I have been reading about gears and bigger tires. Are 4.10's a requirement to go to 33" tires? I have 265/75/r16 now with the stock 3.55. I am doing a lift in the next couple weeks and want to get bigger tires to fill up the fenders. Also what all do you need to get to do a gear swap? I know both front and rear gears sets, but I don't know what else is needed. Thanks in advance.

 

They aren't a requirement, but they would be nice. However 3.55s and 33's is a pretty sweet combo when cruising down the highway.

 

Yeah, until you go up a hill or tow something.

 

^^^^so you would recommend changing to 4.10's? Do you happen to know what all parts I would need to make the gear change?

 

Not true. I tow my Expedition out to the desert about 40 times per season with no problems. 318 w/ 3.55's. I don't have any issues at all.

 

Heres my suggestion, you can do what you want with it, if your going to just upgrade to a 285/75/16 and you dont do any major towing, dont sweat it keep the stock gears and drive it around if you feel you lost too much power you can always do gears then. I wouldnt change gears in a 4x4 just for 33's unless needed for towing.

Why because you have to do both front and rear gears and if you dont install them your looking at easily a grand worth of parts and labor, not worth it IMO unless needed, if you were going to 35's I would be all for it(if you were going with 4.56's)

 

If you don't tow a lot then you'll be fine power wise since you have a 5.9l engine. 285's are actually a little under 33" by the way.
Do you have 33" tires on your truck?

 

I will be doing some towing but nothing more than probably a popup camper. The parts are the only thing I would need to know what to purchase. A friend of mine from work would do all the labor as long as I help him.

 

The tires I was looking at are 305/70/r16 but I could just go with the 285's.

 

The reason I say it'll be a dog with 33" tires compared to what you have now is because my old tires were 285 70 17 and they were fine unless I was running 75mph and hit an incline, then it would kick out of overdrive just to keep speed.

I now have 33"x11" tires on my truck and when I first put them on it was a slug. I've got a couple mods that have made up for the power loss but I still have 4.11 gears just waiting for me to install them.

305 70 16 would be ok, it is the same diameter as 285 75 16 (32.8"), just a little wider.
You could wait for Lord0fsal3m to get on here since he has 305's, can't remember if they're 70 or 75.