I've got some crappy 30" BFG RT's right now, ty in the snow, horrible in the mud, and crap tastic off road in general... I'm either going to 31x10.5x15's, or 33x10.5x15's, I have a 2" Toytec lift I'm gonna install with my new tires.. and was wondering what ADVANTAGES I will get with 33's that I won't have with 31's, obviously the disadvantage of 33's is my stock gearing, but I WILL go to 4.88's if I feel the need to. Any opinions?

 

i push 33s just fine on my 90 22re with 4 inches of lift with a header intake exhaust and venom injectors

 

That doesn't really help me at all...

 

33's will give you a) 2 inches extra of clearance, b) likely better rock crawling ability when aired down, c) less gas mileage. I got 31's and am very happy, but I am not doing gonzo stuff. Everyone on this site pretty much insists on re-gearing if you go to 33's. A lot of posts on this.

 

I have 31x10.50's and do fine off road with a 2" lift but I would love to get 33x10.50's for more clearance and a better footprint aired down.


Slow on the draw...so I'll just add- yeah what he said

 

to clarify, 33's will only give you ONE inch over 31's, because the tire is round, one inch top and one inch bottom

 

It would probably help, if you would tell us which of your vehicles they will be going on. Since it WILL make a difference. Are you putting these on the Econoline?

And yes, 33" will give you 1" of extra clearance, not 2".

 

i got 32s muds for offroad and 31 bfgs onroad I LOVE THEM BOTH

 

He said he has 30's now, so 33's would be 1.5" more ground clearance

I like the looks of the tire filling the wheelwell.

 

Well I have got an 86 4x4. I have a set of 265x80x16's swampers that are like brand new! I wanna put then on my TOY. So I am gonna go and get some rims from Summit tomm. Will these work?
http://store.summitracing.com/partde...&view=1&N=700+
I cranked down my torsion bars a little. I have 31x11.50x15's right now and it seems like there is pleanty of room. I am not gonna wheel it too hard right now. Just tryin to make it an arround town truck and huntin buggy. I think I might need a little block lift in the rear tho??

 

with the 3.0 i ran 33x12.5 with an auto tranny without re gearing and it was fine. I also have a buddy who runs 33x12.5 on a 22re 5speed and its plenty fine. No racing, but i'd be ok with it. So with the 33x10.5 are lighter tires so you should be fine.

But in long run you would want to re gear, so if you have the $$$ to regear then go 33's. If not you will probably be happier with the 31's, even with the 2" lift.

 

Yes these are totally going on the econoline... Because I'd like to take off the brand new 265/65/14's I put on the back off... And replace my front 225/45/14's on the front... The '86 is what they're going on, the Taco has 32" BFG AT's..

 

true, but the question was between 31's or 33's, thus the 1 inch...but you are correct

 

I just bought some 33x9.50 BFG ATs to replace my worn out 31s and I love them I get better gas (granted I have 4.56:1 gear) and they look way better I have a 2" lift on my truck they clear no prob

 

I'd say do the 31s. I bought 33s because I read I could fit them stock, which you can, but I didn't want to pay all that extra cash for 4.88s for 1" of clearance. So I sold them. I regeared anyway to a 4.30 which is very common and cheap. I am running 265/75/16s (32s) and I think it will be a great combo with the 4.30. 33s definitely need 4.88s IMO though.

 

At 720' above sea level, my 33's were OK with 4.56 ... now at almost 7x that elevation I think that would be rough, and am almost wishing I had 5.29 instead of 4.88!

In other words, if you're not living in the Rockies, you can live a while without regearing, but I would highly recommend it down the road...

 

^^ Very good post tc. I always forget how huge of an impact elevation has to do as well. Very true.

 

Cranking torsion bars doesn't help clear big tires because at full compression, the tire is in the same place regardless of the Tbar crank. You either have do a body lift or a bracket lift, or perhaps shim the compression bumpstop to fit larger tires at full compression of the front suspension. You could also play with your wheel backspacing to fit bigger tires

i think the easiest solution would be to use fatter compression bumpstops, and then regain some travel (and lift) with BJ spacers.

 

i just had this mental argument myself and was given a magic reason to go with 31s: a good deal! i changed 28's for 31's because the price was right for a good set used in the same brand i had, mounted and ready to roll. my point here is that if your budget, or simply spending priorities, is a factor, then you will want to consider what i'm now happy about now that i've gone with 31's, which is that i can put 4.88s on the back burner, which also puts rear locker on the back burner for now too, since i'd want to do them at the same time. it also puts lift decisions on the back burner, so i can research more about bj spacers/new rear leafs vs. 1" body blocks/AAL, because 33's will need some lift on the square fendered gen.

so that takes a lot of stress off my mind over the fact that i really want armor first (bumpers, sliders, underneath).

meanwhile, i also am very happy with the upsize which is 3" bigger visually and 1 1/2" literally, i dont feel i "came up short" in going with 31s so to speak. when i get all the armor done, i can then regear and do lift for 33s then get the skins which will fit right in.

and if you got the budget to do it all now, then its simply preference. 31s are the most proportionate size for the square fender well, 33s look nice n' thick, 12.5s look real fat, 35s look plain BIG, 37s look freakin' huge, and 40s are just sick. everything above is a monster. i think that's an official scale i read somewhere...

 

Actually you should check the manufactors specs. Just because the sidewall says X size doesnot mean it is a true X size. Also depends on the tread wear of the tire; ie: aworn out 33 may be very close in actual measurement to a new 31. Something to consider.