Well I first want to say that I like Bacon.
I was avoiding this discussion and watching it happily from the side lines, but I have a good actual experience comparison I can throw in here...
In regards to gearing vs. engine power mods: When my truck was nearly new in 1994 I had the typical rims, chrome junk, stereo and 31s with 4.10 gears. It was snappy all new with 28" tires on it, not so much with 31s, but still doable and better for picking up chicks. I then did the header, some mid-grunt schneider cam probably very similar to the 261C and did the AFM tweak. These mods in theory added power and torque similar to what we are talking about here. This was on a 30K mile 22re, so pretty fresh.
This did help restore drivability lost from the 31s? Yes, but not equal to correct gearing with stock tires stock engine.
A couple years later I was running 33s with this setup and I could get around but 5th gear was non-existent. Being young and dumb I had a thermostat stick way up in the woods and just drove it out, warping the head and destroying the bottom end. I had a shop put a crummy stock re-man 22re in there. It was not a nice as my camed 22re but still OK.
After about another year I ended up gearing to 5.29s which is pretty tight gearing for 33s. It totally ripped! Towing was no problem either. Pulled passes in 5th gear most of the time. This setup with 33s and 5.29s in my perception made the truck feel slightly more powerful and drivable than stock with stock tires and WAY more drivable than the 31s and 33s and 4.10s. And this was with a really lousy re-man with a stock grind cam.
So dyno numbers in regards to gearing? I don't know, but in regards to true drivability, nothing I have done equals the performance restored by running the correct gear ratio for whatever tire size you happen to be running.
Not implying that a good cam, header and oversized valves aren't worth it, just that you will certainly see the most out of your engine mods if you have proper gear ratio for your tires as well.
That being said, 31s aren't asking much. I think 33s justify a re-gear but 31s are right on the line. If I were in your shoes and this was the truck I was going to run until I die I would re-gear and probably run a slightly bigger tire too, maybe a skinny 33.
I think based on what I have experienced if you were to run 31s with 4.56 or 33s with 4.88s plus your excellent fresh engine and a nice cam it will do about as well as any 22re could.
First I would run it with your new engine/cam and 4.10s and see what you think though. It may be perfectly tolerable for you.
If it does not perform up to your needs and expectations, then re-gear to the ideal gear ratio for whatever tire you want to run and you will have the best of all of it!
That is my "worthless opinion" but it's based on personal experience only.
