So I've had a 4X4 for about 7 years now.....first was a F150 King Ranch stock with the torsion bars turned all the way up with 315s....rode like a dump truck...now I have an '06 F150 with a leveling kit and 33s...looks good but I'm thinking about going a lil higher....

My plans so far is 6" lift with 35-38s.....but after doing some searching on here and talking to some people....I here good and bad on doing it. Of course I know there is always gonna be the different opinions but my big ?? is it really worth changing the gears out for a 6" lift....next week I will be adding a cold air intake, programmer/tuner....already have an exhaust so why wouldn't all these add-on's make up the difference for the bigger tires. Of course I know I will not get the best gas mileage but with my 3:55 gears I don't take the truck in the mud every weekend because its my everyday truck back and forth to work....so just curious what everyone thinks about this situation...thanks

 

id go for a Fabtech 6" with the adjustable dirt logic coilovers. The 6" will clear 35's and if you ever want to go bigger than but up the heigth on the dirt logics and then you can clear 37's

If you stick with 35's you ill be ok. the truck will be sluggish but ok. and you could regear to 4.56 later on

If you go to 37's you are gonna atleast want to move up to 4.56 just to help the trans. But perferrebly 4.88's

The addons will help to an extent but not much, big tires weigh ALOT and take alot to turn. Lower gears do this the best.

 

i mean the lower the gear ration the better low end torque you have, as is my understanding, so at lower speeds, say up to 55mph you should be fine. I have the same gears as you do and am planning to move up to 1250 wide tires at some point in the foreseeable future... plus i have an airaid cold air intake, and flowmaster 50 series and stockers and all i have suspension wise is a level kit. I get about 13-15 mpg around the county, where i mostly drive 35 - 55... i doubt dropping to 12 - 14 mpg would kill my wallet much more.

 

This may sound really dumb, but wouldnt the lower gear ration, i.e. 3.55 be better for turning then? At least at lower speeds? I figure the lower the gear ratio, the more torque, right?

 

no the lower ration (numerically higher) will be less strain on the transmission to get the tires moving. now once you get on the highway the RPMs will be more than stock and can cause some decrease in mileage. but that all depends on speed, gear ratio, and tire size.

If you did a side by side test of the same exact trucks running 35's one with stock 3:55's and the other with 4.56's the one with 4.56's will win overall. It would probably loose the highway mileage section but more than make up for it in the city/ stop and go stuff

 

i think you are getting alittle backards. 3.55 is a higher gear than 4.56 and 4.56 is a higher gear than 5.13... see what im saying.

The higher the number is the lower the gears are.

The lower the ratio the more power/ torque you are applying to the ground

 

Think I'm gonna go 6" lift with 35s and no gears

 

10-4

 

Okay, I gotcha... that makes more sense now, lol... so if I have 3.55 gears on mine with stock 275/55/r20, if I drop to a 2" level (for the CV's sake) and then put 305/55/r20 or 285/55/r20's on, I should be alright, since those aren't too big?

 

yeah that size difference wont matter much. you really dont need to worry about regearing untill you go over a 35" tire. Or you TOW frequently.

with 35's you can get away with stock 3.55's or 3.73's

my 4.2 wouldnt spin the 36's in 4hi though the mud with 3.55's but as soon as i needed 4lo there wasnt anything gonna stop those tires from spinnin.

If you want more performance out of your truck with 35's then bump the gears up to 4.56's