Lets Talk about gearing...

[ecchamberlin]

Have not been around a lot here lately but that is life for you. Busy busy.

So the family did some camping this past weekend with our little pop up camper trailer. It is really small and the 4Runner pulls it okay as is. We were talking about some day in the future getting a larger trailer though. I just don't think the Runner will be too happy about that unless I regear it.

It is still stock gearing and as far as which gears are in it exactly I dont know. The code I have shows 3 options. Someone mentioned you can jack up the rear end and count drive shaft revolutions and compair the ratio with the tire rotations? Am I getting that right? I understand ratios and that seem correct. I imagine I should start with figuring this out.

I am running 285/75R16's and am really happy with them so no larger tires for me. Seems like 4.55 or 4.88 is where I need to be if I want to pull anything in the 3,000 lb area. Obviously this would help it off road as well.

So any solid information out there that would help a guy out with this line of thinking?

[Good Times]

I know Andy towed quite a bit back when he had his burgundy 4runner. I believe he was sporting 4.88's and was a firm believer on getting those if you pull a trailer. I'll get him to chime in here later today.

[ecchamberlin]

Thanks Lance.

Andy,
any thoughts on this?

[JWBehm]

I wouldnt go to 4:88s if you only have 33's. I have 4:88s with 35s and it is still bad on the highway. I am at 3k RPMS at 72 mph, really kills gas mileage. Thats just my opinion tho

[bamachem]

i had 4.56's on 33's and then later on 35's.

they really weren't bad at all on the 33's. the only time it lagged was moderate speeds (50-65) and uphill grades. it would have to shift down for torque to pull the hill, but the RPM's were high. if i simply drove a little faster (70+) it would not have to shift down and would pull the hills fine. strange, but that was the nature of the beast. towing was fine. i never got above surface road speeds, so i don't know what they did on the highway.

when i went to 35's, there really wasn't THAT much difference. there was a slight change in that "weak" band that got just a tiny bit weaker, but everywhere else, i didn't really notice much of a difference at all.

my suggestion?

if you only use your runner for trips and excursions w/ the trailer and don't DD it, then i would go with 4.88's so that you have plenty of torque, but you won't care if you take a hit on MPG's. if you drive it to work, then consider 4.56's and just slow down when towing. if you want a compromise, get the 4.88's and then get some 295/75-16's (34's) to offset the gears so that you have lower gears, but slightly taller tires.

good luck!

[ecchamberlin]

That is the type of info I am looking for. Thanks Andy.

I also went on Darren's site for his 02 sport. That site is awesome for unbiased info on our rigs. Basically said that the 4.88 put him out of the power curve at highway speeds even without towing anything on 285's.

I don't DD mine anymore but would still like to get decent mpg if possible.

[d0ubledown]

get some 4.88's and go up to 315's. i had that setup..pulled our tent trailer with ease. if youre going to be pulling a heavier trailer...it will definitely help.

and if you want to get decent hwy mileage..easy. keep it at 60

[JWBehm]

yeah 4:88s and 35s are a killer combo. I pulled a 3k pound trailer no problem, only thing i had trouble with are brakes since i have 15" wheels

[Bighead]

That is the type of info I am looking for. Thanks Andy.

I also went on Darren's site for his 02 sport. That site is awesome for unbiased info on our rigs. Basically said that the 4.88 put him out of the power curve at highway speeds even without towing anything on 285's.

I don't DD mine anymore but would still like to get decent mpg if possible.

You are correct running 4.88s with the 285/75s sucked the life out of my 4Runner. I remember swapping e-mails with Darren after I had the 4.88s installed to see if he was experiencing the same power loss that I did. On the trail it was great but on the highway doing one of my cross country drives I was at higher RPMs than I was comfortable with at highway speeds. Getting some of my power back was one of the reasons I went to 315s...along with additional wheeling advantages.

If the 285/75s are working for you and you don't anticipate moving up in size, I would say 4.56s might be right for you.

[Swede]

For those who are recommending against running 4.88's and 33's, is this opinion based on your rig using the auto tranny or 5-speed manual? Wouldn't the engine run at lower RPM with the 5-speed than with the auto tranny, provided both were in top gear and travelling at the same speed with 4.88's and 33's?