I have a CJ7 with a rebuilt 4.2, weber carb, beefed up ignition- a very strong runner considering I live at 10,000 feet with a carb. I have a T-5 and my axles are geared at 3.54 with 32" tires. I don't have alot of low end torque; I have to ride the clutch a little when starting on a hill, I can do almost 50mph in third gear and I've never shifted into fifth. I considered gearing to 4.10, but alot of local shops think this is pretty tall for my set-up. I'd rather not spend the money on re-gearing. I've had guys suggest a tranny with lower gearing or cam replacement. Apparently this engine was rebuilt at a speed shop before I bought it. How can I tell (can I tell?) if an RV cam may help my situation. Any thoughts out there?

Well hico cams sorta go like this.. The bigger they are the higher in the rpm range the power comes in.. So a "bigger" cam will cause you to slip the clutch even MORE starting off..
Ive been at altitude with a damn clutch too. My choice would be that 4:10 gear. More rpm than I would need here where the altitude is around 600 ft. would be an asset up in the clouds. You would be able to use 5th gear again and starting off would be a piece of cake.
Add-ons like the "hotter" spark don't do much if anything for adding horsepower.
Short of pulling the cam out to see what it is or knowing who built it, there is no real method of telling what is in there.
The cheap way out would be a set of 28in tires...
Big Jim <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/pfft.gif" alt="" />

The fact that you never use fifth gear is the surest sign that you are desparately in need of lower (higher numerically) gears in your axles. Get at least 4.10 gears. If you have a 5-speed manual tranny, and fifth gear is an overdrive gear, then I'd consider even getting 4.56 gears in the axles.

Pulling the big hills, the grades to the tunnel and any jeeping at all suggests the need for lower gears, 4.10 or even 4.56 or 4.88. 4.10s would be the correct match IF you lived in Denver and drove the hill once in a while, 4.10s would be the correct gearing IF you will NEVER go bigger than 32s. But reality suggests that we all want (at some point) bigger tires and better crawl ratios...

The shop you are talking to clearly knows nothing about what the industry would suggest for the correction of this problem, they may not even know how to do gear work (rule one, never have gear work done by a shop that does not do it everyday). Next the shop might be great with engines, but a 1000 HP motor will not overcome the need to slip the clutch. Gear ratio needs to be matched to the tire size moreso than engine torque or HP.

I do gear work everyday, solving this problem is what I do.

My suggestion is, if you see 33" or 35" tires in your future, go with 4.56s if 33" tire are the biggest you see going with. If you even invision 35s go with 4.88s gears.
You won't regret it. For the mountain driving you do, and having a 5th gear to shift into I'd do 4.88.

I do my gear ratio recomendations based upon how you see your jeep in the future, so you don't have to do this twice.
A set of larger tires and a sawzall are less expensive than doing gears a second time.

SD

Let me know