noob tire size question

[ihdiesel]

ok guys ive looked and looked and havent found an answer.

heres the question:
are 31s too much for an SD33 n/a with 3.54 gears??
my concern is it will totally kill my power and make an already not so fast rig even slower, not that i want a speed demon. this scout isnt meant to go fast, just everywhere!

heres the ride:
1978 scout II, the SD has about 12,000 miles since a recent rebuild, and it has a T 19 trans.
the scout is my daily driver and will see plenty of off road, though nothing hardcore as it is my only ride...i dont wanna be breaking stuff.

[ian choplin]

Don't know if this helps you or not, but I've got 31's and 3.54's on my Terra with a SD33T. It does just fine(finally) getting up to speed. I don't have any experience with the n/a motor, ymmv.
Ian

[xyz12383318]

I put a set of 31' inch bfg's on a NA Scout. I put 3.73 gears in the axles. Before the change it had 4.10 gears and some original sized tires. I thought it would really keep the RPM's down. It helped with RPM's, but I lost top speed and slowed it down a bit. With an sd33 I am not sure there is an optimum way to go but pizza cutter tires with 3.55 should be the best for mileage and highway speeds.

[ihdiesel]

so you guys think id be better off with like a 30x9.5?

thats pretty much the smallest i wanna go.
id really love to have 31s but i dont wanna spend the money for 3.73s or something.
i plan to thow a set of gears from a dana 18 in to my dana 20 so i can have the 2.46 low range for the trails and such.

thanks for the replies fellas, this is by far the best forum ive been apart of as far as people actually willing to help and not just flaming and being incredibly opinionated!

thanks again

[Sammy]

I had 3.73 in mine and 33's but it was turbo. A friend of mine had the same and 3.54 gears but his was a dog compared to mine. I have no experience with the N/A engine but 31's aren't much bigger than stock but will knock off some of your acceleration but I would try to find some skinnier than 10.5

[ihdiesel]

does anyone have any experience with the super swamper tsl radial?
im lookin at the 31x9.5