700 mile road trip with 35s and stock gearing
- Thread starter diponyou
- Start date
JayRolla
New member
Yea but then you have to worry about rpms at high speed. I think maybe in TX 4.88's would be fine. But most jeep guys that have been running 35's for 20 years say to go 5.29's.
mountain mike
New member
I have read both 4.88's and 5.29's as well. I'm not sure what I will go with, but I keep leaning towards 4.88. I think I am going to stay with 33's, but I am fully armored and front and rear bumpers will be my next mod after the gears. Or that is the current plan.
I would be interested to know what RPM's guys with 5.29 are running at 75 mph.
I would be interested to know what RPM's guys with 5.29 are running at 75 mph.
JayRolla
New member
From what I have researched and others running them with 33's are turning 3400rpm's give or take.
rideexileex
Senior Member
I'm shocked to hear all this... I was 33's and super charged on 4.10's. I bought 35's, and then bought gears a week later because it was such garbage. 4th gear on the auto trans was useless. I went 4.88's and am happy, but if I wasn't super charged, my vote is 5.29's all day long. But the other side to this story is that for a DD, 35's are just dumb. I truly feel 305/70's/r16s are the golden tire for 4runners. 35's are just over the edge that require so much more work to have them fit and still be able to flex and wheel. It's a rabbit hole that you have to be committed to. I love wheeling and abusing the rig, but I am even thinking about switching to 305's after my 35's are done.
Play with some gear calculators and get some emperical data - you want the engine to run in the power bands.
Play with some gear calculators and get some emperical data - you want the engine to run in the power bands.
JayRolla
New member
I run 305's and think its all I will ever run. I want to jump to 35's, but all the reasons you said and the higher chance of gear/cv breakage 305's seem to be best bet. I still want to get some 4.88's or 5.29's though.
diponyou
New member
Good info. Again I'm not saying not being geared is better in any way shape or form. Obviously if you want a closer to stock ratio with 35s you'll want to be geared.
I feel like we are losing sight of what I am saying...
*With my setup and situation, not being geared is in no way detrimental to my driveability.*
It is nice to hear from someone who has actual experience with a similar setup though.
I love my 35s and my truck is my DD. :angel:
rideexileex
Senior Member
I missed if you were auto or manual, but manual definitely has the advantage with a higher gearing over the auto, both in 1st and 5th gears. But if auto, even at seattle sea-level elevation, cruising on the highway, i didn't even use 4th gear unless going near 75, and even that was a struggle while supercharged and a URD kit. I forget the exact numbers, but driving in 3rd on 35's is about the same as driving in 4th on stock tires. Effectively, you loose 1st gear if that makes sense - 1st gear feels like 2nd, 2nd feels like 3rd, 3rd feels like 4th, and 4th is just a red-headed step child.
If you can live with with 3 gears, yes, you can get away without re-gearing.
Oprah
New member
Curious results I'm seeing in the gear calculator... I put in your info and let it calculate the gear ratio
<a href="http://s375.photobucket.com/user/jhmiller22/media/media-20150817_zpsmujk1xno.png.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i375.photobucket.com/albums/oo191/jhmiller22/media-20150817_zpsmujk1xno.png" border="0" alt=" photo media-20150817_zpsmujk1xno.png"/></a>
diponyou
New member
you had 4.10s I have 4.30s. I realize this isn't much but it is enough
And I can assure you I have 4 gears that all work just fine. And 0, yes 0 issues maintaining 75mph on the highway. I am not sure why you are trying to argue this with me? :ybrick:
If you would like a video I am sure I can get one in the next few days...
If this setup sucked so much I would throw my 33s on, or my 31s that I have laying around. However I can promise that will not be happening.
Either way it's cool to hear opinions, especially ones that have actual experience with this topic. But lets not try to pass on your opinion as facts.
diponyou
New member
interesting
diponyou
New member
I just triple checked. My truck came with 4.30s from the factory if the sticker is correct.
I'd say theres a better chance that there are some discrepancies with the speedo. I can say that for certain at 75-78ish I was between 2300-2400. Assuming the GPS speedo app was accurate.
I'd say theres a better chance that there are some discrepancies with the speedo. I can say that for certain at 75-78ish I was between 2300-2400. Assuming the GPS speedo app was accurate.
Konkordmusk
New member
It is indeed a little overgeared. But, should I choose to go with a slightly larger tire in the future, the truck will already be properly geared.
Living in San Francisco (or a little outside of it) I am super happy with 5.29's, vs 4.10's on an automatic. City MPG is stellar, it requires such little engine load to get up to the speed limit. With 4.10's, in order to accelerate fast enough to prevent that ******* taxi driver from cutting you off, I had to floor it. #sanfranciscothings
To the OP: your whole post is based around the idea that running 35's and not being geared is okay for the truck and its drivability. I somewhat disagree. It's doable, but the added stress on components is NOT worth it.
On the one trip I made to LA on stock gears, with 35"s, I broke the double cardan joint on my driveshaft. I religiously grease the zerks, and even keep some Fluid Film on it to keep things happy yet, it still broke. I believe it happened while decelerating, not even braking. I then had to borrow my gf's moms car, drive to hollywood, buy a used driveshaft for 200, drive back and luckily had a shop that let me do it myself. If someone were to have a shop install the driveshaft, thats extra labor. That, plus the cost in gas, is just about 50$ less than it cost me to buy and setup my gears.
I share my opinion because I don't want someone less informed to see this thread, jump to 35"s thinking its okay because you said so, and then posting a week later complaining about broken stuff. There are definitely people who have run 35"s and stock gears and never had an issue, but I would argue there is an equal amount of folks who have had issues.
OP, this isn't an attack against you, but rather my attempt to make sure anyone reading this is as informed as possible, using my own mistakes to prevent them making theirs.
diponyou
New member
Hey, man no worries
I enjoy hearing real world info on this
And if you look at my posts I never once made a blanket statement saying that "running stock gears with 35s is ok"
I stated that for my location, driving habits, and vehicle setup it is still a very driveable truck.
I promise that my truck is still very fun to drive and the gearing situation does not bother me in normal driving conditions.
My reason for making this thread was simply to inform the less informed regarding making this decision; rather than blindly following others opinions on the internet, do some actual real world research.
I never once said that not being geared is better, or that it is for everyone.
I invite anyone in the Phx area to come drive my truck around. Make your own educated opinion on it.
I will say that if I had 4.10s or 3.90s or lived in a hilly area I would probably invest in some gears.:llama:
Oprah
New member
I also use a GPS app for speedo. I wonder how accurate it is as well. How well do you know the history of your truck? Is there a chance that someone switched to 4.56 gears at some point?
diponyou
New member
It is possible. I'd go out and check for myself if it weren't 115 outside.
It was a $2500 truck so I did not get a whole lot of history on it. I planned on replacing most of everything regardless so its past wasn't a major concern.
The truck is from the midwest so it is possible they upgraded the gearing but currently it is unknown.
I will try to get a video of the truck driving in the next week or so, so everyone can make their own decision. :baby:
StreetCreeper
New member
This guy upgraded to 35's but didn't re-gear...
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Bandit Runner
Senior Member
After getting my 35's, I had stock gears (4.10's) for about 2 years before regearing. It was doable, but on the highway it was constantly downshifting. Even though it is pretty flat around here. I regeared to 5.29's and it is much better now. I'm glad I didn't go 4.88's, because 5.29's are definitely not too much gear. That's my real world experience.
