So, now that my lift is "done," its just killing me knowing that I can shove something bigger in the fenderwells. It won't happen for a while, but I like to get everything figured out before I do anything. I've heard that on our trucks, anything bigger than a 33" with stock axles is just asking for trouble. Is this really the case? If so, what's the best axle to upgrade to? I'm wanting to eventually run a 35x12.50R15. Also, is a 5.71:1 gear ratio going to be too much? This truck really doesn't see much over 40mph at best. Input is appreciated, thanks.

 

SAS it if you want to go bigger. 35's and IFS will be a pain offroad and break things like crazy. People have do do run them but best option i see is SAS or total Chaos's longtravel kit. ive heard thats nice

 

Well I Run 35x12.5's As A Dayily Driver And Round Trip To Work Is 82 Miles With Stock Axles But Did Go 5.29's 5 Speed And I Have Not Noticed Any Issues With The Axle's. On The Weekends I May Double The Mileage And Wheel A Bit As Well Still Not A Issue With Axle's And The Brake Pads Seem To Wear Fine As Well Don't Burn Up Any Faster Mpg Suffers A Bit But Thats About All I Have Noticed So Far..i Also Have 225,305 Miles If That Matters To You.

 

Sorry to kinda steal this thread but would the stock solid axels on my 85 be ok for 35"s. I'd just like to know for future reference, My 31" have a ways to go yet.

 

It's kind of a continuous scale -

31's hardly anyone ever breaks
33's a few VERY hard wheelers break
35's people who aren't careful break
37's pretty much everyone breaks

Jason - contrary to the web wheeling common knowledge, stock SFA is not much stronger than the IFS (as an axle - yes, the steering is stronger). A SFA can be upgraded to be MUCH stronger than IFS though - the stock Birfs will last a while, but plan on 30 spline longfields at some point, same with going high steer...

 

My $0.02 is not bigger than 33's on the ifs... bad idea

 

go ahead and go with 35s your axles will be fine and with gearing stick to 529s

 

Manual tranny - 5.29, maybe 5.71

Auto tranny - 5.71 plus a BIG tranny cooler 'cuz the torque converter is probably never going to lock up and you're gonna generate A LOT of heat.

 

Ok I was thinking I'd only go up to 33" anyway, But it's always better to know as much as possible. Thanks for the advice.

 

I ran 35's on my independent suspension for awhile untill I broke the ring and pinion in some HARD core rocks. They work and will not break for the average guy wanting to wheel. After I broke my 7.5 IFS, I did not even bother to fix it, but instead torched it off, and put a sas. When its time for you to buy tires, buy 35's if you break, THEN do a SAS. So much more stable then the ifs on inclines, rocks, etc.

Me trying to melt a bottle of ice haha with IFS still installed:






Then when you break the ifs, you will be doing this:





Then you will have a solid, and wont fear about breaking the ifs anymore.

 

Asmentioned, the axles are plenty strong enough to run the tires you want. Anyone that says they aren't is FOS.

The problems you'll likely have eventually are the wheel bearings, tie rods, ball joints, pitman, and idler.

I'm also running 36's on mine and besides DD'ing it I do some occasional mild offroading and I haven't had any trouble at all. I also did 5.29's in them to ease the load on the transmission, clutch and motor.

Do you have an auto or a 5 speed?

If you have the auto you're definitely going to want 5.71 gears and even then it's gonna hurt...

 

Check out the rigs here on the Sonoran Steel site.
http://www.sonoransteel.com/store_co..._liftkits.html
All the system 1.1 pics are on 35's except maybe one or two.(and the one clearly identified on 265's) The first two of the 7.1 system are Steve's Runner on 35's before SAS. Those trucks wheel hard (but with care) and generally without breakage, so yes, it can be done.

 

been runnin 35 for a while with no problems and torn cv boots.

 

yea im running 35x12.5R15 on my toyota and havent had no problems at all. But im actually still running the stock 4.10 in it now but im getting ready to take those out and put 5.29s in it. i mostly play in the sand so im going to stick with the IFS.

kevin

 

I've run 5.71s and 38.5 x15.5 tires and 5.29s with 35x12.5 tires and never broke any thing major. Both rigs were IFS 4cyl and 5 speeds, and regularly wheeled and drove 65-70mph. With 5.71s and 35s you will be over geared for any highway travel, but you'll have all the off road torque you could need.

 

I don't know from experience, but have heard, that with the v6/AT combo you want an additional bump in gearing. So, 5.71 in this case, but check it out to make sure.

 

i've wheeled my ifs pretty hard with 35"x 12.50 15" bfg mt"s, and axles are holding out......

 

SAS, add gussets and longs and you can run whatever tire you want

and 4.88s with the v6 auto isn't even enough for 32s. i had 5.71s on 32s and it STILL sucked. i was going to SAS the truck but i decided against it. if it sucks on 32 BFG MT's with 5.71s, it's not going to hold 35x15.5 SXs at ALL. my 22re+5spd handles it much better... stupid automatic

 

GO with the 35's.

 

I would say an additional TWO bumps.

Molly has 5.71's and 35's with the auto - it blows BIG on hilly/rolling highway roads, won't lock up the torque converter or hold overdrive at all.

By comparison, my rig with 4.88's, 5 spd, 33's (and a more tired motor than hers) holds 5th much better.