Outer Limits 4x4 Board

hey guys, if i wanted to run 31's on my zook, what would i be looking at to get a bit more power out of the engine without going through the hassle of a conversion? obviously i will lose power running the larger tyres...forgive my ignorance as i'm only a newbie. any advice will help
thanks

fitting bigger tyres is making the gearing alot taller so putting some lower gears in your transfer case is the best way to fix this and bring it back close to stock high range and much lower low range. There's not to much you can do to the 1.3 that gets alot of useable or noticeable power I haven't tried a cam regrind yet but I've tried different carbies, bigger exhaust, extractors, bigger coil etc and haven't really noticed much seat of the pants difference in power (sounds faster, dunno if it is i just believe it is because of the noise ). Have abit of a search on here and you'll find heaps on power ups and engine swaps and the most recommended swap is the 1.6 vitara/baleno motor which is the easiest (for an engine swap) with the most gain in power.

I have rebuilt my 1.3 and i am sure i have got about the most power you can get out of the little 1.3 without superchaging it. I did a cam regrind a weber far bit of porting headers and a good system. I also run 31s and 6.5 transfer gears. I do have a lot of power well for a zook, i can do perfect donuts and easily sit on 110 on the highway... went to frazer island in march and the snow in october.
I was always going to do the 1.6 but am glad i kept the small block.

I still argue that a 1.3GTi motor is easier than a 1.6 conversion with more power (unless you get the 1.6 16v efi which is harder again)

you don't need more power just a set of transfer gears to get your gearing right again. driving around on 31's in a sierra is like driving and a gear to high all the time.

gearing, gearing, gearing. Don't try and fix the problem with more power you won't solve anything that way.

You have completely stuffed the gearing by going considerably larger. So to fix it you will need to replace your t/case gearing an easy and cheap fix. Do a bit of a search and read through the Sierra bible for more info.

yeah i only want it run as it used too before the 31's will go on. not really after it being superfast or anything. whats a good transfer gear ratio to go with then?

Due to a sierra's lovely revvable motor I like many others say the higher the better! You can get 8:1 these days but that's a bit extreme and not well tested. 6.5:1 is what you'll want and what I and alot of others have, You should get some strengthened mounting system at the same time though as the gears can cause the case to crack, search rocktoy ring, mighty kong, spidertrax mount, calmini mount etc.

i run 31s with stock gearing. it isnt fun. as well as slowing it down you will trash your clutch because in a situation where you use low 1st you basicaly go tha same speed as low 2nd or 3rd stock gearing.
iv been running them for 6 months and find deep mud is the worst.

im running the calmini 5.14 tcase gears and 31's and its pretty much spot on to stock gearing (my 31's measure 30.7). low range is incredibly low now too... 5th gear redlines about 45km/hr, and 5th gear 2500rpm is like, 42km/hr... lol

i just fitted 31s to my totally stock 1.3 motor. i do howeva have gearing, rocklobster and 3.9 diffs, and it drives surprisingly good. plenty of poke, sits on 110, and can slowly over take. its no speed machine by any means but drives well with just the gearing.

ill add a pic soon

yeah the one place transfer gearing does suck is that 5th low can be too slow but 1st/2nd high are too fast on the fire trails.

yeah thats what i thought. i wanted to go about 6.5:1. whats all this talk about moving the diff forward as well? why and when would it be necessary to do that?