Who is running 33's with stock gears?

Great info, thank you. Do you have a picture to profile the side? Also, what brand of tires did you go with?

285/70R17s (true 33") on stock 4.30 gears. I noticed hardly any change in the drive response or acceleration. Going to super light aftermarket wheels (FN Countersteer Type X) that weigh only 20 pounds a piece vs 30+ pounds for others certainly help. If you had 265/60R16s to begin with, the new tires are almost exactly 10% larger so you'll add 10% to your speedometer/odometer. I get roughly 17-19mpg HWY (70-80 mph) with my winch and lift.

Also, in your Original post you said lift + Body lift + trimming. If you are doing 33s with a 3" lift, you don't need a body lift. If you put legitimate wheels on it and not some super high offset late model OE wheels then you really shouldn't have much trimming to do. I trimmed the front bumper a little in the corner closest to the tire. Thats it. I wouldn't bother to regear if it were me.

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Great shot. What size and type of lift are you running?

I've been running 33's and a lot of extra weight with stock gears for a while now with no issues. The only time I want lower gears is when crawling. I get roughly 17 mpg. This past weekend, I did a mountain biking trip with 4 guys, all of our bikes on a heavy bike rack, all of our gear, plus 250 lbs of plate steel I picked up along the way for some new projects. I figured it would have been about 1300lbs plus 500-600lbs from the armor already on my truck. The land cruiser coils in the rear were completely overworked, but the engine and trans all felt fine with the extra weight, even with the stock gears.

 
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General rule of thumb . There is three reasons to regear , 33'' plus tires , a lot of extra weight or towing and high altitude . If you have two or more of these conditions then you will probably benefit from a regear . I had all three and going to 4:88 gears was a big improvement . By waiting for sales and group buys and craigslist it cost me about $650 . About $1600 all together for a open front diff with 4:88s ,4:88 ring and pinon for the rear , install kit with bearings , ARB locker and compressor .

Woe... I need to keep an eye out for THAT sale. I already have an ARB twin, but wouldn't mind an ARB locker for the rear someday. And if I do that, I will look into a gears at the same time. I have not been that lucky with CL as of yet.
 
I ran 33s on my stock 4.30s and automatic transmission. Supercharged, full armor, roof rack, roof top tent, etc.

Cruising down the freeway at 65 I could pull off around 19mpg. However, going any faster the mileage would drop, and it would drop fast. Anything over 70 and I was a getting down closer to 16mpg. 80 would have me at 14mpg or so, and moving faster than I felt was safe.
 
The more I research installing 33's, the more $$$ it's looking like I'll have to spend (3" suspension lift + a body lift + possible trimming). Now i'm reading in order to get even decent gas mileage I should also upgrade my gears?

I've got a 02 4runner SR5 4wd w/ stock gears. Anyone running 33's with stock gears?

Pro's and con's of stock gears?

I've been on Duratrac 285/75-16's for 4-5 years. stock 4:10 gears, 5 speed. 18mpg all the time. I made my own 1" body lift and bought some craigslist '99 highlander tall springs for $60. Hammer the pinch welds flat. Done.
 
Woe... I need to keep an eye out for THAT sale. I already have an ARB twin, but wouldn't mind an ARB locker for the rear someday. And if I do that, I will look into a gears at the same time. I have not been that lucky with CL as of yet.
Yeah , I was collecting parts for over 2 years . I found the front diff on CL for $200 .:whoo:
 
I am just going to state my findings on this topic over the last month or so.

Re Gearing for 33's seems to be all personal preference. That has been said in another discussions as well. If you want better MPG and don't want to be sluggish then cough up the cash and get it regeared to 4.88s to see a true difference. If you want a cheaper way to keep up the 1-2MPG possibly buy skinner 33s.

But if you already just drive at a simple pace and are not trying to race around town then you can probably just run stock gears until you bounce up to 35's.

Just my .02 from researching the lift needed for 33s and what to expect once you get them on.
 
I'm currently running stock 4.30's on 35's as of last week. I honestly thought it would be much worse than it is. It does feel more sluggish and I'm sure MPG's are going to take a dive but it wasn't as big of an impact as I expected. I had 285's for 2 years on stock gears and didn't mind it. Eventually I'll upgrade to 5.29's to give it a little more pep, but until I can afford dual ARB's, I'll be running 4.30's.


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I'm currently running stock 4.30's on 35's as of last week. I honestly thought it would be much worse than it is. It does feel more sluggish and I'm sure MPG's are going to take a dive but it wasn't as big of an impact as I expected. I had 285's for 2 years on stock gears and didn't mind it. Eventually I'll upgrade to 5.29's to give it a little more pep, but until I can afford dual ARB's, I'll be running 4.30's.

Have you been up to Big Bear or anywhere that has elevation and grades since last week? I'm about to go 34". I'm not worried about on the flats at 4000' but I am worried about grades at 8000'. I'll deal until I can regear but it'd be nice to here some feedback on this.
 
I haven't been up to Big Bear or any high elevations yet since 35's but when I had 33's I went up to Big Bear and Arrowhead all the time. The only time I wish I had lower gears was when I had a car full of people and fully loaded with camping gear. I'm sure it won't be great driving up hill in those elevations but I can't image it would be all that bad. If I go up there anytime soon, I'll report back on how much it might suck.


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I would think transmission type has quite a bit to do with level of happiness and gearing as tire sizes go up.
 

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