30s or 31s on waggy with 3" body lift and 2.73 gears?

[dturner0528]

I'm looking to get new tires for my '82 waggy, but I'm unsure as to the size I want. It currently has some old 33s on it that are drastically oversized for the differential gearing. (2.73). It came with a 3" body lift, but is starting to get that 'draggin wagon' on the rear and the tires tend to rub on the back when i go over bumps (speedbumps, driveways).
It takes off like a slug because of the gear size difference.
I'm looking at either 31s or 30s but I don't know what I should do. 31s should clear fine, but would still be a bit too big for the gears. 30s would clear perfectly and allow some sway and would be sized well for the gears (more performance), but I don't know if it would look weird with the lift.
I don't want to change the gears or axles because I'm on a pretty severe budget, and I'm not going to be taking this thing offroad really anyways.
Any suggestions/pictures?

[Stuka]

What wheels do you have?

[ferox]

I am going to need to get new tires for my '82 soon as well, but I have the tow package with 3.31 gears. I have 31's on my waggy now and was hoping to go up to 32's or 33's, but recently I think I have decided that that would be too much for the gearing. I tow with my wag a lot, so I am probably going to go with the 31's again. When I had stock sized tires on it, the difference in torque was very noticeable compared to the 31's, and I regularly got 18 mpgs and could get 20-21 mpg if I was careful on the pedal. I have a 258 in mine, so that makes a difference also. With 2.73 gearing I would recommend the 30's. Actually I would recommend regearing more that anything else because 2.73 suuucks, but mo' money...and if you are not going offroad, the smaller tires will probably give you better gas mileage. As you mentioned, it might look a little weird with the 3" body lift, but you would either get used to it or get an idea of how it would look better and make those changes later.

[dturner0528]

I have the stock 15x7 12 spoke 6 lug wheels on it.

Alright, so even 31s are really noticeably less torquey with this gearing. What was the stock tire size? 29?

I'm looking at some Firestone AT tires and the sizes are a bit off. The 31s are 30.5 total diameter and the 30s are 29.5 total diameter. Unless I'm missing something, that makes 31s almost 30s and 30s almost stock, correct? That should help with my gearing too, right?

[Stuka]

That sizing is normal for just about every tire out there.

I think you will be fine with 31's. Will drive way better than with 33's. 30's may look small. But will give you a bit closer to stock power.


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[ferox]

Alright, so even 31s are really noticeably less torquey with this gearing. What was the stock tire size? 29?

That's what I found. But, again, I have a 258, which is torquey but it's not a V8, not sure what you have in your '82. I really notice it when towing, as expected. I think 29 was right around stock tire size. When I had stock tires I also had stock suspension, so it did not look totally weird, but it was more like a large station wagon rather than a 4x4. That said, I did Cinammon Pass with no modifications (Carter BBD), it was a torquey tank with the stock tires. If you have a stock 258 and 2.73 gears, then I think you would be happier with the performance of the smaller tires. If you have a larger engine and aren't going to tow or offroad, then as Stuka said, you would probably be fine with the 31's and it would look more normal with the 3" lift.

[fulsizjeep]

Krista's Wag is a 401 on 3.07 gears with 31s and we take it all over the place. It gives pretty decent MPGs that vary from 11-15. When I lifted the old 88 GW, I put 32s on the 2.73 axles and saw loss in power and MPGs. Then switched to 3.73 and 33s which are great on and off road and got ~12 mpg on the 401.