[joe]

me again, i'm still not quite sure about what to do on my '95 ram 1500 4x4. I'm sure about 35"/12.5" on 15"/10" aluminum wheels w/ 3.25" backspacing. Now, i am on a tight budget and would like to fit these tires as enexpensively as possible. I don't want to have to swap gears because that will be very costly. Is anyone running stock gears on 35's with no problem? If so let me know please. If i don't swap, will i losse all power? What ratio would be the best to go with for 35's for a mostly on-road and some mud and sand truck. Does anyone know how far off my speed sigal will be? What can i do about it? I know some lift companies sell speed signal recallibrators but if it isn't necisary i would rather not spend the money.
Now, as far as lift options go, i want to fit my 35's on 10" wheels w/ 3.25" backspacing with no rubbing. What will be the least expensive route. Will just a 3" suspention lift do it? I really don't want to spend the money on a 5" suspention lift because they are about twice as much as a 3" kit. If a 3" suspention kit won't do it, how about a 3" suspention kit and a 3" body lift? That will still be considerably less expensive that a 5" suspention kit.
Thats about it for now....thax for all the help so far. I know i've got alot of quesions so any answers will be appreciated.

 

[joe]

Jason; that white ram of yours is running on 35"/12.5" on 15"/10" cleared by a 3" suspention and 3" body lift combo right? Did you have to add the body lift to clear the 35's? The supention/body combo is what i was hoping to do simply because it is considerably less expensive that a 5" body lift. How's it workin' for you?

 

[JasonB]

Joe-

Yes, I needed the 3" body lift in order to celar the 35" SSRs on the wheels I bought.

As for your speedometer, you can change out the speedo gear on the transmission for less than $50 (dealer parts prices is expensive of course). This applies to all 97 and earlier Rams. That actual change in number of teeth is dependent on gear ratio and tire size. I do not know what tooth gear you would need, the dealer may be able to look it up.

Speedo correction is:

new mph = mph on speedo * (new tire dia/old tire dia)

thus you will be going faster than the speedo says.

I highly suggest that you change out the gears to at least 4.10's. 4.56's are the most common with 35's. The 4.10's are numerically the closest to the stock situation but the added weight and resistance of the 35's I recommend 4.56's. I do not know of many people that run 35's with a automatic that has lasted long with the stock 3.55's. A gear swap is 1/2 the price or better than a tranny rebuild.

You will not loose power at the engine, just percieved power at the ground. It'll be a dog off theline and towing/hauling. Offroad in low range is tolerable. Highway mileage should go up, but passing power is slightly reduced. Be prepared for the truck to down shift going over ever little overpass inlcine.

You can clear 35's on a 8" wide wheel with 4 1/2" or so backspacing without much rubbing, so with your wheels, you'll need to go to a 5" lift or add the 3" body lift. Personally I would have prefer that I installed a 5" lift (body lift would still have gone on, jsut with bigger tires) only becuase I need more frame to ground clearance.

 

[Ian_Wallace]

I don't know what your gear ratio is in your truck, but mine is 3.92, They are stock gears and i'm running 315/75/16s on 16x8 rims...pretty much a 35x12.50. I also have the 5.9 liter engine. I have a K&N filter and Flowmaster exhaust w/3" pipes. I think that my gear ratio is fine, but currently I only have gone mostly through the mud w/a couple interesting mountain trails. On the pavement, even with the automatic tranny, I can still chirp the tires (though I try not to) I also hauled a 22' travel trailer over mountain terrain from Redding, Ca. to Florence, Ore. with no problems.
I hope I helped you a bit.

 

[Ian_Wallace]

Oh yeah, stock tires were 265/75/16s...new tires are 315/75/16s. My speedo is off by 5mph...i'm going 5mph faster than my speedo says. Also my odometer/tripometer is approximately 10% less than actual.

 

[TUNIS]

What about 3.91 gears with 35's? My '98 ram came with 3.91 gears when i bought it. I recently added a 5" lift with 35's. I was thinking of getting 4.56 gears, but you said that 4.10 gears are closer to factory specs. What should I do...?