I should've commented on my tires in my post.
HEAVY! Heavy steel chromed rims (ancient and ridiculously heavy) and heavy mudders. My 33 BFG's on 15 x 10's are much lighter probably 15-20 lighter.
That's why I noticed such an improvement.

 

I don't plan on going 33's.........

1 inch increase in clearance isn't enough to offset the weight imho plus I like a 10.50 and 33 x 10.50 limits tires choices

I would rather do a drivetrain/gas tank lift

I went with the Grabber AT2's because they were a bit cheaper and were fairly light plus they were made for sharp rocks. They have been excellent tires and I highly reccommend. I'm not too into "wheeling" but rather expedition/overland stuff and fire roads to explore around. So far I have never been limited/stuck by clearance issues. A little creative driving, small/light vehicle, and great approach/departure angles goes a long ways.



Thanks for the honest opinion on the regear! I'll have to look into it some more.......

 

I switched my '91 22RE W56 truck from 4.10 to 4.56, with 31x10.5 tires. Drivability, power, etc are clearly better with the correct gearing. 4.10's with 31" tires is lame, imo. Can't comment on the job, I used hired guns to switch the gears. I felt rich then.

 

I've got 4.56s on my truck and I'm running 265/75-16s on stock Taco alloys. I did notice a bit of a different powerwise but the biggest improvement was offroad. I could walk right over things that took some pretty good effort before. I get 17 mpg on the freeway now so I've lost a couple mpgs from when I was on 31s with 4.10 gears but I'm also carrying more weight now and have those heavy Treadwrights now and went from an AT to an MT. Most likely the slight mileage loss can be attributed more to that.

 

i have 4.56 in my 82 with 33s it does pretty good about 18- 19 mpg but by no means a speed demon they should do good in deep snow

 

Hey Pirate,

Southern oregon motor supply in medford has a rear 4:56 diff sitting in their shop, they offered it to me when i went in and got my block from them. Looks in good shape, didn't get a price as i think i am going to go 5.29 but check them out if your looking for the rear 4.56

 

awesome man! Thanks for the lead.....

So I'm assuming you live out in Medford? I'm from CP but go to school over in K Falls