33x10.5 with stock gears. The good, the bad, the terrible???

[Bugout 1]

I already know the answer, but you know, maybe someone has a different opinion or has had better results. 

I'm 99.99999% sure I'm going with 2" lift and 31's to keep the front control arm angle low, live with the stock gearing (for now) and keep the axles alive, but I love the way MJ's look on pizza cutters but I just don't feel like upgrading the stock axles to handle 33 skinnys is worth it, so how much will I hate driving it with stock gears and 33x10.5 and a manual transmission.  My other jeep is a LJR with a auto trans, 4.10 gears and 33x12.5 and it drives ok. I tow a 17' center console with it and it's my overland vehicle/ daily driver/ highway cruzer and as long as you are patient it does ok. 

Will the manual and skinnier tires make up for the terrible gearing, I'm guessing 3.55's maybe.

[89 MJ]

I’m running 4.10s on 31s. I wouldn’t run any less than 4.10s on 33s either. If you find a 4cyl 5speed XJ, that will already have 4.10s and the front diff is bolt in. 
 

If you still with your 3.07s, you will probably lose a lot of fuel mileage and it’s going to be super gutless. 

[Pete M]

I hated 3.07s with 30" tires. wasn't as fun to drive anymore (and the truck was only 10years old at the time).  same truck/engine a couple years later (with a 4wd conversion) and I had 4.10s with 33s and dreamt of the day I could get 4.56 or 4.88.  your mileage may vary. (but having said that, your mpgs will suck and you'll have a good chance of burning out the clutch prematurely)

 

something I was told by an old-timer many moons ago: half-assing something won't make it turn out half-good, it'll just be all bad.  my suggestion is save your monies, be patient, and do it right all at once.  

 

I mean, it's not like the truck will look bad on 31s.  it's an MJ after all.  it'll still get all the looks.   

[jpnjake]

I’m currently running 31’s with 3.54 gears and it’s a total dog everywhere I go. My 4.0 is pretty tired tho, even at low miles. 

[pizzaman09]

I can't imagine larger than stock tires on stock gearing.  I already thought my truck was gutless on the factory 28.3" tires with 3.07 gears.  I've strongly considered smaller diameter tires.

[gogmorgo]

Don’t know about 3.07’s. My Ax15 ZJ is on 31’s with 3.55’s. It’s decent enough for daily driving. It takes a pretty steep hill to make me need to downshift. Not a big deal off-road cause you’ll just be in low range. It definitely is noticeable pulling a trailer though.

[Bugout 1]

Thanks for the responses, yeah I know patience is key and doing it right is worth it, I'm just trying to rush the project cuz I'm ready to start driving it. I can't tell you how many times on other forums (Wrangler based forums) iv told people to be patient and do it right yet here I am contemplating doing it wrong.  31's it is. My plan is to get the Mj somewhat finished so I can put the LJR in back in my shop, regear, chromoly axles and truss it, 4.88's, 35's, etc.. then get back on the MJ. I really don't need 33's on the MJ cuz it will never go off-road. 

[Bugout 1]

Another question, and this may need another thread started, but the reason I was going to run 33's and not change the gears is because it's been mentioned on this forum many times, even in a sticky, to not build the stock axles, that it's not worth it. Is that still the case? When I had a xj many people on the Cherokee forums built the stock axles to withstand up to 33's for off roading, 44's for 35's. I know the type of terrain, weight of the vehicle, horse power and driving style also play a roll, but is it still a rule of thumb to not build the stock 35/30 combo? If it can be done with lower gears and chromoly axles I may just go ahead and regear. Iv ordered complete axles in the past and that's just not in the budget at the moment, plus the Mj will NEVER be a hardcore off roader.

[75sv1]

First, it seems you have a manual trans. So, gearing is different than for an Auto. So, 3.55 for 31's and 4.10's for 32-33's for a manual trans. 

[Pete M]

the dana 30 is worth building.    the 35 is the problem child here and is not worth the investment.  but there are plenty of better junkyard axles to put in its place like the XJ 44, 97+ XJ 8.25, KJ 8.25, and explorer 8.8.   

[gogmorgo]

The main issue with building a D35 is you’ll put a ton of money and parts into it just to end up with an axle that still doesn’t hold up as well as some easily obtained stock axles from other vehicles. And now when something fails you’re looking for custom parts instead of being able to walk into a parts store or grabbing something from a wrecking yard. And you’ll have all the money sunk into it so you’ll be inclined to repair rather than replace, costing you money again and again. 
 

If all you’re doing is driving it around on the road, not hauling loads or pulling trailers it might be fine. But it might not be. I didn’t put a huge amount of effort into building the D35 in my ZJ, just a truetrac and new gears, all new bearings, in the summer of 2020. I had to do it all over again this summer after I bent an axle shaft which took out a wheel bearing and the metal flakes floating through the system took out everything else. I don’t know how I bent the shaft either. I won’t say I was babying it the whole time because I do have a bit of a heavy foot up here in the mountains, but I’m also not the guy bouncing off the rev limiter spinning tires trying to get up trails every weekend. Most of the miles it does are on paved highways. Because the factory AX15 makes it a pretty rare bird I wanted to keep it as original as I could, but if it goes out again I’m absolutely not building the D35 again.