Gearing question for 31's or 33's

[jolliffem]

My son has a '96 Ranger 4x4, 5spd, 4.0, supercab with 3.27's. He will be going with a lift but we are trying to get the tire size figured out. I believe he can get away with 31's without regearing but I'm not sure about 33's. If he have to regear either way then he wants to go with the 33's, this then assumes he could run it for like 6 months and regear. Any input on this would be great.

 

[JFA_Spyderman]

Yo,
3.27s are a bit steep for both 31's and 33's. Ideally, 4.10's and 4.56's for 31 and 33's. However, many people can easily live with 4.10s and 33's.

There were many rangers that came with 4.10's from the factory, my suggestion would be to search your local pull-a-part and see if you can find one that did. Then pull both the front and rear axle and swap them out for your current ones. It is actually easier (and less expensive) than changing gears.

The one thing to remember is that the 4.0 trucks came with the Dana 35 up front and the 8.8 in the rear. So your donor vehicle will have to have to be either a 4.0 ranger or a 91-94 explorer. There are one or two minor differences between the explorer and ranger axles, but search the forums, this swap has been covered many times.

Welcome to the board!

 

[metalmacguyver]

An important thing to remember is that obviously there are the recommendations and then there is reality. Finding 4.10s is difficult. 3.73s are very common. I have 3.73s and 32" tires with my 1997 4.0, 5spd, supercab. I do alot of trailering and hauling but I dont have any complaints about this combination.

Welcome to the forum!

 

[MAKG]

Minor differences?

At least for the rear, spring-over vs. spring-under is not minor. Later Exploders have disk brakes in the rear; quite different from the stock drum brakes.

I have 31s and 3.54s in my Exploder; it's OK. Not great. You do have to watch the clutch at a dead stop uphill. And you have to be willing to downshift. I think you'll get away with 3.27s IF you don't haul heavy loads AND you take it easy on the clutch. But you'll hate it. It's fine on the highway as long as you don't insist on using 5th gear all the time.

 

[rickcdewitt]

you don't need to only look at 4.0l trucks to find the right axles.almost all 90-92 2.3l rangers came with a 4.10 d35 but they have a 7.5 rear.if you go with 33's 4.10 should be the minimum

 

[jolliffem]

So what you guys are saying is that he is not going to even get away with 31's with the 3.27. Therefore he might aswell go with 33's and hope he can get away with it for a few months until he can get 4.11 or 4.56.

 

[Dishtowel]

So what you guys are saying is that he is not going to even get away with 31's with the 3.27. Therefore he might aswell go with 33's and hope he can get away with it for a few months until he can get 4.11 or 4.56.

I would include the price of a new clutch disc if your going to try to get away with that for a few months....

And he will probably be much happier with 4.56's

 

[Joe400]

i have 3.27s and a ranger 4x4 supercab 5 speed. basically same truck. i put 31" bfgs on it and have had no problems. its a little slower off the line, but once you get going its fine

 

[Rarasranger]

OK. Just to throw in another factor... How bout that I'm going from 24.5 inch tires up to 33 x 12.5 on the stock 7.5 rear? I want to keep my gas mileage as high as possible and right now I'm getting 29mpg at a steady 65mpg with a 3.0. Does the 4.10 still seem like the best way to go? I normally don't haul loads more than 2200lbs and won't do much off roading that would stress my new (to me) rig. Just some weekend camping and beach / sand type stuff. BTW Thank you to all of you that convinced me to buy this little Ranger. I'm really proud of it and look forward to keeping it for as long as the People's Republik of SoCal lets me!

 

[Blackdog]

OK. Just to throw in another factor... How bout that I'm going from 24.5 inch tires up to 33 x 12.5 on the stock 7.5 rear? I want to keep my gas mileage as high as possible and right now I'm getting 29mpg at a steady 65mpg with a 3.0. Does the 4.10 still seem like the best way to go? I normally don't haul loads more than 2200lbs and won't do much off roading that would stress my new (to me) rig. Just some weekend camping and beach / sand type stuff. BTW Thank you to all of you that convinced me to buy this little Ranger. I'm really proud of it and look forward to keeping it for as long as the People's Republik of SoCal lets me!

I have a 3.0/auto/33's/4:88's. I get 16 mpg. Going with big tires will kill you milage. 4:10's and 33's will really suck as you won't be able to use overdrive and using top gear will be a rare occasion. I'd trade that 7.5 for a 8.8 before I spent money on gears. Sorry for the bad news.

 

[bobbywalter]

with a manual trans, providing the trans has good bearings and the clutch has life left in it...light all terrain 33's and 327 gears will be very drivable...a set of s/x swamper will be noticably more difficult to drive but it would probably handle that too...till the clutch starts getting tired.



should be fine with 33 at's indefinatly if you can live with the less then steller 0-20 mph performance and use 4th gear as its od now and 5th is just for looks.


if he likes to wheels make sure you save long enough for a locker along with 456 gears. even if it takes a year or so...hard part will be keeping it on the pavement...if he wheels it you make sure he knows how to put the clutches in himself

 

[Will]

With gas as it is I'm already driving with one foot out the door pushing a bit to help. 33s for looks? It'll suck the life out of ya. Motor is working 15% harder than with P235s just to move the truck up to speed. There will be a serious hit on mileage both town and highway. Could be enough to cause disillusionment which leads to getting rid of the truck--and the lift doesn't add value as everyone will assume its a piece of shit now that it's been modified like that. He's going to take a kick in the stones at the pump.

 

[Snurfer]

i have the same rig as your son only 1995. ive got 35s with 4.56 gears and my truck does great. i had 33s with 4.56 for about a week and it will easily get up and go but it was kinda knarly driving on the highway. 65 in 5th gear with the RPMs up there. if he rarely drives on the highway id go with 4.56 and 33s. otherwise go with 4.10s. either one will be a vast improvement over 3.27. and DONT run those 33s with stock gears. it wont take long for that clutch and tranny to get tired.

have an epic day

 

[4x4junkie]

I have 4.10s and 33s on my '94, I wish I had 4.56 (even with doing 65-70 on the highway).

The 4.0L wants to be around 2600-2700 RPM at those speeds, mine's more like at 2400.

A buddy of mine has 33s and 4.56 in his 4.0L truck and is totally happy with them.

 

[blackbronc]

If you look at the gear ratio chart in the tech section you'll see that 33s and 3.73s will get you almost right back to stock. 3.73s are common as hell and you can probably change out the whole rear axle and front diff way cheaper than buying and installing new gears. I have 33s, 4.10, 5 spd and 2.9 in my BII and it works fine. I just did my 93 Ranger (4.0, 5spd) 2WD from 3.07s and itty bitty 14" (maybe 25") to 3.73 and 31s. It goes better than stock. If I had a 4.0 in my BII I wouldn't even consider changing gears to 4.56 or 4.88. The 4.0 has gobs more torque than a 2.9 and it starts at idle. 31s and 3.07 are almost a direct match to 33s and 3.27. The clutch is the weak link like everyone says but my 4.0 just spins the tires if I push it hard.