Fo sho... you WILL rub... And i Mean that in a bad way....

 

It'll fit

 

it should fit

 

Re-gearing will get you further than a tuner, trust me. The guys who tell you to run stock gearing with 35's just haven't been able to re-gear to see how much difference it makes.
I had a tuner on my sport trac with 33's and 4.10's, then re-geared to 4.88's. Made much more difference than the tuner did, though the tuner was definitely nice.
I wouldn't spend much money on a limited slip. They work okay, but you'll find the limitations pretty quick. Look into a lock-rite locker or something. Probably cheaper than a limited slip too.

 

Yea I mean I'm going from this:

2 different trucks...mine, and kevoo's (03 fx4)

his truck on superlift/33's, no engine mods...
compared to his truck superlift 33's/xcal (huge difference)
compared to his truck superlift/body/35's/xcal/intake/exhaust (not much difference from 33's to 35's IMO)

he was towing my 3500pound trailer no problem (o/d off) even on 35's with 4.10's. Nothing to brag about, it's only 3500 pounds, but compared to my truck, his with 35's/4.10's and stock tune was way faster than mine is now iwth 4.88's and 35's with a tune.

Now granted this is apples and oranges, 3.0 to 4.0...I still have experience with both. and I'll tell you, it was just fine with 4.10's...not saying he didn't WANT to re-gear, but it was fine enough to tow the trailer with 2 full size 4x4's no problem. Still offroad very well, etc.

Now my truck...phew...I have had 3.73 and stock tires, 3.73 and 33's, 4.10's and 33s, 4.10's and 35's, and 4.88's and 35s. It had the most "power" on 4.10's and 33's for sure, but even now it's still a dog. The gears are a MUST on my truck, my transmission wouldn't hold up with the 4.10's and 35's, I blew an overdrive servo with the 35's on just sttreet driving. So I put it in the shop and got 4.88's and the trans fixed under warranty.

Tuner did a lot for me...but not more than the gears. They both did a TON for me on this truck. On the 4.0 it is even exponentially greater.

My point, gears are really expensive. And if your just DD'ing or mild mudding/offroading, you don't need them with a 4.0 ranger with 4.10's (especially manual), it's a nice thing to have...but it can definetly wait. Now if it's a trail rig (which I don't see why a 'new' truck would be...) then you'll want 4.88's!!!

 

thanks guys a bunch for the replies