Downside to 35's??

[JoeDuke]

Like the title says. Are there any downsides to 35's. I realize I would have to re-gear(what's the price of this?) and do the tundra brake mod. But is the suspension and everything strong enough for 35's? Any other problems with them? Please help I am interested in upgrading. Thanks

 

[4Running Daily]

You break more cv's.
Gas mileage sucks
Tires get more expensive
You lose most of your travel

 

[t4r4life]

You break more cv's.
Gas mileage sucks
Tires get more expensive
You lose most of your travel

these parts are not true, if you run 15s with 2.5 BS 35s cost less than 33s for my 16s, and if you are not afraid to cut you fenders and have uni ball control arms you actually get a lot of travel.

 

[4Running Daily]

these parts are not true, if you run 15s with 2.5 BS 35s cost less than 33s for my 16s, and if you are not afraid to cut you fenders and have uni ball control arms you actually get a lot of travel.

Schooled

 

[PNWRunner]

When done "properly" you don't lose any travel by increasing the size of your tire. Almost everyone who runs 35's has either a body lift or some pounded out pinch welds and fenders to accommodate tires that are almost half a foot taller than Toyota intended for this vehicle.

If you are asking this question I feel you should reconsider if 35's are right for you. The cons are fairly obvious. Bigger tires mean more stress on every drive train component. Engine, Cv's, gears... especially spider gears, transmission and related components, brakes, etc... I put almost 3g into my 93 Toy PU to get it to run 35's without shredding parts every time I abused it.

But then again, if your looking to "upgrade" to 35's for a rig that will see mostly pavement, the only thing that is likely to be effected is gas mileage. There are tons of threads on this topic, the search button will be your friend until you can narrow down a more specific question. :gun6:

 

[sn0wrunner]

if you are not afraid to cut you fenders and have uni ball control arms you actually get a lot of travel.

Uniball UCA's will not increase your travel at all, unless you have a long travel kit. The travel is limited by the length of your shock. Simply putting on aftermarket UCA's will not give you more travel.

 

[steezemcqueen]

these parts are not true, if you run 15s with 2.5 BS 35s cost less than 33s for my 16s, and if you are not afraid to cut you fenders and have uni ball control arms you actually get a lot of travel.

Uniball UCA's will not increase your travel at all, unless you have a long travel kit. The travel is limited by the length of your shock. Simply putting on aftermarket UCA's will not give you more travel.

The schooler just done got schooled

 

[rickashay]

When done "properly" you don't lose any travel by increasing the size of your tire.

Doesn't everyone here who runs 35's have lowered bump stops in the rear, thus reducing your up-travel? I'm pretty sure the tire will eat the top of your rear fender well, among other things, if this is not done - regardless of trimming.

OP you definitly need to weigh the pros and cons for 35's. I've been contemplated them a lot lately and here are some of my thoughts:

- Do I really NEED them? (I don't wheel on the Hammers and Rubicon like Brian2sun and J-Money do.... although if it was closer, I would like to!)
- Need to re-gear
- added stress on motor, transmission, u-joints, and rear axle shafts
- Increased frequency of broken CV's
- Even worse MPG
- More maintenance: I would assume you will go through BJ's, tie-rods, and steering components faster than ever, especially your steering rack.
- Fluids: As a big fan of preventive maintenance and prolonging vehicle life, you would probably want to flush your steering fluid more frequently as well as your brake fluid to accommodate all the extra abuse on these components.
- Brakes: heavier rotating mass means you'll be harder on the brakes, thus go through pads faster.
- May want to beef up your spindles
- May want to switch to manual hubs
- may need new wheels with proper BS or have to run wheel spacers to get the tires off of the UCA and/or frame
- May need aftermarket UCA's or trim the stock ones.
- They look totally Bad Ass. lol

These are just my thoughts on the process. Do I want 35's? Yes. Do I need them? Most of the time, no. Will I get 35's? Hopefully. haha

 

[theizzardking]

i think the love of 35's comes from mostly the jeep guys, i don't really see the advantages of 35's on our trucks being able to out weight the disadvantages, to me if this was dedicated trail rig, then i would be considering 35's but only after a SAS and re-gear, i don't see the 1/2 inch in clearance and foot print being worth the loss in mpg's,stress on cv's and other components, and other things mentioned in this thread.

35's are great to chuck on a solid axle vehicle with a v-8 pushing it, like most jeeps you wouldn't even have to really regear, it's advisable, but not necessary... again though i do 90% of my driving on road and really for me don't need more then a 33~285 , and honestly on the trail the difference between a 33 and 35 can easily be made up by skill and picking a better line a vast majority of the time, again though nothing is ever 100% of the time, so maybe every now and again having the 35 may be handy, but just not enough for the draw backs to be worth it to me.

my view on it, and it's subjective. i may not wheel like you and we may be wheeling in difference conditions as well.

 

[gannonrt]

Joe - check out east coast gear supply for the reheat cost. Also, no mention has been made of what you are planning on doing in your rig. How do you use it? Do you plan on wheeling? How much? What type? Personally, I made the decision to install a rear lunchbox locker before even going to the 285 size but that works for me.

 

[J-money$$$]

I put 35's on because 33's and f+r lockers were not cutting it. I still found myself getting stuck, and not being able to really run the trails I wanted to.

Went to 35's and love it. But then again I feel like I wheel stuff thats hard enough to justify them. I dont really drive my 4runner unless its to the trails.

As far as the brakes go I have stock brakes and they stop the truck just fine.

As far as the UCA's go I shaved mine and re-plated the open areas with 3/16" and they just barely run the tire at full droop. I am not running wheel spacers.

As far as the rear bump stop comment. Yes I am running some long bump stops in the rear. I have the daystar Comp bumpstops and made some spacers to push them down. As It sits now I have about 5-5.5" of up travel in the rear. Its perfect. The lowered bumps really helped to make my truck more stable on severe off camber sections. Look on Pirate and see what acceptable up travel is on buggies and whatnot and you will find 4-6 " seems common. At least on lower sitting trucks


To those that have not ran 35's The extra 1" of ground clearance does make that big of a difference. Plus you can now go across a hole that would swallow a 33. Seriously I think 33's f+r lockers is almost a wash with 35's and only a rear locker.

I ran clawhammer on 33's and it was a hard long day. I thought it was so rough. Then I ran it with the 35's a couple months ago. It took about 2 hours and was really enjoyable. No struggle. And the trail was more torn up.

They are worth it if you need them but I would say wait until you find yourself needing bigger tires when your on 33's with lockers

Just my 2C

 

[theizzardking]

I put 35's on because 33's and f+r lockers were not cutting it. I still found myself getting stuck, and not being able to really run the trails I wanted to.

Went to 35's and love it. But then again I feel like I wheel stuff thats hard enough to justify them. I dont really drive my 4runner unless its to the trails.

As far as the brakes go I have stock brakes and they stop the truck just fine.

As far as the UCA's go I shaved mine and re-plated the open areas with 3/16" and they just barely run the tire at full droop. I am not running wheel spacers.

As far as the rear bump stop comment. Yes I am running some long bump stops in the rear. I have the daystar Comp bumpstops and made some spacers to push them down. As It sits now I have about 5-5.5" of up travel in the rear. Its perfect. The lowered bumps really helped to make my truck more stable on severe off camber sections. Look on Pirate and see what acceptable up travel is on buggies and whatnot and you will find 4-6 " seems common. At least on lower sitting trucks


To those that have not ran 35's The extra 1" of ground clearance does make that big of a difference. Plus you can now go across a hole that would swallow a 33. Seriously I think 33's f+r lockers is almost a wash with 35's and only a rear locker.

I ran clawhammer on 33's and it was a hard long day. I thought it was so rough. Then I ran it with the 35's a couple months ago. It took about 2 hours and was really enjoyable. No struggle. And the trail was more torn up.

They are worth it if you need them but I would say wait until you find yourself needing bigger tires when your on 33's with lockers

Just my 2C

oh no doubt every inch of clearance matters if you're out there everyday, and if your running these trails constantly you expect things to break and gas to be expensive, its the nature of the beast/sport , just saying if he has a long drive to work , cares about replacing cvs and is only running trails on occasion the trade off probably isn't worth it , at least not to me and my uses its not , I've had 305s on a previous sa rig so i can appreciate what you're saying, just though i should outline the draw backs, and also mention the 33s with good driving can usually make up the difference....usually....you got through both times right ? lol...again uses , 35s are great for you on your rig, not mine so much anymore , haha .

also thought this is mildly relevant.
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/3rd-gen-t4rs/54708-how-many-cvs-have-you-broken.html

again mildly, conditions play a very big role , so that a lot to do with it as well, but seems most guys on 35s go through at least an extra set on average. circumstantial at best i know but bigger tires does equal more stress on the half shaft when trying to turn the extra size and weight. op should tell us his complete intentions here, lol

 

[Jon]

I love 35's! They really just make everything on the trails so easy.

I upgraded to the 05 Tundra brakes being that I live in FL "the state where drivers slam on their brakes for no reason". Really these people suck at driving. The brakes are so much better though.

The Camburg uniball UCA's were a must. I was running through upper ball joints every 6mo on 33's. Needed something that could handle the abuse. Guess the Pitbull 12.50 are the widest 12.50's out there since I'm the only one that had so much trouble clearing them. Even after severe grinding on the old UCAs they's still rub with minimal turning. And that's also with the Spidertrax 1.25" spacers.

The stock 4.30's actually work out fine if you have a manual trans. I would go with 4.88 or 5.29 gears with the auto to keep the stress down on the torque converter therefore keeping heat down.

CV axles... drive it right and they last, that's with any size tire on it. I learned my lesson on 33's when I broke the broke the spline off in the diff. The only problem I have is tearing the inner boots because of the extreme angle. Waiting on the Porche 930 boots to come in.

I do need bump stops in the rear. I'm clearing the outer skin now but getting into the inner fender at full stuff....to the point where I'm dragging the tire over stuff, no good. So I'll have to limit my uptravel by one inch, oh well.

The fronts rub on the frame at full lock. I'll just deal with it for now. So add "loss of turning radius" to the list of cons

Worth it? YES Bawlzdeep 4Runner 35's - YouTube

Am I happy or do I just want 37's, 40's...? I'm good for now. Till I win the FL lotto.

 

[J-money$$$]

oh no doubt every inch of clearance matters if you're out there everyday, and if your running these trails constantly you expect things to break and gas to be expensive, its the nature of the beast/sport , just saying if he has a long drive to work , cares about replacing cvs and is only running trails on occasion the trade off probably isn't worth it , at least not to me and my uses its not , I've had 305s on a previous sa rig so i can appreciate what you're saying, just though i should outline the draw backs, and also mention the 33s with good driving can usually make up the difference....usually....you got through both times right ? lol...again uses , 35s are great for you on your rig, not mine so much anymore , haha .

also thought this is mildly relevant.
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/3rd-gen-t4rs/54708-how-many-cvs-have-you-broken.html

again mildly, conditions play a very big role , so that a lot to do with it as well, but seems most guys on 35s go through at least an extra set on average. circumstantial at best i know but bigger tires does equal more stress on the half shaft when trying to turn the extra size and weight. op should tell us his complete intentions here, lol

Yeah for sure. you make some good points. If i was dd my truck i would have stayed on 33's plus I wouldnt want to wheel a daily driver on trails that actually need 35's and f+r lockers

 

[johnnyhightrain]

I run 35's with a 3 inch lift and a 2 inch body lift. I clear completely fine, I don't rub anywhere, even at full lock. I had to trim my pinch welds in my front and rear fender wells. I haven't lost any travel at all. As far as re-gearing...I am running stock gears (4.30) and might end up going to 4.88s to get back to normal. But its not necessary IMO. Just my 2 cents on the whole 35's debate.