35's with 3.73 gears?

[mutti_wilson]

I have 33's mounted right now, but thinking if going to 35's, you think this would be fine? I can drive around at 60 in OD running about 18-1900 rpm. I could just use drive if need be. I'm lifted 6" so clearance should be fine.

 

[Arnie897]

I'm sure it will work...you'll probably feel very underpowered though. I would suggest 4.56's with 35 inch tires.

 

[appx91]

Heck yea it is possible. Yes you will be underpowered. I am running 35's with 3.55. I am underpowered, but haven't had any trouble at URE. Gas mileage sucks just to let you know somewhere around 9 or so.

 

[GJarrett]

You will be WAY underpowered. Dozens of the original members of this board back in the "old days" (lol) heavily modified their rigs to 33" tires and almost all went to 4.56 back then - and that's back when 33s were big; no one had 35s (that includes Rick and most of the original moderators that built rigs back then before going more extreme with their rigs as they are today). The extra two inches of tire diameter doesn't sound like much of a difference, but trust me it is huge.

You'll also have sucky shift points and your OD will always be hunting on the highway... you'll have to never use OD again or you'll burn your tranny up soon. I have a SOHC with a lot more horsepower than you have and my stock 4.10s weren't enough... I went to 4.88s. I'm cheap as heck and didn't want to spend the $$$$ for regearing both axles, but I still had to give up and regear after moving up from my 33s. With 33s my SOHC still powered fine, but when I moved up to 35s, it just simply doesn't work. Most with early models like yours go to 5.13 because they can't get 4.88. 3.73 is way out of the picture. If yours is a pavement queen that won't really hit the trail and you can live without ever using OD and won't ever tow anything you can do it; otherwise you will have to regear.

 

[JTX]

Im running 35's with 3.73's now. If you like 9 mpg its prob not a bad idea. Also when im wheeling i cant just stop at the bottom and crawl up. I gotta get a little run at it.

 

[mutti_wilson]

See, I'm planning on doing a SAS in the near future, definently not 2 sets of of tires away, so i was gonna run 35's on it in the meantime. 5:13 is too low isnt it, i dont wanna be driving around at 3k in OD, 4.56's sound in order. But it shouldnt matter too much to run 35's till i swap is it? Are 4.88's available for the 8.8?

 

[appx91]

Yes they are available thats what I am going to run.

 

[Msupertek]

I done the 35's with 3.73 back in the day. I'd buy the 4.56 gears first especially if its your daily driver, if not your gonna kill your trans and gas mileage. Hope everything works out for ya.

 

[mutti_wilson]

Gearing the front sucks doesnt it? You gotta pretty much rip it all apart, which would'nt be the worst thing, cuz i need an alignment anyways. I think i'll go with 4.56's. Should put me right around stock gearing.

 

[ExplorerDMB]

What are you going to do with your 33's? I need some help if your getting rid of them: Read this post

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=120471

Thanks,
Drew

 

[nissanboy]

ir an 3.73 around on 35's and 33's

honestly i couldnt tell a difference between the 3.73 and 33's and 3.73 and 35's.

I can still outrun Fordbeast's 2wd 4cyl ranger after i went to 35's with 3.73's

I recently went to 4.88's and wish i had stuck with 4.56.

 

[JTX]

I recently went to 4.88's and wish i had stuck with 4.56.

Why is that? Im going to 4.56 now and was just wondering

 

[nissanboy]

i run about 2900rpm at 65mph in overdrive. I was used to getting my 18-20mpg with the 3.73 and the drop from taht down to my average of 16 with the 4.88's sucks

 

[appx91]

I have had the 35's with 3.55 for around 5 months when shoudl I worry about the trans. And if it doesn go out should I rebuild or get a new one. If I rebuld how should I do it?

 

[nissanboy]

if you rebuild yourself be prepared to go truckless for a few days.

i would personally pick up a spare at a Junkyard and rebuild the one in your truck. Then when and if the Junk Yard one fails you have one ready to go in. then you can rebuild the junkyard one and sell it.

 

[appx91]

If I buy a new one what would you suggest? Also, what are some beefy components I could add to aid in the life of the trans.? As far as internals.

 

[410Fortune]

You need to do a search......rebuilding the A4LD has been covered in full detail from every possible angle.

3.73 with 35's will SUCK

Spend the $$, gears are the BEST bang for buck of all upgrades......

 

[appx91]

3.55 with 35's suck thats for sure.

 

[GJarrett]

4.56 will indeed probably get you better mpg than my 4.88 and might be a better choice depending on what you are going for. Going from a 255/70r16 to a 34.6" tire will result in an equivalent axle gearing of 3.97 if you go to 4.56; or 4.25 if you go to 4.88. I like the extra power of the 4.25 equivalent axle ratio because the larger tires generate greater drag and need the extra power to keep good shift points in the hills around where I live now - it's not continually searching in and out of OD going up and down hills like it used to and stays in OD a lot more often. If I still lived in a flat area 4.56 would be fine. Since I enjoy rockcrawling I also enjoy the bonus of getting a lower gearing for better control on the trail.

I still stand by my opinion that 3.73 is too tall a ratio for 35" tires; that's an equivalent axle ratio of between 3.18 - 3.24:1 and IMO is way underpowered especially when you factor in the fact that a 35" tire produces so much more drag than a smaller tire does. If you can live with that, fine, but I don't see how you can keep from burning up your OD/torque convertor prematurely with that ratio (unless you keep it out of OD in which case you would be running high RPMs anyway).

 

[JTX]

Another problem i have been having is the dam wheel bearings keep breaking. Im on my third set of bearings. Smells like a SAS.