I have a blue 1995 F150 XL 4.9L I6 long bed standard trans 2WD with 2.9 gears in the back. I've been flirting with putting a suspension lift on it since I got it last February and I've recently been looking into the 4" suspension lift from Rough Country. I guess my question is, with a 4" suspension lift will 31x10.50's look small with the lift while sitting on 15x7.5 rims? I'm currently running 235x75x15's and have been flip flopping between 31's and 33's with a possible gear change.

I've already swapped the stock muffler with a Flowmaster 40 series delta flow, put a new clutch in it, new belt, & belt tensioner. I'm gonna buy a Flowmaster 223 series high flow cat when I get my tax return.

Any feedback is greatly appreciated!

 

My truck in my profile pic has 31x10.5x15 on stock alloys. Mine is a 4wd and sits a little taller stock, but I think with a 4" lift they will look a little small.

 

Would 33x10.5's put too much strain on the 2.9 gears? I realize they're designed to get better gas mileage, but I haven't been able to find out if I'd need taller gears to run them

 

I would be more inclined to go with a 2 inch leveling kit or f250 springs in the front , 31 inch tires and a re gear in the rear end. Just my thought. Doing that and I think you will be happy with the way your truck preforms .

 

I'm waiting for my six inch lift to ship and will run that with the 31x10.50's (will look ridiculous) til I get wider wheels. Then I'll put 33x12.50's on them and that should give me enough ground clearance for most of what I encounter on trails.

Be advised, I ordered my parts from Rough Country the end of last year and nothing has shipped yet because the rear leaf springs are backordered til 2/20/15. As of right now anyway. This is the third time the estimated arrival date has changed. So if you're buying the entire kit that uses leafs instead of a ridiculous amount of blocks, it might be a while...

 

For the re-gear, what would be the minimum ratio to turn the 33's? I found some 3.73 & 4.1 gears on Summit.

 

Any tire larger than 235 75 15 is too big for 2.92 gears.

 

You'll want 4.10's or 4.56's with 33's.

 

I have 33x10.5 on my F150 with 5.8L/E4OD & 3.55 gears. It is notably less responsive over the 235/75R15's I replaced, but tolerable for what I do, for now. Loaded up it does see full throttle regularly with Wyoming wind & mountain passes, and I never had to push it like that before. Saturday with 1200lbs on the flatbed was 55mph, 2nd gear, full throttle, very slight uphill, crazy headwind (60+mph? it was alarming). Driving home was 70mph in OD though, tailwinds sure are nice.

4.10:1 would be good (put my truck back to "stock" final drive) but 4.56 would be a performance improvement. The 33x10.5 are great for four wheeling! 2x4 gets you through lots with those tires. If you're just going for looks though, I'd vote 31x10.5.

I can't imagine a 4.9L with 33x10.5 and 2.90:1 gear set. That's a bad idea. Rather than buying a gear set on Summit (unless you can install yourself--not a simple job), find a complete rear axle on Craigslist or at the local yard and swap that in instead. 3.55:1 is easy to locate, 4.10 is a little more rare but they're out there.

 

So the guy I bought it off basically sent me up **** creek without a paddle by switching the gears to 2.92? I live in the Snowbelt of PA and most of the trucks around my model year up here are shot or on their way to being shot underneath (mine spent most of it's life in NC) which really limits me on a decent rear axle. So would a re-gear from 2.92 to 4.10 even be possible? I have a guy in mind who could do it if it's possible. He replaced my clutch and U joint when they **** the bed last November

 

If you have a mechanic you trust yeah he can certainly do the gear swap for you. It's just often cheaper to swap a whole axle in, but if they're not available then do the gear swap.

You could always try it out as is with the tires you want, and regear if you hate it. That won't hurt anything and it's free to try.

 

Very true. Our go to mechanic is a very good family friend (& one of my old wrestling coaches) and he's never steered us wrong. Right now I'm leaning towards the 4.10 gears in the back and running 33x10.50's with the 4" suspension lift. Should I cut the air dam under the front bumper? I don't really like it and it gets in the way when I have to crawl up under the engine.