I'm saying that I'm no fan of the 3.55s period. I like the performance/mpg balance of the 3.92s or better yet the 4.10s with tires up to 33".
Anything over 33s and it's straight to 4.56s...

 

Im guessing he is saying no. Which sucks. How the hell do ford guys ever get bigger tires with there damn 3.21 gears and i cant do it with 3.55's. I've got friends with V6's running 32's without doing gear changes and a friend with an old 88 sierra running 37's and hes stock. How can i not run 33's when i have far more power and torque then them. And they've been running that way for years.

 

I didn't say you couldn't run the 33's with 3.55s, it just won't be top performance. You won't notice it much at all if you've never run a taller gear. But if you ever got into a truck with even the stock 3.92s and 33's, then you'll think yours is a dog.
In the older days, 80's and early 90's they geared 'em better. Trucks were trucks and sold that way. Now they want them to appeal to "families", so the gearing ain't what it was. Hell I had an old Jeep J10 pick up had something like 4.88s in it stock!!!
You think they went to IFS because it's stronger than a solid front axle? Hell no, the sh*t is weaker, but it rides more like a caddy than a truck. Taller gears offer more power and performance, period. 3.55s and 3.21s offer better mileage on the highway and more importantly, lower emissions (lower rpms at a given speed), making it more appealing and even in some cases meaning the difference between making govt. smog standards or not.

If you ain't got the money to lift, re-gear and get 35's, get the 33's it won't have that much less power than stock...

 

Well I'll tell ya....Hammer is right in what he is saying, the bigger the gear the better performance you will get out of bigger tires, BUT I am running 33's with the 3.55 gears and I aint doing to bad. BUT I am planning on going to 4.56's in the near future due to the fact I want a lift and bigger tires. But I think you could run 33's with your stock gear and do pretty decent. BUT, I'll say it again, HAMMER IS RIGHT!

 

oh i really dont doubt he's right. and im not looking for performace or speed or anything i just want the little extra lift its gonna give me for clearing stuff on the roads out to camping and some more agressive tread. I far from expect top performace. I basically just wanted to know if i could without blowing out my rear end or killing the tranny. So maybe i'll do what your doing bear run them for a bit and when i get the extra 2000$ i'll re-gear and throw in a selectable locker or something. i really appreciate the advice guys. I trust you 1000% more then ppl at the shops around here cus there usually just trying to make a buck. I wish i hadda known when i bought the truck that 3.55's really limited my options for tires. I deffinitely woulda looked a little longer to something with better gears.

 

in my 97 with the 5.9 in it, i had 3.55 gears. I had plenty of lift on it, and 33" tires. I went to 35's because i could clear them, and the thing was such a dog after that. I would floor it, it would wind up and make alot of noise, but would not move anywhere near what it should. And i towed my boat a few times like that...and then the tranny started making noise...and then i traded the truck in...you could do it, but it WILL definitely wear the tranny out prematurely. The only thing that would help, is to run around 3000 rpm's as much as possible and stay out of lower rpm's, and then thats not efficient anyways, so its kind of a lose/lose deal in the long run. And thats based on alot of input and experience, not just mine. I did the research afer i put on the 35's and learned the hard way...now I have 3.92 with 35's and the truck does sooo much better, but still is not optimal.

 

so i say i ran the 33's with the 3.55 ratio for a year ( i only drive 6,000 mile a year max ) would i be ok for the year and then get the 4.56 gears if it even took me that long to save up an extra grand which i kinda doubt it would.