Setting up 88 G.W. for towing.

[pensky2]

My 88 G.W. is Stock (74,000 miles)except for 3" low restriction cat & muffler. I put a 2" receiver and electric brake system. I have a 4000lb camper. I currenlty pull with my 98 Astro Van. That V6 pulls OK. But the G.W cant even do 60mph pulling the trailer. Any ideas on improvements that can be made to inmprove towing capabilities. I don't want to spend $40k on a new Yukon!!!!!!!.

[joe]

You'll prolly need to regear both axles. If that Wag won't tow at 60mph you've prolly got the stock 2.73 gears in it. The optional 3.31's that came with the towing pack are somewhat better. 3.31's aren't tow gears in my book but AMC seemed to think so. If you're going to regear I'd go at least 3.54 or 3.73's.

[Merc69]

Gearing, the axle ratio in your Wag is set up for mileage. Someone here will have the ratio. You need to look at getting new gears for you axle.

[pensky2]

Accoring to the Jeep parts book ther are several different axle housings depending on ring gear used. Can I just change the ring ans pinion or do I have to replace the entire axle assemblies? What would haven if I don't replace the front gear ratio? Would driveline bind be that bad with the viscose clutch in the transfer case?

[joe]

An 88 will have a D44 front and rear. You will have to change both front and rear gear sets or never use 4WD again.

[SBJeep]

If your GW didn't have a factory hitch, it has the 2.73 gears. It seems that even with these gears, you should have been able to get up to speed, if slowly. I have a '79 F150 with 2.75 gears that has flat-towed a couple of 60's muscle cars across country no problem(except steep hills). Is there something else going on here?

I had an S10 with the 4.3 which had 3.42 gears and a 700r4 with the deep 1st gear. This setup should be similar to your Astro. My GW has the 3.31 gears. I can tell you that they towed similarly with the edge going to the GW for getting the load going.

If you don't have the tow package, you probably don't have the extra tranny cooler, too. That'd be a good thing to add with that sort of load. If I had an unlimited supply of cash, I'd re-gear to 3.54 or even 3.73, like -joe said.