I had 30's on stock gears and it was ok. I then went to 33's and thought to myself this is not that bad. Then I put 4:56 gears into it last year and thought, why did I not do this from the start. Yes they can cost some $, but gears are the only way to go with that much lift. My mph went from 16 to 20 after the change in gears. With gas prices it did not take long to pay off the mod. You also have to think about the life of your transmission. More shifting could mean higher temps and reduce the life of the trans.
It is time to go out and find an 8.25, 44, or an 8.8. I have seen 35's go under some easy stuff including some with 31" tires. While it is quite possible to tear one of the above mentioned axels apart I have only see one 44 snap and that was because the guy tried to do a tuff obstacle in reverse because his tranny went out only allowing him reverse. Chalk that 44 up to driver error!
