably ones that can take a bit more work for offroad use

got no worries at giving fitting the parts a go so is it a tough job?

someone help please!! cheers, mick :thumb:

[DEEV8]

if your going to rebuild the transfer, you may as well by some aftermarket crawler gears with your rebuild kit. Ordering from the U.S is favourable at the moment with strong exchange rate etc. etc.

You can fit gears that will bring your gearing back to stock with 32's, and bring low range right down to a controllable crawl...

read up here for some more info...

Outer Limits 4x4 Board :: View topic - Reduction Gears (http://www.outerlimits4x4.com/PHP_Modules/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=122349)

And this U.S. site sells gears etc..

Welcome to Low Range Off-Road, your off-road parts and accessories source for your Suzuki, Toyota, and Jeep (http://www.lowrangeoffroad.com)

I know people say buy locally etc, but a crawler reduction gearset can be had for around $800 to your door including new gaskets/seals for rebuild etc... Thats compared to $1100+ just for the gears here in aus.

[mick85]

cool thanks

i understand that these gears are for the transfer case correct.... but what about when i am running in rear wheel drive around town etc, is it possible to change the ratios in the rear to adjust for pushing larger tires??

so my question is do you fit gears to the transfer case for offroad use and change the rear diff ratios as well for adjust for 2wd for everyday driving???
:o

I know people say buy locally etc, but a crawler reduction gearset can be had for around $800 to your door including new gaskets/seals for rebuild etc... Thats compared to $1100+ just for the gears here in aus.thats a pretty good deal delivered!! heaps cheaper than any price ive been told of

[grimbo]

t/case gears affect high range and low range. So by fitting the t/case gears you are lowering your gears whether you are in 2wd or 4wd. Depending on which gearing set you choose you will notice approx 12-18% gearing drop in high range which will compensate for the 31" tyres when you are driving around in 2 wd high range. The low range drops about 83% (from memory so don't quote me) but this equates to a gearing change in low range of your current 1st low being roughly equal to the new 3rd low. Effedtively giving you two "extra" gears

[mick85]

oh ok, i didnt know transfer case will change both 2wd and 4wd, thanks for clearing that up

so what are the best gears to run or what is commonly run? read outerlimits that 4.x.x or something? will this then return the speedo to near close when upping the tire size and lowering the gearing...

does that mean 4x4 mode will be crawling about really slowly?

[tomholt]

check out bbm's rockcrawler gears they r austrailian or check out rocky-road.com puresuzuki.com or trailtough.com they all have heaps of suzi stuff rocky-road has the most gearing options

[mick85]

thanks deev8, grimbo and tom. have you had any expierience with the lowrange offroad gear? they do a 6.5:1 gearset and a 4.9:1 gearset, both vary in price, any expierience with either?

[lump_a_charcoal]

Also, keep the ratios the same in the front and rear diffs, unless you never intend to go 4x4ing ever again.

[DEEV8]

No experience for me, yet. Just from reading others comments etc, however I plan to buy a set of 6.5:1 gears very soon.

[bop smoo]

come on mick85 , open that bottomless wallet of yours and get this problem fixed so we can go wheeling..

[mick85]

come on mick85 , open that bottomless wallet of yours and get this problem fixed so we can go wheeling.. bloody cars! the zook needs this gear stuff done and possibly a clutch unless i can manage for a bit longer with the one i have (i hope) and have another 4bee day! :)

and once the gears are in a new set of tyres (and rims i dare say ill be up for as well) are on the cards! hopefully 32's will squeeze in place of what i have in there now and should be right with the new gears! hows your truck going?

:)

[tomholt]

go straight for the 6.5's the high range wont be much different to the 4.9's, and they will be way better up the bush, with the little low powered suzi donk you want to go as low as possible esspecialy if you want to run 32" tyres.

[want33s]

I got 6.5:1 gears from Welcome to Low Range Off-Road, your off-road parts and accessories source for your Suzuki, Toyota, and Jeep (http://www.lowrangeoffroad.com) a few months ago and I couldn't be happier.
It has totally transformed my car both on road and off.
6.5:1 gearset is deisgned for 32-33" tyres.... it is 20% lower in high range so you still do same revs as stock tyres and speedo still reads correctly.
Low range is 187% lower than stock so it crawls really well. :waycool:
5th low 5500 rpm = about 20km/h... way slower than 1st high.:D
I can idle up walls now... no strain on the clutch

[ZUKZILLA]

Checkout nbs4x4club.com - Index (http://www.nbs4x4club.com) and give "Bruce" a PM he might have some CALMINI crawlers he wants to get rid of.. If not this site is a Suzuki Club so plenty of info there.:thumb:

[bop smoo]

mick85 you got it sorted yet......come on come on i want to go wheeling. just hit the bank manager up.... after all he is your old man.

[mick85]

Checkout nbs4x4club.com - Index (http://www.nbs4x4club.com/) and give "Bruce" a PM he might have some CALMINI crawlers he wants to get rid of.. If not this site is a Suzuki Club so plenty of info there.:thumb: thanks zukzilla, ive since contacted him! :)

mick85 you got it sorted yet......come on come on i want to go wheeling. just hit the bank manager up.... after all he is your old man.hahaha :crazy: how was cruiser park? pics and video look good, car sounds awesome! hope u enjoyed. parts are on order next week if all goes to plan, and maybe new shoes! zook is sick at the moment it hates me :( slowly getting there, will update this as progresses. clutch'll have to wait!

I got 6.5:1 gears from Welcome to Low Range Off-Road, your off-road parts and accessories source for your Suzuki, Toyota, and Jeep (http://www.lowrangeoffroad.com/) a few months ago and I couldn't be happier.
It has totally transformed my car both on road and off.
6.5:1 gearset is deisgned for 32-33" tyres.... it is 20% lower in high range so you still do same revs as stock tyres and speedo still reads correctly.
Low range is 187% lower than stock so it crawls really well.
5th low 5500 rpm = about 20km/h... way slower than 1st high.
I can idle up walls now... no strain on the clutch sounds good want33's - i want 33's!!!!!!!!!! :)

DEEV8 how'd u go with the 6.5's - they arrived yet?? :)

[WasabiPimpNinja]

I'm looking at putting a 1ltr TC into my '97 Sierra. I've been told it's a relatively straight forward operation and will give you around 12% reduction in 2H, not sure about the other ranges though. I'm doing this because my Zook is a Coilly so it has a chain driven TC instead of a gear driven one like all the others, so it's very expensive and hard to find gears to lower the current TC...

[ZUKZILLA]

Original Post By WasabiPimpNinja: "Coilly so it has a chain driven TC instead of a gear driven one "

OMG!! :eek: You learn something new every day dont you.. What noob at Suzuki thought that chain drive was a good idea? :crazy: Leave that for motor bikes me thinks!

[get it up there]

Hey Mick.. i have recently installed a set of series 4 rockhopper gears to my sierra, which gave a 185-percent reduction in low-range, not sure what the exact reduction in high range is, but made a good difference!!! (back to original i believe). In low range first gear, it is bloody awesome how slow the vehicle moves, which makes it sooooo much easier handling my zook up and down steep hills etc.. oh, im running 32's..

[mick85]

Hey Mick.. i have recently installed a set of series 4 rockhopper gears to my sierra, which gave a 185-percent reduction in low-range, not sure what the exact reduction in high range is, but made a good difference!!! (back to original i believe). In low range first gear, it is bloody awesome how slow the vehicle moves, which makes it sooooo much easier handling my zook up and down steep hills etc.. oh, im running 32's.. that sounds pretty good! im ordering mine in the next day or so , ill post an update when they arrive and i fit them!

[get it up there]

The only other thing is they take a fair bit to install (need to press bearings on etc) which is best left to the pro's.. and that cost me $220. But at least you have new bearings, seals etc :)

[ZUKZILLA]

Should have my CALMINI Crawlers here in the next few days. They are in Sydney clearing customs I guess. So Zilla will be crawling like a baby on the next outing..:waycool:

Also here is a link to a how to install them into a Vitara..
ZUKIWORLD online (http://www.zukiworld.com/month_010103/feature_calminirockcrawler_sidekick.htm)

:drink:

[get it up there]

Good work mate!! You will love them :)

[GRPABT1]

The only other thing is they take a fair bit to install (need to press bearings on etc) which is best left to the pro's.. and that cost me $220. But at least you have new bearings, seals etc :)

Who did you get to install them? And was that drive in drive out or did you remove the case? Also did yours require grinding of the housing like the 6.5:1's? I don't know if I CBF installing mine but I don't trust anybody.

[mick85]

Who did you get to install them? And was that drive in drive out or did you remove the case? Also did yours require grinding of the housing like the 6.5:1's? I don't know if I CBF installing mine but I don't trust anybody.
the calimni 6.5's dont require any slight grinding of the casing AT ALL according to their specs and are simply a remove and fit. the trailgears/trailcreepers for the sierra do require a slight one for the 6.5's for the largest gear to clear the case but its not much, and all cases will be different, some more grinding than others after talking to sean at lowrange offroad. gears in the 4.xx range of all makes should not require mods to the case according to most manufacturers specs

[get it up there]

I took my transfer out.. and they said it did need a small bit of grinding. (mine are series 4 rockhoppers) They also said they had to press a bearing on. I'm the same.. i dont trust anybody, but when it comes to gear's in a gearbox/transfer.. i shit myself!!!

[GRPABT1]

Ok finally got my gears today. Much thanks goes to Locktup4x4 for their great service during postal dramas.

Now is this all I need or will I need more parts?

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj51/GRPABT1/gears.jpg

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj51/GRPABT1/gaskets.jpg

[mick85]

ok GRPABT1 (http://www.4wdmonthly.com.au/forum/../../members/grpabt1/) you've had a week to make some progress on these goodies, how'd you go???? i took almost two weeks so you must be half the way there

i found an excuse to use mine the other day to pull the jet ski out of the water on the ramp when it was wet and slippery haha! will test them properly on australia day offroad but just running the t-case around town etc to make sure all is installed right, no worries so far...:thumb:

Ok finally got my gears today. Much thanks goes to Locktup4x4 for their great service during postal dramas.

Now is this all I need or will I need more parts?

also your 6.5 kit looks pretty comprehensive as in it covers everything as is.... apart from oil, gasket goo, grease for the new roller bearings and whatever else you want to put it on (i put it on anything i could find), good hammer, and some decent tools you'll be right, thats all i used..... rattle gun mite come in handy for removing the flange nuts and a bit of a pipe or someone to push on new input bearings for some beers.. apart from that you should be right parts wise!!! i still cant get over the change in size of gears from standard to reduced... its crazy :crazy:

[GRPABT1]

Yeah apparently I am missing one tiny little needle roller bearing that you have to buy seperate. So I am waiting till I get that (coming in the mail) and then waiting till I can afford a new mount (mighty kong or calmini) as I can't see the stock one lasting long with these gears. It may be this months pay (15th) or next months till I can afford it though, it's pretty tight at my joint atm.