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whose running 33's with 3.55 gears?

This is 2wd, 4 part, 4 full, n 4 part NP242 I believe those are, no vacuum disco. Had ABS but I pulled the 2amp fuse, pump still howls at me, but at least now it doesn't try to roll forward an extra 6ft at the end of random stops for lights, lol. That and I figure the last thing I want on a steep descent is ABS kicking in sayin Hang On.
 
Right now im running the stock 3.07 with 30s, so the 4.10 upgrade would be greatly appreciated and almost needed now and with a planned upgrade to 31s... would it be fine to go from the 8.25 to a d35, or should I just go all the way and throw in the 8.8? I mean, i know the d35 would most likely be a closer if not exact swap, but if I dont plan on going much larger than 33s any time soon, without a complete rebuild anyway, would the d35 be a better choice for now comparing simplicity to reliablility/strength (if anyone cant tell, one of the things I know very little about is the gearing, so im prolly gettin to be a pain, but oh well, not my loss :-D)?
 
The Dana 35 is the one to be avoided, the 8.25 is the better axle. If you're looking for as small a project as possible, the 8.25 is the one for you. All 8.25s are better than a Dana 35, but (if I have this right) 97+ are the even tougher versions.
Jeep on!
--Pete
 
thanks pete, now i just have to come up with money as I have found a price range for parts... any recomendations for a front end assembly that would be the best direct swap? figure since im getting everything else answered, might as well get that out as well.
 
Any 90s XJ front end equipped with ABS (for the bigger U-joints, not for the ABS) or any after 96 will have them. It may be hard to find a 2.5l with ABS, so keep in mind that the shafts can be easily upgraded later. The gears are the most expensive thing to change here. Or if you plan on keeping the 31s for a while, you can still do 3.55s now (they are by far the most common gears out there) and just swap again when you're ready for 33s and 4.10s (all the while selling off your previous set). It may sound like a lot of work, but It's just a bunch of wrenching and moving large steel objects. Laborious, yes, but not very difficult. The key is to buy good condition axles so you aren't replacing parts each time. The costs of the little things can add up in a hurry.
Don't forget to buy a Chiltons or Haynes repair manual from the store, or better yet, a real Jeep shop manual from the dealership or like ebay.
Jeep on!
--Pete
 
thanks again, yeah, the haynes was the first think i bought, its come to the rescue many a time already. rather than swapping axles twice, I will probably just get the 4.10s w/o abs.. does the larger Ujoint make that huge of a difference? I mean, i know the larger the tire the more stress, but for 31s wouldnt the smaller Ujoint be sufficient as long as I didnt pick up a cheap pos joint in the first place? I mean, right now its kinda a budget job, so I am looking for a relativly inexpensive mod while gaining a reasonable level of performance, paticularly off road. Do you see any huge issues with the smaller joints, or would that only come into play if I beat the living jebus out of it.. I mean, i run w/o abs now on 30s and hit it quite hard from time to time.. granted i replaced both front ujoints in the past couple months because they were both shot... but they werent in great shape when i purchased the jeep in the first place, so they were due a replacement anyway
 
I ran 33s on 3.55s for ove a month and it sucks. Tranny has to work alot harder and you still have trouble keeping up with traffic. Offroad your gonna use the brakes alot, you just free wheel down hills instead of crawl.

I now have 4.56s and they are perfect for 33s, I'd have to say I wouldn't mind 4.88s and I drive 80 miles a day on the hwy.
 
33X10.50 super swamper thornbirds on 3.55 gears with lockright with aw4 tranny and i get great highway mileage which is where i do most of my driving. i get anywhere from 16 to 19 mpg (~400 miles to a tank) which i consider good for any wheelin rig.

at about 75 mph, the revs are right at about 2000rpm.

on hills the TC unlocks and it is very sluggish, but the majority of the time i can cruise 75 and stay right with traffic on the Atlanta interstates where the speed limit is 70 outside of the city

accelleration is not great, but my XJ's not a drag racer, i can merge onto the interstate as well as anybody else, and i can cut people off if i needa :)

personally, i like the set up, the engine can chill while im cruisin on the interstate, but i can still wheel it just fine. if i had 33X12.50s the story might be different, but i dunno.

-tim
 
i run the combo and have for the past year. no major problems, but i know it over works the tranny. eventually i'll change over to 4.88's, but for now i do what i can afford. and yea, this is not a DD either, it sits until it gets to the trails.......
 
Sometimes you've got to sacrifice to have what ya want... I'd love to have my axles geared 'correctly' - but funds haven't allowed for it so far... At 6000ft above sealevel 33's/3.55's ['97/4.0L] are decent. I can still accelerate out of my own way, but it's no hotrod...
 
dang, i feel really bad after reading all these pages of mpg, on average with 33's and 3.55's i see an average of 14-16 mpg, i planned on going 33's with 4.10's, right now i have 31's and 3.55's and only get about 10-12 highway and i dont wanna think bout round town!(4.0L/AW4) although i've had a cracked header since i bought it! its a 94!! and i've had it about 2 years. what el;se can cause crap gas mileage other than the header, i accelerate slow so i know im not dogging the crap outta it?
 
I'm guessing that is a big part of it since one of the oxy sensors is in that area, though I get about 12-14 with the same setup on a 98, and pretty much the same on a 90 with twice the miles, 31's on both with d30/35 and 355's

I was getting 90 miles to a tank on the 90 until I put a new radiator in so it quit overheating and went back to a 190 thermostat, with a 165 it killed the mileage.
 
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