Good Gears to run on 33s?

[93Expo4x4]

hey yall, stocking up on parts for my ex for when i do my lift, im running with the A4LD and want to minimize stress as much as possible, its my DD, ive got a aftermarket tranny cooler to install too, but what gearing would be best with 33s? ill do minimal wheeling, mostly mud, and snow of coarse. any info is greatly appreciated! thanks

 

[RangerX]

4.10

 

[jd4242]

What type of driving do you typically do(highway highspeeds or city stop and go??also what type of terrain is it(hilly/flat)?? Those answers will dictate 4.56 or 4.10

 

[93Expo4x4]

Usually im highway speeds, 50+, and mix of both hills and flats.

 

[jd4242]

Usually im highway speeds, 50+, and mix of both hills and flats.

4.10 would be fine..you can also look for a second gen rearend with disc breaks and 4.10 stock(double upgrade)then swap the whole rearend, you could look for stock 4.10 front but much harder to find....then worse case you can run just the new 4.10 rearend and NOT put it in 4x4 till you get the front gears done if money is tight

 

[93Expo4x4]

yeah id probably have to buy 4.10s for the fronts aftermarket, im trying to milk as much as i can out of this A4LD, thinking of doing the M50D swap when it craps out

 

[Albino 94LTD]

4:56!! NEVER fear the gear!

4:10 isn't worth the time and effort (IMHO)

Do you have your lift yet?

 

[93Expo4x4]

no i dont, after my next paycheck ill be picking one up

 

[Flip4ford]

4.56 all the way

 

[dkchrist]

That will be my eventual setup 4.56 and 33s

(It ran wonderful in my 03 ranger)

 

[jd4242]

Personally I liked my 4.88s and 33 but its not DD or least you gota have deep pockets for gas...

 

[Styx]

33's, just run stock gears... Heck I ran stock on 35's in my 99 for a while and had no problems with it... Save your money for the 5 speed swap...

 

[corkey]

33's, just run stock gears... Heck I ran stock on 35's in my 99 for a while and had no problems with it... Save your money for the 5 speed swap...

he'll need the 5 speed swap if he runs bigger tires like you did, , the absence of proper gearing will eat the transmission up anyways,,

you gave up lots of things to run 35's on stock gearing, like take off power and fuel economy, and the money to get your transmission either fixed or replaced,,

we try to help people modify their vehicles the proper way here

 

[Styx]

I gave up nothing. It had lots of take off power my tranny held up fine with regular maintenance my fuel economy would be lost either way. I do try to help people.. he asked a question and I gave a valid answer. In my opinion just leave it stock for the type of driving he said he was doing... it will be fine... but hey I only spent 15 as a licensed ford tech what would I know... go waste you money on stuff you don't need no skin off my ass...

 

[2TimingTom]

4.56 and 33s is approximately the same as stock tires and 4.10.

 

[Four0Sport]

yeah id probably have to buy 4.10s for the fronts aftermarket, im trying to milk as much as i can out of this A4LD, thinking of doing the M50D swap when it craps out

give the A4LD some credit.. 190K miles, 4.88 gears with 35s and no trans issues. dual coolers, fans, and a trans temp gauge will do wonders on the life of the trans.

BTT.. I ran 4.10s with 33s and realized after gearing to 4.88 what I was missing. plan your build, gear it once.

 

[RMR Motorsports]

I had 4:10 with 33x12.5 tires not happy with that combination, then went to 4:56 better but wish went bigger With having auto trans you got to allow some slip and when I did my friends 4:56 gears in his ranger with same size tires but manual trans perfect combination

 

[Varsity]

I ran 3.55's on 33x12.50 for over a year and didn't have much to complain about. I lost a little take off speed, but I never really had much of that to start... I'm sure the truck struggled a bit, but never really affected my daily driving around here.

I will chime in and say go with at least 4.10s. I went with 4.10s to get the LS in it and boy is it nice compared to the 3.55s. Gas mileage went waaaaay down at highway speeds, but its a lifted truck with 33's...

I'm not trying to instigate or deny anything anyone else has said here whatsoever because they now what they're talking about. With 33's, you COULD run something as high as 3.55 but I would recommend AT LEAST 4.10. If you like to drive your truck like a Mustang, 4.56 or 4.88 would be the next best option.

Just my .02

 

[Nedwreck]

Ive run 3.73 on 33s for years. A 3.27 speedo gear is close if that tells you anything lol.

The other explorer, also 3.73 but stock tires, was MUCH improved with a shift kit (for towing). The slightly higher shift points really helped it. If I could 4.10 on my lifted Ex (also with shift kit) I'd be happy.

Finding used stock front 4.10s sucks tho, and new front 4.10s are pricey enough it merits looking at 4.56 all around.

 

[mr cribb]

This is kind of the debate of the century.

My current truck has 3.73's and stock 235's and turns 24-2500 rpm @ 65-70mph

I could probably run 31's and leave well enough alone gears wise but correct the speedometer reading.

Personally 2500 rpm is too high for highway driving, and that is what I do the most on mostly flat terrain.

So if I were to run 33's and 4.10's that would be similar to my current stock situation and in theory not losing any mpg.

I will probably end up running 31's because I like my teardrop wheels that I saved off of my old truck for a few reasons:

I like the wheels

31's are more affordable to my budget in the event I need to replace a tire.

I wouldn't "NEED" to re-gear as a daily driver.

My off-road wandering isn't a lot just down around the lake or muddy back roads.