I was thinking that I would buy gears before I get tires. I have 255/70 16's on the truck now. They still have some decent tread on them and I dont see the point in replacing them until they're worn out. Would it be a practical idea to upgrade my gears now and just drive on the stock tires? I will be going with 33's in the future probably. what would be the pros and cons and about how much will the gears cost?

 

i did that and it was fine..ran with 28's and 4.88's...you'll probably be doing only about 55 when the speedo reads 65, but no worries, you just compensate...the extra oomph for a hill climb is great too...expect gears to run you in the 100-200 range, with another 100 tacked on for the master install kit...then you'll have installation for each pumpkin, since you are in AZ will probably be cheaper than other places, but not cheap...also, if you plan to put in a locking diff, this would be the time...

 

The engine will be revving pretty high on the highway. if you don't do a lot of high speed freeway driving, it may be OK. I ran 33s with 5.29 gears and found the highway revs at 70+ were pretty high for long drives. You'll be revving about 20% higher than now.

 

So at about 70 I should be doing about 4500 RPM's? That probably wouldnt be a good idea for me. i'm planning on driving to Durango soon and also to Milwaukee.

Yeah, I probably would be looking at an aussie around the same time. Thanks for the response.

 

You would be running about 3400 RPM at 70, you should be at about 2900 now:
-http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/4LoCalc.shtml#FindRPM

 

thank you. i wonder what my gas mileage would be. i get about 20 mpg now so i'm thinking maybe 16-17 mpg or do you think it would be even worse?

 

May actually increase a bit. When I ran 33s w/ 5.29 gears I got better MPG than I do with the same tires and 4.88s. The 22RE likes to rev up there. I used to pull about 3300 RPM @ 70. While the power and mileage was good, it was very tiring listening to and feeling the engine winding out that fast for hours on end. Maybe with a quiet exhaust and truck it would not be so bad. For a taste of what it would be like, drive around on the highway in 4th, that is about what 4.88s will be like in 5th gear.

 

It would be sweet if my mileage got better or stayed the same. I'm guessing that motor longevity would be sacrificed with higher rpms for extended periods of time also.