31's vs 32's

[Jonny Boy]

Just a quick followup on one of my other threads about tires...I am going to buy new goodyear duratracs probably tuesday and I'm caught between 31x10.5 or 32x11.5. Both will fit without rubbing & I'm wondering if there is really any real difference btw the two offroad wise. Also will I see much of a gas mileage or acceleration loss? I have 3.73's and I drive 50/50 city/highway. Thanks!

 

[gw33gp]

I like the 32" tires off-road much better than with 31". With 3.73 gears you may have a tough time with 32" tires. I run 4.10 gear and I think 32" tires are the limit with those. I am pretty sure if I go to 33" tires I will need to re-gear.

 

[Jonny Boy]

You really think so huh? I wouldn't have guessed there would have been much of a difference..

 

[K.Strong]

I wouldn't re-gear. I turn 31s with 3.55 gears just fine.

 

[gw33gp]

If you do any significantly tough off-road or towing, you can plan on a short clutch life with 31" tires and 3.55 gears. I tried 31" tires and 3.73 gears with my 89 2.9L Ranger and I got about 60K miles out of the first clutch. I then switched to 4.10 gears and got closer to 130K miles on the next clutch.

 

[6.2]

4.10 gears are ideal for 31-33" tires.

 

[shane96ranger]

This may be useless to you, but:

With a 32 inch tire you will have approximately 628 revolutions per mile, compared to approximately 649 revolutions per mile with the 31 inch tires. There is approximately a 2mph difference in the speedometer at 65mph.

I agree that you would probably want 4.10's in the rear for these tires.

 

[DC]

My 87 ranger has 33 on it i had 3.73 gears im it an im still running the same clutch i i do some seriouse off roading an i run it in the mud pits it does just fine besides gas wise but im also a heavy foot to

 

[projectnitemare]

I can't believe someone didn't have the easy difference already...an inch. Jokes aside there isn't a huge difference between those tires to matter all that much; you will hardly notice if you had each installed for a test drive but there will be a difference from your stock tires Being you do a lot of road driving I would be more concerned about width. I don't go wider than a 10.5 on a stock 7 inch rim on the street. Most of them you will have to adjust down in air pressure to get even treadwear and that will kill fuel milage. With a 31 that will be like having a almost a 3.40 final ratio a 32 almost a 3.30 so that isn't too bad. If it is height you are after offroad there will be no difference because of an almost 1/2 taller tire; you scrape on 31s you most likely scrape on 32s. My book, if both are equal quality of tire buy the cheaper one.

Matt

 

[armadillon]

What is with this 31 v 32 crap? 40in or go home. Just use the teleporter if you want to save on gas. Kirk did it, why you bein' such a square?

 

[gw33gp]

My 87 ranger has 33 on it i had 3.73 gears im it an im still running the same clutch i i do some seriouse off roading an i run it in the mud pits it does just fine besides gas wise but im also a heavy foot to

I see that you are also running a 302. That makes using 3.73 gears much easier with 33" tires. With a smaller engine you have to slip the clutch more to get it going when towing or doing some minor rock crawling.

After my recent long off road trip with the 32" tires, I know I will want 4.56 gears if I to go to 33" tires. I will not go larger than 33" because I don't want to make modifications to make the tires fit.

I can definitely feel the difference between my 31" and and 32" tires. The 31" are Michelin LTX M/S for pavement and the 32" are Procomp MT for off-road. Of course the M/S tires are smother and quieter but acceleration and power up hills are definitely better compared to the MT tires. I can tell the 32" tires are also a little more sluggish at take off. The gas mileage suffers a little with the 32" tires but that may be partially due to the very course tread and they are 1" wider.