Lift & Rear-end Question

I am going to do a 3 inch body lift on my 1997 Explorer AWD 5.0. What is the biggest size tire I can use without changing the rear end? I know that a 33x12.50 is the biggest with a 3 inch body lift, but I have read that without changing the gear ratio's in the read end you can't go that big. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[Four0Sport]

what gear ratio are you running now? and remember you would have to change the rear and front differential. there are guys on here running 33s with 3.27s, im running 31s with 3.27s and cant stand it. if you have 3.73s you should be ok running a larger tire, a friend of mine ran 33s with 3.73s and only switched to 4.56s so he could get a better crawl.

 

[van_redbone]

I have the stock gears, and don't plan on changing the gears ever.

 

[Four0Sport]

what gear ratio are your stock gears? 3.27, 3.55, 3.73, 4.10, etc..? look at the tag on your drivers door, there will be some codes, look for axel, below it is a 2 digit or a letter/digit combo that coincides with your axle ratio

this table will tell you which ratio you have by the code on your door

get back at us when you figured out which you have, people on the site can give you better opinions on what size tire you could run and still have good acceleration/crawl/etc..

 

[99ex22]

With the 5.0 you will be fine man. I have 3:73's with the 4.0L sohc with 33x12.5 All terrain's and I hardly noticed a difference going from 31's to 33's. Just buy 33x12.5 All Terrain's...There is a little less rolling resistance compared to a Mud Terrain tire. Besides, you drive it on the road more than you do in the mud. IMO there is no sense spending more money on a mud tire just for looks when it's going to wear out faster than an All Terrain tire would for less money.

-Russ

 

[Four0Sport]

most of the 5.0 awd explorers/mountaineers came with a 3.73 limited slip rear end and an open 3.73 front diff. if this is what you have i think you would be ok with the larger tires, depends on what you want to do with your truck though as it can still limit you in some areas.

 

[van_redbone]

3.73

 

[Four0Sport]

then you should be ok.. what are you going with bigger tires for? trail running? just looks?

 

[99ex22]

Youll be fine then.

 

[99ex22]

haha fourosport and I keep posting at the exact same time.

 

[Four0Sport]

crazy stuff, at least what we say isnt exactly the same

 

[van_redbone]

I want to do a little off-roading with some friends, but mainly just for looks.