Hello everyone.  Sorry I have been gone for a while.  Hope everyone is well.  Just a question bout my good olkd differentials.

I have a 97 grand cherokee with a 5.2 and D30 up front with the D44 in the rear and the Limited Slip.

I will probably be redoing the gears.  I am still debating with 4.10s or 4.56s.  I have stock suspension and tires right now but will be getting a 3-3.5 inch lift and put 31" tires on it.  

Which gears should i go with, the 4.10 or 4.56?  and what's a good brand of gears to go with, nice strong ones.  i don't have the time to do the gears right and will be having a shop do them for me.  

Is there anything i should be careful of?  Is there anything else i need to know? Any help would be great! Thanks

I like my 3.73 for 31's in a TJ. both have OD, you've got more power, comperable weight, and less wind resistance. I'd say 3.73s or 3.55s.

I'm not sure your goofy Al D44 uses the same gears as a regular D44.
3.55, 3.73, and 4.11 were all OEM gear ratios for jeep in D30 and D44, so maybe look at eBay. the 3.55 were Optional for 97TJs. 3.73 were optional after that. for 4.11 look for D30 from a 4 banger and D44 from a rube. 3.73 and 4.11 will have a different carrier for the D30. the carrier used to change with 4.11 for the D44, but jeep decided to use thicker gears instead.

ic...remember i have a 97 Grand Cherokee ZJ.  the D44 has 3.73 because i did the little trick where u count rotations of the driveshaft per one turn of a wheel

but why would i go smaller?  3.55? i want to go bigger, help turn the bigger wheels and not loose a whole lot of power.  in all honesty i just want to know if i should go with the 4.10 or 4.56 cause i will gear up.  and whats a good brand of gears to help with?

Why not put the 31" tires on and see if you like it? If not then look at changing gears. If you do you are money ahead.

I'll second that motion.  I put 31" tires on my '89 YJ with the 4.2L slug and left the original 3.54 gears.  Re-geared the speedo drive, and it works fine 'wheeling.  3.73s would be better, but  I didn't have the cash-ola at the time, and I don't have it now, either...maybe some day....  

Maybe I should have been more clear in my orignal explanation.   I am definately getting new tires soon, 31".  I am definately re-gearing no matter what.  I don't want to test or see what I like.  This is the combination I want and what I feel is best for me and my truck.  I go to school as a full time student and graduate may of 07.  I was going to re-gear come the end of summer 2007.  And probably lift and tires by end of 07 or 08.  So these are combinations I will definately get.  Stronger, bigger gears and lift.  

I need to know what brand of gears to get.  What is the strongest SOB on the market today?  I have 3.73s and will definately be going bigger.  And because I am definately regearing I want to know if I should go with 4.10s or 4.56s.

well going from 3.73 to 4.11 you wont even notice much of a differnce.its not worth the money when 3.73 and 31's are just fine.if you are going to go to 33 inch tires,then go with 4.56 gears.if you do with 31's you will run high rpm's.as for brand,i went with dana spicer gears.seem to work good for me and alot of other people who wheel even harder than i would want to.they cost a bit more but i think they are worth it.good luck with your mod's.  

WITH 31;S A 4;10 GEARS ARE  GOOD   WITH MY 4.0.  BUT IF WAS  YOU   IGO  35'S  AND  4;88 S .BUT  IT DEPEDS  ON HOW MUCH HI-WAY YOU DO.   

Ok, this will throw you for a loop but here goes.

I run 36x13.50 Super Swamper Irok's on a Dana 30 front end with 3.55's. My highway speed is about 65 mph. I have never been stuck once. I have no problem climbing anything I have tried. I'm from Colorado, I'm not talking about crawling small stuff. I crawl 5 foot boulders and ledges 4 feet and higher.

Honestly you really do not need to waste your money on regearing right now. You will most likely not even notice a difference with the little 31" tires you are planning for. My XJ slings some heavy meats with very little effort from the straight six. You'll be fine. Save for some other stuff down the road. Gears should definitely NOT be your top priority right now.

It seems to me that without knowing how you use your jeep, what gears to recommend can't be done. Like tires. A trailered jeep used for rock crawling is going to want different gears to a daily driver used for running reasonably close-by sand dunes and beaches, or a weekend machine needed to run 300 miles down an interstate to get to some muddy forest trails. One size doesn't fit all, and as Groo and the last guy with the Iroks said (can't see his name on this lousy formatted forum), bigger - or deeper - isn't always better.  

If you've got 3.73 stock, thats probably a towing gear. leave it unless you want to do lots of heavy towing. I mentioned ebay, because I don't think there are any gears out there that would be a big improvement than the OEM ones  

I have stock gears 3.07 Dana 30F Dana 35R and my highway speed sucks.
I am upgrading to 4.56 gears to push my 33's
I haven;t used 5th gear since upgrading the tires to 33.
I would say go with 4.56 and be done with it, if you might go with bigger tires down the road.
If your staying with 31's 4.11 will be fine.

MHO