Tires and gearing

[B288]

so, im not really knowlegeable about axle gearing or anything. right now i'm running some P225/75R15 and seem to have no trouble, but i dont know if they need to be regeared and i dont know it...my brother is a mechanic and i can get him to do it, so thats no problem. and i also wondered if running 33 tractor tires would require regearing...and if i do would it hurt to take the tractor tires off and switch back to my street tires? because this is a daily driver also. thanks everyone.

 

[UrbanRedneckKid]

If your truck was geared for 33"s, and both your sets of tires were 33", it would be fine.

If you plan on running those gears with stock sized tires, it would be quite peppy, and not highway-able.

Also what drivetrain modifications do you have...? Tractor tires have an extreme amount of traction, which means a stock or moderately modified drivetrain would not hold up.
My truck is "decently" built up, is getting 36" tractor tires soon, and it still worries me, even with my chromoly gutted 1/2 ton axles.

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[B288]

What do you mean by peppy and not Highway-able?and from what i understand just running the 33s with my stock drivetrain should be fine.the little 2.9 just doesnt really have the power to break stuff. and i'm not into really hardcore stuff yet, just some mud, so im not to sure ill break anything anyway. but again what do you mean peppy and not highway-able?

If your truck was geared for 33"s, and both your sets of tires were 33", it would be fine.

If you plan on running those gears with stock sized tires, it would be quite peppy, and not highway-able.

Also what drivetrain modifications do you have...? Tractor tires have an extreme amount of traction, which means a stock or moderately modified drivetrain would not hold up.
My truck is "decently" built up, is getting 36" tractor tires soon, and it still worries me, even with my chromoly gutted 1/2 ton axles.

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[4.0B2]

if you put 33's on your stock gears... you won't be able to turn them good. the 2.9 has no power and you get your "power" from the gearing.

larger tires need lower (numerically higher) gears...otherwise it's a dog to drive and you'll end up burning out your auto trans or your clutch. 33's and 2.9 needs at least 4.56 gears... you MIGHT have 3.73's if you're lucky.


IF you gear properly for your 33's... you're stock tires will be to small, and the massive amount of gear compared to tire size is gonna make have tons of low-end power but no top-end... you're transmission will be in the highest gear and you're motor will be running really high RPM's to do 40 mphs or so. any faster and you'll be in the redline constantly; therefore..... not highway-able.

 

[UrbanRedneckKid]

Peppy... Quick to accelerate, will spin tires easily, similar to driving in first or low range.

Yet, will have no usable top end.

Much like my truck with 5.13:1 gears. Peppy but runs almost 4,000rpm on the highway in overdrive.

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[B288]

thanks you for clearing that up. so, my best bet if i want to use the tractor tires is to just buy 33s for when i'm on road so that i can go ahead and regear and be set for both on and off road? because i dont want to just run around 24/7 on swampers and or anything.

if you put 33's on your stock gears... you won't be able to turn them good. the 2.9 has no power and you get your "power" from the gearing.

larger tires need lower (numerically higher) gears...otherwise it's a dog to drive and you'll end up burning out your auto trans or your clutch. 33's and 2.9 needs at least 4.56 gears... you MIGHT have 3.73's if you're lucky.


IF you gear properly for your 33's... you're stock tires will be to small, and the massive amount of gear compared to tire size is gonna make have tons of low-end power but no top-end... you're transmission will be in the highest gear and you're motor will be running really high RPM's to do 40 mphs or so. any faster and you'll be in the redline constantly; therefore..... not highway-able.

 

[4x4junkie]

Yeah get a set of 33" all-terrains and you should be fine.

And yes, the 2.9L most certainly can break that spindly little D28 frontend (and probably the 7.5" as well if you're hammering on it). I advise very strongly to swap at least a D35 and 8.8" in there before you start dumping any money into regearing of axles (you may have to anyway, everyone stopped making D28 gears some time ago)

 

[B288]

Yeah, i do plan on doing the SAS with the D44s, i'm just trying to get all my info and equipment straight, so that i can bust ass and get it done fairly quickly so that my DD isnt down for to long.

Yeah get a set of 33" all-terrains and you should be fine.

And yes, the 2.9L most certainly can break that spindly little D28 frontend (and probably the 7.5" as well if you're hammering on it). I advise very strongly to swap at least a D35 and 8.8" in there before you start dumping any money into regearing of axles (you may have to anyway, everyone stopped making D28 gears some time ago)