Help from those running 33's...

[Original_Ranger84]

I would be looking for a diesel VW if I was going through 3 tanks of gas a week for work!!! as it is I am annoyed at having to fill up every 2 weeks or so.

33"s will probably bring you up to 4 tanks of gas a week.

 

[scrizzo]

In my opinion if your runnin 31s now, have 4.10s and a 4.0 you dont need to regear...its not gonna feel that much different and as long as you dont hammer on the gas ur mileage wont go down but 1-2 mpg at the most.........
i have a 3.0 with 3.73s 33 12.5 BFG ats and i still can manage 19 mpg if im careful.....thats only until i get the explorer 8.8 rigged up with 4.56s tho lol

 

[Original_Ranger84]

In my opinion if your runnin 31s now, have 4.10s and a 4.0 you dont need to regear...its not gonna feel that much different and as long as you dont hammer on the gas ur mileage wont go down but 1-2 mpg at the most.........
i have a 3.0 with 3.73s 33 12.5 BFG ats and i still can manage 19 mpg if im careful.....thats only until i get the explorer 8.8 rigged up with 4.56s tho lol

Yeah but the 4.0L is only rated at 19mpg so he would be getting conciderably worse I think. And you actually get good mileage on the highway with higher gears and larger tires because your engine doesn't have to work hard at highway speeds to keep the truck moving and with larger tires you roll farther for every turn of the tire.

But if you drive city I guarentee you will be down in the low teens at best.

 

[legoms013]

Just for reference, I have 31's and 3.73's....and do alot of driving. About 80% is highway, and the other part is city. I usually go through a tank and a half a week or slightly less. Power is fairly good on the highway too, in town it sucks.

My low average is 16.12mpg, and my high average is 16.51mpg. This is 65-70mph on the highway, and mixed speeds/accelerations in town. Tank average is 320-330. Best every with my current setup was few months back, 16.7mpg, 334 miles.

To me this is pretty astounding considering my truck is as aerodynamic as a refrigerator (don't believe me? go look at my build thread).

I bet my numbers would be slightly lower if I did mostly city driving....and when I go to 33's I probably won't be getting in the sixteens anymore...

 

[Original_Ranger84]

Yeah I have a 3.0L and I average 19 - 20 in the summer time with 50/50 driving with 3.73's and 31's. right now though in the winter time in just city driving I am averaging about 14mpg same setup. So I would think there would be a pretty substantial drop in mpg..

 

[2tonefx4]

I gotcha. I got 4.10 with 31's, which is the stock tire size on my truck, and I get around 17mpg now. I rarely travel interstate, but am generally on main routes where I am travelling at about 60mph (slightly higher than speed limit...). My only concern with going with 4.56 is I will probably go back to 31's for the winter. I am in Vermont and should run snow tires, as 12.50's are probably not the best choice for winter conditions.

 

[Original_Ranger84]

Well If you go with 33's and get 4.56's then you might as well get some 33" winter tires as well and have them siped and studded for winter but if you can't get them studded then IDK..

 

[EERNGER]

07's do sit a bit lower than 05- trucks do. There is what is called a Pre-Key mod (google it for more info) which will get you up to what the 05- trucks sit for height, it requires you to change out your torsion bar keys for that of a truck built prior to 2006. You can do the swap then do a slight crank to give you a bit more wheel-well clearance. (im going to have to see if i can find who did the writeup on R-F and get him to do a writeup for our tech library, it would be an asset for newer ranger owners). If my memory serves me, the rear blocks are also smaller on the 06+ trucks as well (Yep, appears to be a 1.25" block) but you will want to do a BT6400 shackle in the rear to get you up in the air. At that point you could split the difference and do a 32" tire, or continue on and do a body lift and run 33's with ample fender clearances. if you do end up wanting to re-gear to get better mileage and pickup, you could just go with a 33x10.5 which would give you the same footprint as your 31's with more height.

 

[TRanger03]

Alright, I didn't read the whole thread so I may be repeating things. I'm running 33x12.5 on 15x10 with just a 3in body lift, 1inch torsion bar crank and a slightly trimmed bumper. If you do a body lift you may need different bolts (I believe) and either get shackles or an add-a-leaf and crank your tbars 2inches so you don't have to trim your bumper and you'll be fine.