Changing the ring & pinion would provide a gearing advantage so having more power might not be necessary. The goal is better overall performance.
I guess it's just a matter of perspective. But, just looking at the math, and cost per increase in power....
Spending $600 for ring & pinions and 8 hours to move my 149 lbs of peak stock torque up to 3400 RPMs is not the same as spending $112 and 2 hours to gain 2 to 5 lbs of added torque between 2900 and 3400 RPM. Also there will be a great advantage of increased torque and HP from 2900 RPM to 5900 RPM! - not that I'd tac it to 5,900 very often. Before this rebuild, I took my truck to 5 grand every day getting on freeway in 1st and 2nd gears. Having 10 lbs of extra torque and 8 HP at 5,000 RPM will be a huge difference in throttle response!! When passing and dropping down to 4th gear, I will have a very noticeable increase in throttle response and power over the stock numbers. When driving on steep long upgrades, it will be nice not to have to shift down the 3rd gear and keep the engine at 4,500 RPM for 5 minutes.
Since the power curve, especially torque numbers, for a stock 22RE starts dropping significantly after about 3600, with lower ratio R&Ps I may run out of RPMs before I reach my desired MPH in every gear.
TJMWO.
Gnarls.
