Hey guys,
I have a 96 XJ sport 4.0 with the ax-15 tranny (5-speed manual).
I just bought a set of 33" mickey thompson baja claws mounted on black steel 15s from a guy on CL for $280. I'm really stoked but I have seen that people are saying that I need to regear for 33s. Is that really necessary? I'm not really sure what that means, does it mean the gears in the tranny or in the rear end? I just had my tranny rebuilt (with stock gears), so I'm not really jumping at the idea of tearing it down and doing it all over again. Let me know whats up,
Thanks,
Dan

 

Rear gearing your DIFFs and yes it is important with 33's. You need 4.56 gearing for 33 inch tires. This will cost ya roughly 1500 hundred bucks parts and labor.

Sucks to go big fast doesn't it. You run the risk of damage to the gearing inside your diffs if you do not regear. Many will tell you that they havn't had problems and many will tell you they have.

 

Had 33" Pro Comp XT's with stock gearing in 5-speed. 5th gear wasn't much use, other than that, no issues.

 

i am gonna see if i can get away with running my stock gears for awhile i know that 5th will probly be about useless but oh well. i didnt want to do gears untill i got rid of my junk d35c.

 

i dont think if your doing gears it well run you more then 600-700 bucks

 

It cost me almost $600 just in parts. It would have been another $600 to have them installed for me but, I installed mine myself. When you re-gear your Dana axles from 3.55 to 4.56, you need the following:

1.) 2 x Ring and Pinion gear sets
2.) 2 x Diff. Install kits (bearings, shims and such)
3.) 2 x New different offset carriers

 

Im running 4.11 gearing with my 33's

 

How is that working for you?

 

Does it only affect the gears it self i run 33s on mine i'll have to check the codes to see what gears are in it or do the spin tire count drive shaft deal i was wondering about the auto tranny does it harm that

 

No actually just the opposite. If you're running 33s with the stock gears and an Auto tranny first off the stock gearing is 3.55 vs. 3.07 with a 5-speed. Also the auto tranny is a little more forgiving and easier to live with when running big tires and the stock axle gears. With a manual, you have to slip the clutch a lot in this situation.

 

wifey has 33's and a 5 spd with 3.07 gears. she had 280k on the clock with original clutch when we put them on 5 years ago.
still have the original clutch and it's her daily driver.
5th gear is pretty much useless, but it didn't blow up her junk.

 

how do you like those gears? better or worse than 4.56? Gas mileage? hp?
Just curious,
Thanks

 

this is a GREAT thread wanting to do this too but wanted a lot of info and this is it.

 

I have 33s, and 4.88s, and love it. I'm on the highway as little as possible though!!

 

33s and 4.56s are like peas and carrots...LOL.