People have been modifying their cars in various ways for quite a long time. The reason behind this is that- people are always on the lookout for improving their beloved vehicles. Fitting a new tire onto a Silverado is one such way to do it. When I went to fit a 35s tire onto my Silverado, I suddenly was faced with the question- do I need to regear for 35s Silverado?
I found the answer is- yes. Whenever any alteration is made to the stock tire size, it also makes changes to the efficiency of the fuel in the car. So, if a car is not regeared after installing a new tire, the performance, as well as the mileage of the car, will be hampered greatly.
Let’s take a deeper look at why we require regearing for our 35s Silverado.
The Reason Behind Regearing A 35s Silverado
The stock tire size of the Silverado is 31 inches. So, installing a 35s tire to it will increase the tire size by quite a margin. When the tire size is increased in a car, it needs more fuel than before to rotate the tire. If we don’t regear our car after installing 35s tires, its fuel efficiency will be diminished and we will need to refuel more frequently than before.
The degradation of the car doesn’t confine to poor fuel efficiency only. Not regearing a 35s Silverado will also result in various other drawbacks. The truck will expend more power, and the transmission temperature will go up, damaging the transmission in the process. All in all, the overall performance of the truck will nosedive. Here is a visual explanation of how regearing saves the user from the drawbacks after increasing the stock size of the tire.
How To Regear A 35s Silverado?
Now, regearing the truck is one thing, but knowing which gear to choose for the 35s Silverado is another thing entirely. The main thing that has to be kept in mind is the gear ratio. The gear ratio means the number of times the engine rotates for each rotation of a car’s rear wheels. The minimum gear ratio that a 35s Silverado has to maintain is 4.10.
A 4.10 is the minimum gear ratio, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that it is the best. The best gear ratio for a 35s Silverado is 4.56. This allows the truck to move around freely offroad. Since trucks are designed keeping the venture off the road in mind, they will serve the purpose greatly.
How To Prepare For Regearing?
Once I had decided that I need to regear my Silverado for 35s tires, I began to prepare for the procedure. Admittedly, I know very little about how to go through the procedure itself. That’s why I hired a pro (whom I will call Mr. ‘X’ here) to help me with it. Then we went around the market to find the correct gear and other equipment such as wrenches, bearing pullers, etc.
One thing he told me is that- both the front and the rear axles of my truck have to be regeared at the same time. When I asked him about the reason, he said that unless we do that, the drive shafts will have different speeds. This will end up causing serious damage to the axles and driveshafts. This evenly ends up breaking the axles and driveshafts of the truck, which I don’t want.
By Whom The Regearing Should Be Performed?
Regearing a Silverado needs a lot of elbow grease and patience. Since I am not an expert on this, nor do I have as much patience, I left the work to Mr. ‘X’- the technician I hired. Even if someone has performed regearing on their trucks before, I implore that they leave the job to someone who does this on a day-to-day basis.
What To Do After The Regearing Is Done?
As the work was being done on my Silverado, I was itching to take the truck for a ride as soon as the work was done. Mr. X’ probably sensed my restlessness and provided me with a very good piece of advice. He said it was not a very good idea to take the truck offroad immediately after regearing has been done.
When asked about the reason, he said it is best to test out the work done first. Avoiding going off-road and driving the Silverado on the road for at least 500 miles is the best way to go about it. Once the regearing is proved to be satisfactory, then I can take it offroad without any problem.
Frequently Asked Questions
If the vehicle doesn’t come with stock tires of 35 inches, then yes, it needs to be regeared. If the truck isn’t regeared, the pressure on the axles and the driveshafts will be too much. This will especially cause damage when the vehicle is taken off the road.
The best gear ratio for 35-inch tires is 4.56. But the minimum gear ratio, in this case, is 4.11. There are quite a few ways to find out the perfect gear ratio for tire size, one such formula is {(old gear ratio* new tire size)/ old tire size}
The minimum lift for clearing 35s is 2.5 inches. But when driven offroad, this much lift will not be enough. The vehicle will need a 3-inch lift for off-road driving. Because when trucks are driven off-road, there are plenty of rocks and other stuff that can come in contact with the vehicle.
If the regearing is done in a low-end shop, it will cost around 1200 dollars to complete the job. On the other hand, high-end places will charge about 3000 dollars to regear a truck. In general, regearing costs close to 1500 dollars.
Final Words
As a truck owner, I want my vehicle to be in top condition, irrespective of any modification. So, when I install 35-inch tires to my Silverado, I expect peak performance from it. But I cannot expect my vehicle to perform at its best if I don’t do my best to offset the changes made by the installation of the tires.
So, if you are also wondering “Do I need to regear for 35s Silverado?” Of course, you do. Especially if you want to drive it off-road. Anyone who owns a Silverado and installed 35s tires need to regear fast before the vehicle starts acting up.
