33's and 3.73.....

[MountainMonkey]

so i can get a set of 33/12.5 tsl boggers used with about 70-80% tread for cheap on craigslist so i did a search to see if they would be ok with my 3.73 gears but basicly what i found was just get really low gears for them. i plan on buying some new 35's sometime this summer and i dont wnt to regear till then, so just wondering if 33's and 3.73 are even drivable offroad/in the mud?? or should i just stick with my 31's and wait on tires until i have it regeared?

 

[Chasethexplorer]

I have 33's with 3.73's and a 5 speed, they are totally fine offroad, I have plenty of power still, the only power loss I noticed was in 5th gear pullin up big ass hills, I used to stay in 5th but now I have to downshift to 4th. Not a big deal.

 

[MountainMonkey]

sweet, looks like im going to go pick up some tires.

 

[Chasethexplorer]

Awesome, I wish I had 4.10's or 4.56's but its really not bad at all.

 

[LONO100]

chase, if you have a stick, 3.73's wont be an issue, but in an auto it will effect the shift points. there are a lot of guys on the forum running 33"s with 3.73's, but you will lose your top end a bit. i have 4.10's with 33"s, and its great, but im looking forward to going to 4.56's sometime this year.

 

[cmhaah06]

I run a 33" BFG and 3.73's. On and off road it does just fine.

 

[LONO100]

i got 4.10's, i went from the stock 29"s to 33"s and my speedo got thrown off by 3MPH. it really effects my tranny's shift points and my highway speeds have been effected as well. still running awesome, but i cant wait to get my 4.56's

 

[cmhaah06]

Sorry, forgot to mention what tranny I have. I have the 5 speed manual.

 

[Happy Jack]

I have 33 x 10.5's for the trail and 31 x 10.5's for town. I have 3.73's and run either a c-5/4 or a TK-4 trans. Neither have an overdrive. And I have a Stubler doubler. Your M5OD has a taller first gear at 3.4 to 1 than my TK's 4 to 1.

I prefer a lower 1st gear and the Stublers low low range with the way I drive off-road. Your and others driving style may be different. I have run a M5OD and 31's in the past and would stick with that till I was ready to regear. Or change trans and or install a doubler. But as I said my style of off-roading and 1000 plus mile highway trips to a trail head might not be that of others. 33's and the 3.4 first gear of the M5OD just does not fit me. Way too fast and/or hard on my clutch in 1st gear with out a doubler for me.

 

[MountainMonkey]

so picking up the tires this afternoon. called the guy last night. apparently one of the tires has less then half the tread but the other 3 are in really good shape. im thinking it wont mess with the 4x4 too much, anyone see one tire being a half inch or so smaller then the rest causing a problem?

 

[LONO100]

it might be a problem. he's says 1/2", it might be worse in person.

 

[sport97]

Get pics. I don't trust peoples judgement on tread life. I went to get a set of BFG at's, guy said 85%, they were 50% tread, no more. I still got them, they were only 120 bucks with wheels, but his judgement was poor.

 

[MountainMonkey]

srry guys no pics. didnt get the tires..... 2 were in great shape one was ok and the other was pretty much shot. BUT tomorrow morning im going to post a pic of the new crack in my front diff. rough country lifts..... cheap, all im going to say about that.

 

[AlexSport'00]

Sorry to bring up a dead-ish thread, but you guys said the shift points and speedometer (and I assume odometer) were thrown off. I expect that with my plans for larger tires, but how do I fix those issues? Thanks for any replies!

 

[rickybobby]

you need to re-gear to do it right, but there are speedometer correction kits that will fix it as well. Where i live driving around with 33's and 3.73 gears is fine, but when i drove it to sprinfeild, MO i had some issues in the foothills of the ozarks with heat from downshifting and unlocking the TCC, and a speedo calibration kit wont help with that problem, other than it wont upshift as early

 

[cloaked_chaos]

I run 33's and 3.73 gears. When my speedo reads 65mph, I'm really doing about 75. My shift points do not seem to have been affected. My gas mileage is down but that's because I drive like a maniac, but I'm working on that.

 

[Nedwreck]

I've run 33's and 3.73's for a few years now, with an auto trans and I live in a hilly area of Kentucky (not the mountains, however).

The 3.27 speedo gear is really close. one more (or less?) tooth and it should be spot on. My speedo is 10% off, 50 is 55, 60 is 66, etc.. This is observed with a good GPS to compare against.

All A4LD trans need a good cooler. This tire/gear combo needs it too.

When starting up a bigger hill, tap the brake very slightly. The tranny should drop from overdrive to drive and unlock the TC. This type of downshift before it gets under a heavier load seems to be much easier on the trans, plus you don't lose speed before a forced down shift half way up the hill.

Turning the screw in the modulator valve will delay shifts some, it can really help. A shift improver kit for towing *really* helps, and that is an extremely good idea for any A4LD tranny anyway imho.

33's and 3.73's is about like driving a stock tired truck with the tall gears (3.27). Mine is great on the Interstate and drives very good in town too. It's not a sports car of course.

Some of the conventional mods like exhaust and air intake tweaks can really help the low end power/torque, that was the biggest improvement I ever did. That helps my MPG too. I get about 16-18 depending on conditions. MPG drops at 75mph in the Interstate obviously. A 1st gen Explorer with a 6" kit and 33's is shaped like a concrete block basically. heh

 

[Flip4ford]

if you plan on regearing to 4:56 until you get 35's- I would wait and actually go with 4:88's instead. You will be very glad you did!

 

[FROADER]

Everyone running 3.73s and 33s and saying it's "fine for off-road," will be effing amazed when they actually regear. WTF kind of off-roading are you doing? That combo sucks balls, and yes, I had that in my first explorer before I got it regeared.

if you plan on regearing to 4:56 until you get 35's- I would wait and actually go with 4:88's instead. You will be very glad you did!

Fo shiz!

 

[Nedwreck]

Everyone running 3.73s and 33s and saying it's "fine for off-road," will be effing amazed when they actually regear. WTF kind of off-roading are you doing? That combo sucks balls, and yes, I had that in my first explorer before I got it regeared.


Fo shiz!

I'm surprised at your post FROADER, I didn't think you'd come down on us po' boys like that. D)

I take mine anywhere my truck will fit honestly, hill climbing, mudding, all sorts of things... but I do limit the crawling and such (the places where the steep gears are all but required). Were it possible, I'd have 4.56 in a flash - lockers too - but it's not in the cards man. 33's and 3.73 gets it done for me, whether it's "perfect" or not is a different ball of wax.