Am I gonna Regret 33's?

I finally got my axle in, DW fixed, and am breathing easy. Now it's time to start thinking about tires and gears. I currently have:
92 4 door
6" Lift
D30/8.8
32's
NP242
NO VIBES!!


I plan to keep this as a DD for the next 2-3 years mostly short trips, with the occasional long haul (1800 mi) 2-3 times per year.

My next upgrade was to be 4.56/33's but I'm not sure if I'll regret not going to 4.88/35's now and just suck it up until it's time to start using it as trail only.

I have searched.


Your opinion is appreciated

I went from 32's to 33's myself (4.56 with both), and although I sometimes wish I had bigger meats, I think I would worry a lot more on the trail about breaking. In my opinion, it's a lot more fun to just wheel than worry about breaking at the same time.

You could probably get by with 35's...a lot of people do it, but that just brings more things into consideration to run those tires.

I think it all comes down to personal preference and what you are/are not willing to change with your current set up.

HTH.

Pat

edit: 4.88's seem like a good idea...plenty low for 33s and decent with 35s (if you change your mind on tire size)

if you are going 33s go 4.88s. if you go 35s go 5.13s. that is what im doing. should be the best setup for on the trail and as a DD

^^^ from what i have heard

No. Tires wear out. If after the 33's wear out you want 35s get them. As a DD you should be fine on 35s w/ 4.56s in the future. It used to be what everybody recommended. Now it seems 4.88s or deeper gearing is the fad with the hardcore crowd. They may need it. Sounds like you don't.

4.88s with 33s is too deep for a DD IMO (I drive 120+ freeway miles/day)

I don't know anywhere that you can go with 35's that you can't go with 33's. Sure, there is potential to get hung up a little more, but that means you have to be a better driver. Part of the fun of wheeling, when we all got into it, was the challenge of it. 33's are a little more challenging than 35's, but not much. 33's are definitely more reliable than 35's, and while we're willing to do trail repairs, I think we'd all rather not have to.

If you've been running 32's, and it's still a daily driver (braking is an issue), I'd say go with the 33's but do the 4.88's. If you search gear ratio threads here you'll find that 4.88's are the overwhelming favorite ratio with 33's, then you'll be better off when you do go to 35's in a couple of years when the 33's wear out, and you've had time to save for some strong front axle shafts.

I have a D30/Ford 8.8 and run 35" tires and 4.56 gears. The only thing I would've done different would have been to go with 4.88's. In 2 years I have spent $15.00 to replace one u-joint on the D30.

I have 4.88's with 33" tsl radials on my (dana 30/ford 8.8) in my 94' Wrangler with a 95' chevy vortec v-6 motor & 4 speed auto 4L60E tranny and love the power. The 4L60E has a gear reduction of 31%, so it's very bearable on the highway at 80 mph or so. I have 10" lift on it, so I do watch it a bit, I also have no track bar and no sway bar. It is a bit flexy at that height so I don't like driving fast at night if I cannot see the road ahead for pot holes/uneven surfaces. I have 4.56 gears (dana 30/dana 44) in my 91' xj with 35" mtrs on a auto and would like deeper gears, but I found these axles already built, so I swapped them in. With my motor and tranny at 204K miles, I try not to push my motor that much on the highway and stay within the 60-75 mph range while going down the highway. There are quite a few dead spots in the rpm band that a lower gear would bring back to life, but it is fine for me. Lower gears also weaken the r&p and 4.88 gears from 4.56 isn't enough reduction to make the change with the $ involved. If I had a dana 44 front and rear or a dana 60 or ford 9" I would have went with 5.13 or 5.23 gears on 35-37" mtrs.
Troy

I didn't ever see if you mentioned stick or auto, that would make a diff.

Yes, auto....sorry...

stick with the 33s. A D30 cannot be considered reliable on 35s, and worrying about breaking takes a lot of fun out of wheeling. 33s and 2 lockers will take you places you never imagined. I have 35s now, swapped both axles, and if I were to do it again I think I would have stuck with 33s.

get 4.88s. I have an auto tranny and 4.88 gears. I also have 33 and 35 inch tires. The gearing is perfect at all speeds, even cruising at 80 on the freeway, with 33s. When I put the 35s on the power loss is huge, and I get about 5mpg worse.

I second what MAD MAXJ said, with this additon. The loss of articulation from 33s to 35s is a bummer. I added 2 inches of lift, and a long arm when I went to 35s. I still can't get above 700 on the RTI scale. With 6 inches and 33's I was able to stuff much better, and as someone mentioned, the fun is in the challange.
BTW I cut quite a bit for the 35's also.

But it still perform well and is a looker.

http://www.tqci.net/~scot/index2/daffyxjvents.jpg

close up with the new hood vents. :star:

I just swapped in a Dana 44 with 4.88 gears and 33" tire. This is my DD for now and I love driving it, I just don't like paying $45 buck a week for gas.
As the saying goes Just Empty Every Pocket.

i still get over 20 mpg with my 33s and 4.88s, when I drive the speed limit.

Goatman said:

I don't know anywhere that you can go with 35's that you can't go with 33's. Sure, there is potential to get hung up a little more, but that means you have to be a better driver. Part of the fun of wheeling, when we all got into it, was the challenge of it. 33's are a little more challenging than 35's, but not much. 33's are definitely more reliable than 35's, and while we're willing to do trail repairs, I think we'd all rather not have to.

Click to expand...

I agree with goat whole heartedly here. I have been one 33's for the past 3 years now, BFG AT's for that matter. I always go out with the 35-38" crowd, and never have REALLY felt hampered by it. Of course I take the easier line, but usually that's crazy enough for me. It's a ton of fun even if I can't take the insane lines. Just take what you got, get used to it, and drive it with mad skills .