theres the real cause of your problem.... wrong size tires for the gearing you have..this totally changes the load on both the transmission and engine which will cause the transmission to not shift in some cases since the rpm range and loads are all out of whack..
Correct the gearing or go back to smaller tires and you shouldnt have as many problems. Plus your wont burn up you transmission and engine as quickly. gearing makes all the difference in the world.... without it you get poor power and terrible gas mileage and additional load on the drivetrain wearing it out faster... its like towing a heavy trailer around really.

 

Nailed it!


OP...just curious what makes you think say What said or gave you the impression you'd be wheeling fine on 38s and stock axles? Btw, what's the suspension lift and such as you mentioned budget build?

 

I dont, but doing 10 KM/H gets old real fast and having second would save a lot of wear/tear and fuel cruising around. I know "well then use 4HI" will come back up but it just gets annoying having to stop, put it in 4HI and go again and then stop, put it in low to go through the hole.

As I said previously I will do gears when I can find a decent deal on a set of Dana 60's. I dont wheel it hard everyweeked, just around the farm and in the bush and two mud bogs a year so stock gearing and small Dana's will work for now. I can understand if im on the throttle hard it isnt going to want to come out of first but when im cruising around there should be no reason it doesnt. Even on 33's it wouldnt.

As for suspension Im running Rough Country 5" coil and a 6" block and AAL out back on 38" TSL's.

Before putting the block out back