Gearing for 33's and 35's

Whats the best course of action?


  • Total voters
    115
It really comes down to what your going to do about tires. IMO. if your gonna stay 33's or man up to 35's. :lol:. Just kidding. But it really does.
 
If you're gonna run 35's I'd say 5.29 without a shadow of a doubt. I've got 255's which are basically a 34" and 75 mph puts me right around 2900 rpm's. For 33's you can really go either way but I'd think 4.88's just based on what I have.
 
I've talked to alot of guys running 35's and re-geared and many went with 4.88's and didn't notice much of a difference. Most of them had wished they done 5.29's
 
I think a 255 measures more like 33.1". Not 34"s

If you're gonna run 35's I'd say 5.29 without a shadow of a doubt. I've got 255's which are basically a 34" and 75 mph puts me right around 2900 rpm's. For 33's you can really go either way but I'd think 4.88's just based on what I have.
 
Gerdo is right about the pricing. Have you looked into the prices for 35's? The only affordable 35 is made by Treadwright. Otherwise expect to pay upwards of $1300 for a set of four tires not including mounting and balancing. I also recommend not using a 17" wheel. A 16" wheel is less painful on the wallet.

I paid $925 for mine shipped to my door. You just have to know where to look.

Yeah, I paid $950 OTD for my Cooper STTs on tirecrawler.com.

Shon, my 4.88s are pretty anemic with 35s. However, my rpms are in the correct power band. So I think the only option at this point for me is to supercharge. I think 4.88s/35s/auto/SC will be a great combo. I'm not a great example though since mine has a slush box.

I know J-money likes his 5.29s/35s/5 spd. He has a pretty good crawl going on now. He says his freeway rpms are still reasonable too.

My opinion for a 5 speed...
if it's for wheeling..
33s - 4.88s
35s - 5.29s
Undecided on tire size - 5.29s so you don't kick yourself later

But, if you're going to be DDing it and/or a lot of long road trips..
33s - 4.56s
35s - 4.88s
Undecided - 4.88s

Remember, a 5 spd with 4.88s = about the same as an auto with 5.29s.

Hope that helps and doesn't make it more confusing. My biggest piece of advice for you...
GET 35s, then choose the right ratio. If I new I would like 35s this much, I wouldn't have ever even bothered with 33s.
 
Yeah, I paid $950 OTD for my Cooper STTs on tirecrawler.com.

Shon, my 4.88s are pretty anemic with 35s. However, my rpms are in the correct power band. So I think the only option at this point for me is to supercharge. I think 4.88s/35s/auto/SC will be a great combo. I'm not a great example though since mine has a slush box.

I know J-money likes his 5.29s/35s/5 spd. He has a pretty good crawl going on now. He says his freeway rpms are still reasonable too.

My opinion for a 5 speed...
if it's for wheeling..
33s - 4.88s
35s - 5.29s
Undecided on tire size - 5.29s so you don't kick yourself later

But, if you're going to be DDing it and/or a lot of long road trips..
33s - 4.56s
35s - 4.88s
Undecided - 4.88s

Remember, a 5 spd with 4.88s = about the same as an auto with 5.29s.

Hope that helps and doesn't make it more confusing. My biggest piece of advice for you...
GET 35s, then choose the right ratio. If I new I would like 35s this much, I wouldn't have ever even bothered with 33s.

I agree with Brian. Get 35's and then decide whether or not your gonna drive a long way to the trail. I have a 5 speed and am going 4.88's because I still have to be able to do road trips in the Runner. Just drove from Tucson AZ to Riverside CA with 4.88's and was a little over geared but if I stayed down about 70 it was great. Also I am supercharged so that makes a difference as well. I just today ordered front and rear 3rds with 4.88's and ARB's because this will be my primary driver for a long time to come. I have a dedicated 85 runner for extreme trails but the 98 is no slouch either. if you were building a dedicated trail rig I would say get what is best for the road and then dual case it and have the best of both worlds.
 
Last edited:
I just ordered completed 3rd members in 5.29's for my 4Runner. I hope it isn't too torquey. I almost went with 4.88s but read a lot of people with 35's wanting 5.29s, so I hopefully learned from others... Please tell me I didn't get too low* of gearing!!
 
Last edited:
I just ordered completed 3rd members in 5.29's for my 4Runner. I hope it isn't too torquey. I almost went with 4.88s but read a lot of people with 35's wanting 5.29s, so I hopefully learned from others... Please tell me I didn't get too high of gearing!!

Actually, you mean too low of gearing.

I think you'll be happy with the 5.29's. I know I am.
 
I'll just give an update after a year with 4.88's and 35's and several long road trips. Remember I have a 5 speed and am supercharged and this is my daily driver. I actually wish that I had gone 4:56's for this reason. On the freeway I am running 75 at about 3200 RPM. For my taste it is just to high of RPM for what I want. That being said off road 4:88's are good but not great (i'm spoiled with dual cases in my 84) I don't think 5.29's would be as low as I want off road. So what I've done is to get a dual case setup for my runner. Not in yet but coming. So for a 5-speed Supercharged I would argue that 4:56's and dual cases with 35's is the best setup for daily driver / Crawler. :popcorn:
 
Because I found a parts car with 4.56 gears and an ARB rear locker complete with compressor and switches that I swapped into my 5 speed sr51989 22re 4runner, I am going with the best approx tire size for my gearing not the other way around. I want a good highway to trail truck, this runner wan't get jacked up for 35's have a fzj80 for that.
I'll be running 32 plus all terrains 285 75 17 BFG KO2s. I have some on another rig that will be sold on 35's. The LC Charts point out like someone earlier that 5 speed versus automatic is a factor. I currently have some Mud terrains, and I'm sure rolling resistance should be factored in. The heavy muds are not making my clutch very happy, even with the regear. LC chart indicates 31's would give me near stock performance with the 4.56 (stock was 4.11 with what 28's?) guess the 265/75 16's are about right theoretically. The LC engineering chart factors for tire width as well. Important, as is as others have pointed out weight of your built and laden rig and planned purposes. I'm not building a crawler. I probably would have gone 4.88 had I not scored this setup.....but the math looks like right also for 4.56 and a common tire size that will give me the clearance and traction for the usage I plan, plus got that magic button for the air locker to get me out of (or into more) trouble.
I ran 31 wide AT's for years with stock 4.11 gears in my last 5 speed 22re 4 runner, and it went anywhere I needed to go through baja and california way overloaded much of the time.
 
I hope it's ok to dust off this 7-year old thread in an effort to see if gearing opinions have changed since.

I'm the original owner of my '01 4Runner (4WD, auto). The truck currently has 542,000 miles on the original engine & tranny. I've performed all maintenance & repairs since buying it and intend to keep driving this thing for many years.

I've had nothing but 265/75/16 tires & stock 4.11 gearing since about 2003. At some point I swapped in a lower-mileage front diff and a few years later had Zuk rebuild my third member. I'm now looking to switch to 285/75/16 tires and would like some current thoughts on the most appropriate gearing for my use: occasional, mild trails but primarily long road trips mixed with quite a bit of western Maryland / WV highway driving (long grades).

My engine & tranny still run great, but I know the truck is down on power owing to the mileage. My stock transfer case gearing is more than adequate when needed off road, so I think my primary wish with new gears is keep the truck from being a complete slug on long mountain grades with 33s.

I welcome any & all thoughts on the above.


Andreas



 
Last edited:
I would wait until you have the new tires on to see how it affects your street/highway driving. You may not feel the need to regear.
 
[MENTION=710615]162435[/MENTION] I have same vehicle with 285's half the milage same usage. Knowing I'm not going bigger tires
I chose 4.56's hwy RPM's in range for decent mpg's n pep at the pedal. Only difference if I need more offroad I engage one or both lockers.

Mixing 285's n 4.10's was noticeable to me.
 
Last edited:
4.30's came on Auto Limited's with locker, could be optioned to others. SR5's 5 speeds with locker some had 4.30's.
96RedRunner was a Limited 4.30's worked nothing to write home about 285's 80-90# wheel n tire weight on each corner.
 
Last edited:

Members online

Forum statistics

Threads
278,316
Messages
3,554,112
Members
248,016
Latest member
Advally Service

Trending content

Back
Top