Gearing for 33s? (1 Viewer)

[jaymar]

Searched a lot, read a lot. I gather the acceptable spread is 4.11 (stock) - 4.56 - 4.88, but found nothing really definitive for my no-big-tires situation, and thought I'd ask opinions. (Always dangerous, I know.) Putting in lockers anyway, and now thinking about those quarter-century-old gears. So--"best" gear ratio for...

'95 with stock FZ
No plans to go over 33" (31s now, 33s next)
90-95% on-road DD, must do well at highway speeds and I don't wanna hear the gears
5-10% serious overlanding; no rock crawling, nothing crazy
Occasional towing
Cruiser lives <5,000 feet; usually <2,000; there be mountains near, and highways over them
Plan to rebuild FZ and S/C, or swap in something with more power. That could be years from now--but it'd be nice if I didn't have to regear again.

I'm told Nitro and G2 are high-quality / low-noise and durable. Others...?

Thoughts/experience?

 

[bencallaway]

Save your money for the engine rebuild.

 

[enox]

I ran stock gearing for a long time on 33s it was good, even fully loaded. Now im on 4.88's with 35" Now... It pulls hills better, takes off better from a stop, my cruising RPM is a little higher than id like. So for me doing 70mph RPM is at 2600.

When my stock gears came out, they had no signs of trauma or bad wear at 250k mi on the ODO.

HTH

 

[crx7]

1. There’s nothing wrong with your existing gears no matter the age. There’s nothing better you can buy.
2. If you plan to upgrade for more power you’re wasting your money putting in shorter gears. Especially if you have plan to do an engine swap, as you actually need longer gears like 3.7’s
3. 4.56 will bring you exactly back to the stock doing with 33’s. However a lot of people eventually end up going with 35s. Thus I recommend sticking with stock gearing for now.

Note: I have 33s with 4.56 and am wondering if I should do 35s, and/or do an engine swap. Either way 4.56 is no longer ideal.

 

[Rusty Marlin]

Been running 33's on stock gears for a year+ now.
The only really noticeable change is the downshift from 4th to third is more common on hills that it used to not downshift on. That's it.
As others have stated, save your money for something else.
TJM lockers for example.

 

[jaymar]

Been running 33's on stock gears for a year+ now.
The only really noticeable change is the downshift from 4th to third is more common on hills that it used to not downshift on. That's it.
As others have stated, save your money for something else.
TJM lockers for example.

Harrop Eaton.

 

[Squeegee]

I’d regear the transfercase with the 10% under drive and the 3.1 low. It’s a pretty cost effective way to get the job done

 

[flintknapper]

I've run stock gears and 33's for 20 years and been happy with them.

It's all about how you use your rig when DDing. Not off-road, you'll be in low range most of the time off-road and it is plenty of gear for that already.

 

[bhsdriller]

stock

 

[BILT4ME]

I run stock 4.10 on 33's for 125K and no issues other than my speedo runs 5% slower than I'm going.

 

[LandLocked93]

What's the recommended ratio for 33s on low-100s compression?

 

[COYS]

Keep it stock stupid (KISS)

 

[Toyo Boyo]

I’ve been running stock gears & 33’s for about 12 years with no issues. At 2000rpm, speedo indicates 60mph, phone app indicates 64mph.

Just about to pull the trigger and fit 35’s. Regearing might be my next job.

 

[tacocat]

I ran 35s and stock gearing. I liked the shift points better than on 33s and enjoyed the rubber overdrive. It did fine in low altitude mountain driving.

I’d overdrive and 3.1 for California. The Rockies, no.

 

[bajaphile]

+1 for stock.

I even feel like 4.88's and 35's weren't necessary. I ran 4.10 and 35's for years, finally "upgraded" to the 4.88's and didn't feel it was really necessary.

 

[jaymar]

Sooo...is the consensus that there's no point to even changing out the stock gears for new stock-ratio gears, 25 years on?

 

[cahill]

Yup.

 

[MontyFJ80]

If you really think your gears might bad you could just pull the diff and check, or maybe shine a light through the drain plug and look. Stock gears are likely fine with 33's and could always be changed later if needed.

 

[fj4068]

I had an otherwise-stock FZJ80 with 285/75/r16 tyres. The sluggishness was noticeable but tolerable. Later, I had installed a set of 4.56 gears (which slightly over-corrects for 285s). The shifting and acceleration felt perfect again despite its being weighed down with bumpers and sliders. The shift points are more closely matched to the power band, and it drives up hills and otherwise accelerates without a need to frequently manually shift to avoid lugging the drivetrain. The only downside is money spent and the fact that it whines a bit. It is entirely possible that the slight whine is a byproduct of a sub-optimal setup. In retrospect I would probably ship the diffs to Zuk...he appears to have the experience required to optimize shimmed OEM e-lockers if you have them. For me, the cost was worth it because it's a car that I don't intend to part with, I don't intend to go bigger than 285s, and I want it to accelerate and shift like a stock FZJ80. It just feels "right" when I drive it.

 

[Mark W]

Searched a lot, read a lot. I gather the acceptable spread is 4.11 (stock) - 4.56 - 4.88, but found nothing really definitive for my no-big-tires situation, and thought I'd ask opinions. (Always dangerous, I know.) Putting in lockers anyway, and now thinking about those quarter-century-old gears. So--"best" gear ratio for...

'95 with stock FZ
No plans to go over 33" (31s now, 33s next)
90-95% on-road DD, must do well at highway speeds and I don't wanna hear the gears
5-10% serious overlanding; no rock crawling, nothing crazy
Occasional towing
Cruiser lives <5,000 feet; usually <2,000; there be mountains near, and highways over them
Plan to rebuild FZ and S/C, or swap in something with more power. That could be years from now--but it'd be nice if I didn't have to regear again.

I'm told Nitro and G2 are high-quality / low-noise and durable. Others...?

Thoughts/experience?

A daily driver that takes a few road trips. No serious tasking.

The effort to discuss this "problem" has consumed more effort than is worth investing in this solution looking for a problem. Gears to not go bad with time like bananas on the shelf. "33s" will be 10-12% larger than your factory tires. For the uses you describe, you will not care and most likely will appreciate the slightly lower highway RPMs.

Spend the money on gas, snacks and beer while... overlanding, and you will get far more improvement of your "Cruiser experience" from it.


Mark...