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running 35s with 355s

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XtremeJ

NAXJA Forum User
Location
East Otis, MA
I've got a 1990 xj with an auto and 3:55 gears. Anybody run 35s with a similar setup? Thanks.
 
XtremeJ said:
I've got a 1990 xj with an auto and 3:55 gears. Anybody run 35s with a similar setup? Thanks.


I did for sreet use only for a while, it was ok but would not of ever taken it off roading that way! :D

mark
orgs mfg
 
don't ever put it in "D", leave it in "3". get a tranny cooler, a good one. don't be too suprised if you get crappy gas mileage, it feels sluggish, and/or kill your tranny.

(based on some simple calculations) the gearing is actually about perfect while in 3rd on the freeway, but getting up to that speed will be sluggish and cause lots of heat.
 
fwiw i ran 4.10 with 33's and loved it though my engine isnt stock. i had a friend running 3.05 with 35's and he said once you got going about 80mph in 3rd it wasnt to bad.


if i were you i would either get smaller tires or lower gears.
 
Best is always to run the combination that works best. If you go bigger tires you should be budgeting and plannng to do a gear change. If you're not going to do a gear change in the near future, stick with smaller tires.

All you'll have is the looks....performance will decrease. I'm also assuming that you have stock axles since you have stock gears, and 35's are really pushing it. Again, fine if you're going for looks, not good if you're going for trail capability.
 
I run 35s with 3.55s and yeah it does suck on the highway. And I get worse gas mileage than anyone I know. But it does just as good as anyone with lower gears does on the trail. So for everone who says it will be crappy on the trail I say BLAH BLAH BLAH!! Dont talk about what you havent seen. Also it is an auto and I have a gigantic tranny cooler.
 
You must not be doing any hard trails or you have reckless regard and abandon towards body damage for your jeep:rolleyes: To each his own though!
 
azxjman said:
I run 35s with 3.55s and yeah it does suck on the highway. And I get worse gas mileage than anyone I know. But it does just as good as anyone with lower gears does on the trail. So for everone who says it will be crappy on the trail I say BLAH BLAH BLAH!! Dont talk about what you havent seen. Also it is an auto and I have a gigantic tranny cooler.

:rolleyes:

The problem with threads like this is that you have to read between the lines to understand the standards and expectations of the commentator. Fortunately, that's not hard to do.

It's the degree of "working" that is the issue.
 
azxjman said:
I run 35s with 3.55s and yeah it does suck on the highway. And I get worse gas mileage than anyone I know. But it does just as good as anyone with lower gears does on the trail. So for everone who says it will be crappy on the trail I say BLAH BLAH BLAH!! Dont talk about what you havent seen. Also it is an auto and I have a gigantic tranny cooler.

:dunce:

:wstupid:
 
Not the same, but

I ran a 4.0/AW4 with 3.55 & 33 x 12.50 for about a year before I swapped in my lockered/4.56 axles.

It basically sucked around town/on the road...forget 4th gear unless ya got a good head of steam built up.

On the trail in 4 low it wasn't so bad...out east, many of our trail obstacles like some wheelspin going on, especially open both ends, so the street-gears helped in that regard.

FWIW my mileage didn't change much or at all going to lower gears: 16-18 was 'normal' DD MPG, but the throttle response was a whole lot better :viking:
 
Ok to start of with the cause of 90% of all transmission failures are caused by overheating so as long as you keep it cool and you dont go easy on the gas it should be fine. Now to start of the replys

offroadman83- Why dont you explain how because I run high gears that it would cause a reckless amount of body damage :rolleyes:.

Goatman- why dont you explain why It wont work on the trail all you have to do is push the pedal further to the floor to achive the same thing that anyone with lower gears is going to get.

XJZ-way to jump on the band wagon xjz all you can respond with is that. It really shows how intellgent you are when you can only respond with calling me stupid but not a reason why. I bet you really know how those lower gears help you get over those speed bumps in front of wal-mart.

Thank you woody for responding without an insult like xjz the brillant over there you actually are just sharing you exp. and that is what a response should be.
 
running tall tires on tall gears comes with penalties that can't be seen or felt.

"It works" is the claim made by most folks running your combo, however, it comes with an "invisible" penalty of increased heat.
 
azxjman said:
Ok to start of with the cause of 90% of all transmission failures are caused by overheating so as long as you keep it cool and you dont go easy on the gas it should be fine. Now to start of the replys

offroadman83- Why dont you explain how because I run high gears that it would cause a reckless amount of body damage :rolleyes:.

Goatman- why dont you explain why It wont work on the trail all you have to do is push the pedal further to the floor to achive the same thing that anyone with lower gears is going to get.

XJZ-way to jump on the band wagon xjz all you can respond with is that. It really shows how intellgent you are when you can only respond with calling me stupid but not a reason why. I bet you really know how those lower gears help you get over those speed bumps in front of wal-mart.

Thank you woody for responding without an insult like xjz the brillant over there you actually are just sharing you exp. and that is what a response should be.

So all us whack jobs running low tcase gears and low axle ratios are just money spending junkies?

Hell, you can run 35's on 3" of lift too. Or wheel a Rav 4...
 
I have 4.10s a 4-1 kit and 35s and arbs I recently wheeled with a buddy on a real trail :D that had a stock t-case 3.55s and 35s and open-open

The things I noticed was that it was very difficult for him to stay smooth. When he came up on something you could tell he had the pedal to the floor and the torque converter would load up and it would suddenly let go and he would be spinning and kicking rocks. I like to use a little momentum, not wheel spinning momentum, and he couldn't do that he hit a rock and had to wait for the torque converter to load and launch, most times it didn't launch forward it sat and spun.

I did nearlly everything without the lockers, I only used the lockers on the optional lines or on obstacles that I did not go out and look at. You know the drill pound your way up something and then go look for the easy line for the rest of the crew. My buddy with the 3.55s We had to strap or winch several times and we had the same size tires and I had the ability to drive without lockers.

azxjman, When you don't know any better most things seem okay:D :D
 
azxjman said:
Ok to start of with the cause of 90% of all transmission failures are caused by overheating so as long as you keep it cool and you dont go easy on the gas it should be fine. Now to start of the replys

offroadman83- Why dont you explain how because I run high gears that it would cause a reckless amount of body damage :rolleyes:.

Goatman- why dont you explain why It wont work on the trail all you have to do is push the pedal further to the floor to achive the same thing that anyone with lower gears is going to get.

XJZ-way to jump on the band wagon xjz all you can respond with is that. It really shows how intellgent you are when you can only respond with calling me stupid but not a reason why. I bet you really know how those lower gears help you get over those speed bumps in front of wal-mart.

Thank you woody for responding without an insult like xjz the brillant over there you actually are just sharing you exp. and that is what a response should be.

AZXJ: "BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, don't talk about what you haven't seen".

First off, this statement points out the fact that anyone who feels contrary to what you feel, must be wrong and doesn't know what they're talking about. Showing disregard to guys that most likely have much more experience than you. Do you have personal experience with tall gears vs. low gears. I would have to guess not.

How can anyone argue this point with you? If you're so adamant about high gears being not being a disadvantage, what can I say? Just give it more gas? And where does the body damage come in? You you serious? If the little smilies chipped your ego, sorry. It was meant to be funny.

I guess the trend of lower and lower gearing is just a fad and it must be reversing now, silly me to not notice the trend. Forget the 4 to 1 t-case gears, the super low 1st gear trannies and the low axle gears, who needs 'em? Obviously there must be no advantage to them.

Guess Atlas will soon be annoucing their new and improved *overdrive* t-case. Can't wait!!

Now I'm on the bandwagon. :)

Future trends:

Suspensions with very little flex.
Smaller and smaller tires.
Light duty driveline components.
 
Last edited:
XJZ said:
Future trends:

Suspensions with very little flex.
Smaller and smaller tires.
Light duty driveline components.

Awesome! My stock XJ with its sagging springs, Dana-35 and 235/75's will soon be a featured rig of the month!!! I'm so glad I didn't spend my money on a lift, tires and axle yet.

:party:

I just hope rock rails and heavy bumpers don't go out of style. LOL
 
azxjman said:
Ok to start of with the cause of 90% of all transmission failures are caused by overheating so as long as you keep it cool and you dont go easy on the gas it should be fine. Now to start of the replys

Goatman- why dont you explain why It wont work on the trail all you have to do is push the pedal further to the floor to achive the same thing that anyone with lower gears is going to get.

Hey, bro, I'm not trying to jump in your sh!t. It's just that inexperinced people ask questions and read this stuff and I think we should tell them straight what works and what doesn't. Like I said before, it all comes down to the degree of "works", which can depend on where we live, what trails we run, and what kind of performance we expect (or are willing to live with).

On the trails that we run regularly where I'm at, we won't even let you run with us with with stock gears, let alone with 35's and stock gears. When you put that front tire up against a 3' ledge, and the rear tire is behind a 2' rock, you're going to have to give it too much throttle to be be smooth, safe, and reliable. And I don't care how big a tranny cooler you have, you're going to really heat up that trans fluid.

You may be willing to live with 35's on stock gears, and they may work OK on the trails that you run, but it is much less than an ideal situation. The right thing to do is to re-gear with large tires, and it's the right thing to do to tell people that when they ask.
 
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