Tallest gears with 33's?

4.0, AW4, 3.54, D30 (260 joints), D44 minispool, SYE, 4.5" lift, AJ's rails & stock skids. Only street driven to and from the desert about 100 miles with some steep hills on the interstate. I dont care about gas mileage on the highway, I dont mind the slow lane on the hills and I dont use it as a daily driver. I am real easy the throttle except in washes where I get a little unwound). I can pick up exellent spare front axles with unit bearings (260 joints) for $27 a pair at the pick and pull all day long and I do carry spares with the caps welded to the ears along with a spare tie rod.

With all that out of the way.....

Sitting on the edge of that slipper slope of tire/gear/carrier/axle upgrades which get real expensive fast. My plan right now is to add more armor (diff guards, beefier T case skid, raise the rear lower shock mounts along with a front autolocker and 31x10.50 or 31x12.50 tires. Present tires are 235-75's with a true height of 28". I doubt the 31's will buy me much clearance, maybe an inch. My friends Procomp 33's measure a true 32". The tread width would be the benifit with the 31's. However going to 33x12.5 from 31x12.5 is only $15 more but to do it "right" I need to change carriers and gears front an rear. (approx $800). CINCPAC House will not smile at this. What happens if I do it "Wrong"?

THE QUESTIONS
Ignoring the doggy highway behaviour and gas mileage. How would 33's behave off road in rocks mated with 3.54 gears with an AW4? Would adding the manual shift control module so I could hold it in 1st or 2nd to higher RPMs make it acceptable? Will a 2" increase in rolling radius blow up my axles every trip and over heat the tranny or will it work fine and just be pig on the drive out to the desert?

John

tanny cooler is a must no mater what you do...

i ran 32's with the 3.55's while i was waiting for my 4.56's to come in. we went to big bear and those hills on the way up there just started to heat up the tranny, i have a tranny cooler, and it was pretty cold outside. and lack of gearing made it VERY difficult to accelerate up those hills. when we hit the trails, it was okay, but soon as we started going a little fast 4 hi wouldn't cut it. and 4 lo when on rocks and mud would also raise the tranny temp. basically running 33's with stock gearing is obviously doable, but not worth the extra inch of ground clearance. if you can afford the gears at the same time, or even wait a month or two, i would get the 33's.

olivedrabcj7 runs 3.55s with 35s, before that 36" swampers. hes probably killing his tranny but he thinks it works fine offroad. before putting in 4.56s i thought 3.55s and 31s were fine as well, it might have been, but its a lot better with deeper gears. is 4 low really 4 low if you can 40 in it?

oh and learn how to change those shafts really quick or everyone behind you is gonna hate you.

I appreciate the direct experience/first hand knowledge replys. Most of the discussion on gearing for 33's (searched a lot) has centered on highway speeds instead of the tranny and offroad problems of NOT going to deeper gears. Not surprised with the answers, but it was worth checking first just in case the problems were restricted to the highway performance.

I will stay on course and focus on the skids, shock relocation and add a trans cooler to the do list along with some 760 shafts and hold off on big tires until deeper gears and new carriers are installed.

Looks like there is no way around it, gotta slide down the $$$ slope for bigger meats. Thanks.

John