35s on stock gears?

so i dont want to wait for the 6 week backorder on the 33x15 KM2s. so i am thinking about just jumping up to 35s instead since i will eventually anyway and they are cheaper. would i be able to run 35s with stock gears? i have the D30 and 8.25 axles with the 3.55 gears. i wheel maybe a couple times a month and it is my daily driver. would this work? i know i wont get a whole lot of power but i need tires and dont have money for 4.56 gears right now.

Going to be hard on the frontend, i would truss it..Axles joints may need some help..I also wouldn't offroad till i did the gears..But hey thats just me...They will tell you what to do.

ok i will probly stay with the 33s then. i guess i might just have to wait that long 6 weeks.

I would worry about the trany over heating trying to turn those 35's than the D30 breaking.

Why not get a different tire? I mean the KM2's are nice but there are equivalent if not better tires out there. Like Cooper STT or Maxxis Bighorns. But 35's on 3:55's will be HORRIBLE! i have 33's on 3:55's and I hate it. luckily my gears will be here next week. Also if your going 35's, you might want to consider 4:88 instead of 4:56's

alright what are some other good quality 33 inch tires?

Well depends on what terrain you run.
Im running 33" BFG all Terrains, and i love them. Great for street and the trails I run at URE.
Cooper STT - This will be my next tire. Just an all around awesome tire. great for mud, dirt and good on rocks
Maxxis Bighorn - Dont think i have ever heard a bad thing about these tires.
Pro Comp MT's - My buddy runs these on his trucks and loves them, alot of people hate on pro comp, but they make some nice tires.
Trxus MT's - Hard to balance but very good tire.
Pro Comp X terrains - Also another all around tire, but are directional
Just a few top choices of mine.

I hate to say it but I ran 35's on 3:55's for a couple weeks and it was not the end of the world. My biggest worry with doing that was the trans overheating, but I had a trans cooler with a fan. performance wise its not gonna be great but if its temporary I think you could live with. but I went from completely stock to headers, muffler, intake ect at the same time so what do I know?

Honestly, 35s aren't going to be that much different than 33s on any gear ratio. Running a 33 instead won't keep you from needing gears. If you are willing to deal with the power issues with a 33 and 3.55s, and really want a 35s just get them. And live with the issues until you can afford to do gears.

Like MONSTERxbla says, it really isn't the end of the world. The tranny cooler would be a good idea, too.

I drove 33s on stock 3.55s for a little over a year because I was eventually going to do an axle swap and didn't want to spend the money for gears twice. In the mountains with an Auto tranny, I did fine. The only thing I learned was NOT to drive in overdrive. I always left it in 3 because OD would always be up shifting and down shifting.

All of that being said, your front axle might not be very happy with 35s! All depends on how you drive it.

I wheeled for many years with 2 different XJs both with open D30s and locked 29 spline C8.25s on 33 and never broke anything. When I went to 35s I decided to swap axles.

I have 35's w/ 3.55 for the time being. Going on 6 months now. Still saving to regear, it sucks but it's something you can live with. I will eventually regear and upgrade shafts, but for now I just drive it like my heads not in my ass. Just my 2 cents...

i say get the 35s. if your looking at 35s now, youll want 35s if you get 33s. i have a friend who was in the similar position, and got 33 inch LTBs because he was tired of waiting for the 35s. he wishes he would have just waited a little longer and gotten what he wanted

i daily drove, and wheeled my XJ on 35s for over a year no problems...no tranny cooler. got a friend who is now owns that set of 35s and DDs his cherokee and drives 2 hours to school and back every few weeks, and puts a pile of miles on his Xj. no problems for over a year.

mountains can be a pain, but for the most part. it was liveable

I want do it man. I drive 31 LTBS on the highway everyday with 3.55s and it already dont like long tall hills we got a hill called mile hill its one mile long on the highway straight up it dont like it. I put the 33" boggers on there drove to work i had to put it in 3rd all the way to town it was shifting in and out of overdrive all the way. I have a heavy duty tranny cooler. It will run awhile but like the guy said above you could do it temporarly just not all the time.

I have 35" km2s on stock gears right now too. I have 4.56's waiting to be installed but seeing as I am in college without a job I dont think I will have them in too soon. It could be worse, havent had my tranny overheat yet either.

I ran 35's on 3:55 for a month or so till I had time to get the 4:56's in. It made a big differance between 33's and 35's. But it was definetly drivable. Slow but not too bad. Wheelin with em was not all that bad in low range I honestly couldn't tell the diffeance in the 33's and 35's. Oh and FWIW go with 4:88's I wish I would have.:gee:

jdxj said:

Oh and FWIW go with 4:88's I wish I would have.:gee:

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x2
I had 4.10s with my 33s on the first XJ and wished I had 4.56s. (Auto Trans)
This time I did 5.13s with 35s and love it! (Auto Trans also) Too bad you can't go that low on the stock axles...

If you eventualy do gears get 4.88s for sure.

I could imagine it would be sluggish and bad for your shafts and joints but if its just for a short time you oughta be alright! :dunno:

I had 35's and 3.55s for a few months on my daily driver tj and 35 14.50s with 3.55's in my cj. It wasn't terrible but definately not a great combo. I agree if your gonna get 33s anyway go ahead and get the 35s.