2WD Tires and Gear Ratio Questions

[STRIK24]

This is my first thread on this forum, so bear with me.

I've looked around and I'm a little conflicted as to what I want to do to make my 2wd XLT a little more "me".

I just got his truck last year, mint condition. 3.55 gear ratio. It's got the 4 litre and moves pretty good with the stock tires (like 27" I think). However, I'm tired of this little truck being, well, little. Also, I would like a vehicle to take off road when the weather gets warmer. By off road I mean sand (Silver Lake Sand Dunes, MI).

I know the little shoes on it won't do me any good on dunes, so I've been looking at getting some bigger and more aggressive tires. I'm aiming toward BF 31x10.5r15 A/T or BF 33x10.5r15 A/T (preferably). I know that they will rub at the stock height, so I was going to add a 2" suspension lift (front and back) and a 3" body lift. Hopefully they will clear with no trimming.

My concern is will I need to regear from 3.55 to 4.10 ( 4.56 even? ) to maintain considerable power with 33s offroad? Should I go for 31s? Some help would be greatly appreciated.

BTW, its my daily driver so I don't want to lose too much fuel economy either.

 

[97RangerXLT]

Welll, I have a 97 4wd that came from the factory with 31" tires and a 2 inch suspension lift. 3.73 gears . So a 2 inch lift should do you fine without the body lift. I haven't had any issues w/ the 3.73s but if you are regearing it you might as well go with 4.10s.

AJ

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy Note 4 while sitting in my underwear

 

[STRIK24]

I thought the 4x4 sat higher from the factory compared to the 2wd (Disregarding the difference in tire size and 2" rear block in the 4x4) when comparing suspension?

The body lift is more for cosmetic purposes, not just to prevent any possible rubbing.

So do you think a lifted 4.0L 2wd with 33's and 4.10 gear ratio would bog off-road (i.e. going uphill)? Or would the power to the ground be sufficient enough to play around, without overwhelming stress on the tranny. It is automatic btw.

 

[don4331]

STRIK24: Welcome

The 64¢ question - coil springs or torsion bars up front; your '03 could have either. And it make a HUGE difference on what tire you can run.

With torsion bars, you can run 31x10.5r15s with just a crank (and maybe 4x4 blocks/u-bolts in rear).

You will get better mpg and performance with 4.10s and 31s than 3.55s. I'd find an Explorer with 4.10s and swap axles, but that's me.

Sticking with Torsion suspension for 33s, you can do fine with just the body lift + crank.

IMHO, 33s should have 4.30s which as you're running a 2WD, you could do. For those of us running 4x4s, it's right in middle of 4.10s and 4.56s, so we're split on which way - performance versus fuel economy...

Going with a suspension lift you only have one reasonably priced choice (Fabtech) and that will still set you back $1k + wheels and tires.

 

[STRIK24]

don4331

Coil springs up front, should've mentioned that.

Was gonna put 2" coil spacers on the front, the 2" 4X4 block on the rear, and then 3" body lift on top just for more height (for show).

I've got an explorer sitting at the side of my house right now, I should check if it has a 4.10 axle in it... Do you think that a 4.10 axle would be enough for 33s? Considering fuel mileage is a little (just a little) more important to me than off road performance. If you still think I would be better off with a 4.30, do you know where I could grab one of those? What vehicle?

 

[Kealel]

The 4.10s would help, and I have never had 33s so I am not sure what it would be like, but if another member knows they can pitch in!

Also, I have an open diff 4.10 rear end and am planning on swapping it out for a lsd rear end so I could sell it to ya (cheaper than regearing) and I am in Michigan too, maybe we could hit the dunes together!

Also welcome to the forums!

Sent from my LG-H811 using Tapatalk

 

[STRIK24]

Kealel

I'm in Windsor, ON. Silver lake is my runaway. I have a Kawasaki KX295, but I just got my truck.

Ill let you know, have to see if this explorer of mine has a 4.10 or maybe the U-Pull down the road.

 

[redhurricane]

If you are not able to do the re-gear yourself, check local shops on the price of a re-gear. hardware will cost $200-250, labor probably the same. personally I would go 4.56 with a 31" tall tire since you have mentioned that better offroad "performance" is your goal.

I have a moderately different setup, but as an example:

3.73 gears with 30x9.50x15 tires. 2" suspension lift. at 75mph I am only turning about 2500rpm. I am going DOWN in tire size, to a 235/75/15 (roughly a 29" tire) to gain a little torque.

 

[STRIK24]

redhurricane

Off-road performance isn't my primary goal, I just want to be able to play around in sand occasionally and go up dunes without feeling like my truck is gonna die. I like the look and size of the 33 A/T tires. Just want to have a nice 60:40 balance between fuel economy and off-road performance, respectively. I primarily ride dirtbikes off-road, my truck doesn't need to haul a** in the dunes, just enough to get around and play a bit.

I can regear/swap axles personally, don't need someone to overcharge me. My current question is: would a 4.10 be okay with 33s?

 

[redhurricane]

I think you'd find that 4.10 and 33" will leave a lot to be desired offroad. avatar pic is the Bronco II I built, with 33" tires and 4.56 gearing. Not a lot of torque.

Think of it like this. quit using 1st gear on your dirt bike and see how you like it. Will it do it? Sure. Will it do it well? not really.

(WR450 is my primary bike)

 

[STRIK24]

redhurricane

So what if I swapped the 33s and 4.10 to 31s and 4.10? Will power to the ground be decent with the smaller tire size?

I want the truck with 5" of lift (2" suspension, 3" body) to look good and still have decent performance. 31s under that kind of height might look small no? I could be wrong... but from what I've seen, people like the 33s when lifting it to heights around that.

I'm not going to beat the crap out of my truck off road, I just don't want to feel bad for it when I'm driving it OR get pissed off because it doesn't go anywhere.

 

[4x4junkie]

I have very small 33s (worn old non-kevlar Goodyear MT/Rs, about 31.5") and 4.10 gears on my 4.0L OHV Ranger and wish I had 4.56. You should have the SOHC 4.0L which has even more affinity toward higher RPM if I'm not mistaken, so I'd definitely agree with Redhurricane go deeper than 4.10 if you go 33s (4.10 & 31s would be about ideal however).

MPG is not going to change between 4.10 and 4.30 w/33s, and probably very little if at all even with 4.56. What will affect it much more is the taller aerodynamic profile of the truck, for which reason I'd skip the body lift, and just go with a suspension lift.

 

[STRIK24]

After thinking about it for a bit, and applying some simple math to confirm... if I want my truck to have the same power to the wheel that it currently has with 27s and 3.55 axle ratio, I need at least a 4.10 for 31s, and at least 4.30 for 33s.

tire size/original = axle ratio/original

(axle ratio = x)

31s:
31/27 = x/3.55
4.07 = x

33s:
33/27 = x/3.55
4.33 = x

Probably didn't require creating a thread, but thanks for the info. Hopefully ill let you all know what I end up doing. I'm only 17, G2 driver. Insurance wont let me do a lift, and one that will is pricey as f*ck.