2.7l with 33's need to re-gear???

I've got a 99 2.7 4x4 5 speed and put a 3" lift and 33x10.5x15 BFG's. Absolutely love the setup but it's an absolute slug on the highway after 3d gear. I've put on Thorley headers, K&N intake and flowmaster muffler to try to get some more power. Although these add-ons help it does nothing for higher speed highway driving. Do I need to re-gear? Has anyone re-geared a setup like this? Thanks for your input.

 

got any pics ?

 

Re gear would be recommended

 

+1

I have 08 2.7L regular cab with 5speed manual, lift & 31's, 5th is useless, I use it onle as overdrive cruise control gear, any hill or to accelerate on highway, I have to drop it to 3rd to get any speed.

I would recommend 4.10 gears.

 

I figured that would be the answer;expesnive answer. Either gears or get a 6 cyl.

 

curious as to how much it would cost to re-gear this also.

 

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I'll get some prices and post my findings.

 

According to the original post, he has a 4x4 so he should have a 4.10 rear end anyway. A lot of it depends on the tires. Certain tires are heavier than others. I have the 2.7 with a 5 speed and recently upgraded to the 265/75r16's which is equal to a 31.6" tire. Because it's a 4 cylinder I went with the Hankook Dynapro ATM's in a P metric size. They were only 6 lbs per tire heavier than the stock Dunlops that were equal to a 29" tire. On my old '99 I had the 31" BFG A/T's. They were a lot heavier than these tires but luckily I had the V6. Depending on your offroading requirements (some just use them for street queens), I would consider getting a lighter tire than regearing. Regearing is going to further affect your mpgs.

 

If your gears are too tall for the job the truck is asked to do, the engine will be running inefficiently and regearing will actually improve MPGs. This was the case for my Ford F150 with the 5.0 and the 3.31 gears.

However, regearing is expensive (200-400 parts, and 300-500 in labor PER AXLE) and you'd NEVER do it just for mpgs - you'd never make enough back in gas to justify.

The only reason to regear is because you feel it's subjectively worth it to improve how the truck drives.

31 to 33 doesn't change the gear ratio all that much. The other factor is the increased rotating mass of the larger wheels and (especially) tires. Lower gearing helps with both of these.

All that being said, I haven't regeared my 2011 2.7 to account for my 285/70R17s. I can still start the truck from a dead stop by easing out the clutch without any input on the gas, and even though mid range acceleration on the hwy is more sluggish, the mega-bucks required to make the change just isn't worth it to me. If I wanted V6 power, I should have bought the TRD OR with the V6 to begin with.

 

I totally overlooked that he has 4x4 to begin with. If he already has 4.10 gears stock, there is no need to re-gear.

 

Hey bjmoose I appreciated your OME write-up and pictures. I just bought a '11 regular cab 4x4 Automatic. I wheeled it hard at Gorman OHV yesterday and am thinking I want lower gearing. I am thinking 4.88's with true-tracs running 235/85. I would like 255's but you scared me away from a tall OME set up andd 255 is a tall 33 that will not make my gearing seem any lower. Think I'll go 235's with 5100's set at 1.75' vs. a coilover setup. Your thoughts please on the tires and gearing and also about whether or not I will get a real significant 4-low trail advantage with coilovers vs 1.75" 5100's. My truck is mostly a daily driver, I probably will wheel it only 3 or 4 times a year but I take on some decent trails when I do. Also have you wheeled Gorman and is it the same as Hollister.

 

1.75' is a lot of inches