35's with 4.56 gears on Alpha

[JPaul]

It's getting time for some new tires and now that I have 4.56 gears in my Alpha I can go to 35" tires and still be in the same RPM range as if it were running 265/75R16 with the stock 4.10's. In addition I have another car to use for commuting and such so the Alpha will be more for tooling around town and offroading.

My question is, how many people are actually breaking drivetrain and steering components more frequently running this type of setup, and not just because they were spinning the tires like mad or something silly like that? Not looking for armchair speculation on this, I want empirical data and real world experience and knowledge.

I have ARB lockers front and rear now after blowing the Eaton last spring (plus I don't like how it functions). I am not going to be getting crazy with it either (learned that the hard way last year).

Mainly going to be using it offroad for camping and overlanding (eventually) with the ability to better handle technical trails/challenges.

 

[amrg]

Humvee is running this setup after he did the 5.3 swap. Considering his type of offroad (desert/dunes/beach) he is yet to break something related to the front drivetrain.
He went to 37s recently too

 

[alrock]

I've damaged 3 front diffs and 1 rear diff. Can't tell you if it was 35s or not, or off road abuse, or off road "normal" use. Symptoms might not be realized for days, weeks or months. For example, I had a front diff acting up on the way TO Moab. I couldn't pinpiont the issue at the time but weeks later figured out it was a broken piece in the front diff. Made it through Moab with no issues. So that wasn't from recent off road use. First front diff failed under warranty before I moved to 35s.

Yes, you have a weaker ring with 35s and a higher risk. But the short version of it? We have not had a rash of diffs blowing up on the trails regardless of engine displacement or tire size. Unless you count Neo in 2006.

 

[Sennin]

I was running stock 4.1 with the 35's, then I re geared to 4.56 (The 4.1 front ring and pinion gears were shot when they were removed, they were working purely on magic I believe, and it seems its been running like that since new, as there was no broken off bits and pieces in the diff housing when we opened it)

recently upgrade my tires to 37" Maxxis Trepadors. and the setup still runs smooth, actually better than the 4.1 on 35's were doing.

main usage is for camping and over landing, with some trails here and there. so far doing good with no problems