Tire choice ?

[wentz912]

Alright so I think I've finally made a choice for the set of tires that I'll be purchasing when I return from Basic Training in August. The plan as of right now is to purchase and install a set of 33x9.50x15R BFG AT's on my 1984 Toyota 4x4 SR5, 195k miles, stock 5 spd and 22R. I run mostly hardpack dirt or clay and old fire/logging roads with the occasional mud. This is also my daily driver so at least 75% of the miles these tires see will be on road. So what i'm asking is am I making the right decision for my tire choice? i want something that will be pretty streetable but still have the little bit of off-road ability that i need.

Oh yeah my other question is...if I'm able to find a set of 4.37 diffs from an earlier truck will these bring my ratio back pretty close to stock? or am I gonna have to pay for some brand new 4.56s? I would like something that I'd get away with pulling 34s or 35s later on in the trucks life possibly too.

 

[Dirty Harry]

I think that is a great tire choice! They are lighter and fit better than a comparable 12.5 tire, plus they will likely fit on your stock rims. Scott Brady did an excellent write up on the benefits of narrower tires.

http://www.expeditionswest.com/research/white_papers/tire_selection_rev1.html

As for the gears, unfortunately 4.37s won't get you back to where you need to be. 4.56s would likely be tolerable, but 4.88s would be better. The good news is, 4.88s were a factory offering (optional in trucks with the 3.0L and automatic) and you can find these at times on car-part.com. If you are considering larger tires in the future I would suggest at least 4.88s, if not 5.29s. Some folks with heavier vehicles and/or at live at higher elevation prefer the 5.29s with 33s.

 

[wentz912]

I think that is a great tire choice! They are lighter and fit better than a comparable 12.5 tire, plus they will likely fit on your stock rims. Scott Brady did an excellent write up on the benefits of narrower tires.

http://www.expeditionswest.com/research/white_papers/tire_selection_rev1.html

As for the gears, unfortunately 4.37s won't get you back to where you need to be. 4.56s would likely be tolerable, but 4.88s would be better. The good news is, 4.88s were a factory offering (optional in trucks with the 3.0L and automatic) and you can find these at times on car-part.com. If you are considering larger tires in the future I would suggest at least 4.88s, if not 5.29s. Some folks with heavier vehicles and/or at live at higher elevation prefer the 5.29s with 33s.

Gotcha...how much taller than stock would I be with the 4.37s though? Comparable to what I'me at right now with 30s and the 4.10s or am I off-base here? And on the 4.88 bit, how can i recognize a truck that has said options? Where and what designators should I look for?

 

[Nuclear Redneck]

Off Topic

<hijack>

Where are you going to Basic Training?

</hijack>

 

[Dirty Harry]

A 33 is 10% taller than a 30, and a 4.56 is 10% lower than a 4.10 (I am rounding here). However, in addition to adding a larger tire you are also adding a heavier tire, so many go with lower gears to compensate. 4.56s should be fairly easy to find, you can even find this factory ratio with some Toyota electric lockers from Tacomas and 4Runner, which would be a really hot setup in your truck.