bsebllhglyknit

I have a trip coming up in July to Lake Shasta, and as I remember my dads 4runner he really struggles up it. It is about a 1200 mile hall so my question is what would the best thing to get for that trip for maybe better gas milege, more power, and to run cooler. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Mine is a 1995 toyota 4runner, 3.0 V6, not lifted everything stock!!

AH64ID

Most people here will say not much you can do to the 3.slow. I would put synthetic everywhere, less resistane = less power spend on rotating engine, tranny, gears = more 'power' to the ground. Do a tune-up, cap/rotor/wires/air filter. I recall something about 3.slow timing being mentioned around here a lot, so hopefully a 3.slow guy will chime it with that.

As far as running cooler, make sure you have good coolant, the more coolant:H20 ratio you have the higer the boiling point is, but it also retains heat longer than a less concentrated mix 50:50 is usually best.

CoedNaked

Agreed - switch EVERYTHING to synthetic. Amsoil or Mobil 1 synthetic oil, and change your transmission, transfer case, & front/rear diff fluids (gear lube) over to synethetic (I run Mobil 1 10w30 synthetic oil, and I'm going to put Amsoil synthetic gear lube in my transfer case/tranny/front/rear diffs soon). The synthetic fluids will help things run a lot cooler and they also have less friction as mentioned which will help transmit things a little better to the ground. YOu will get better gas mileage and a very mild power increase (probably not noticeable, but something) from switching to synthetic fluids.

Also, as mentioned keeping things tuned up properly is of paramount importance. I can't believe what a difference new plugs make. Not huge, but you notice it a little.

There are a few cheap/free mods you can do like advancing the timing but it will require you to run premium gas. Or removing the intake silencer, etc. To be quite frank there is no "mod" you can do that is cost saving from a mileage point of view in all honesty. The $$$ you fork out up front will not be made up with savings in gas mileage. Unless of course you have the rig for a very long time. But I think synthetic fluids will really help you a lot and you'll notice the truck run a lot smoother after you do the full switch over.

One mod that might help with power a little is a catback exhaust system. It'll open up your powerband a little bit, but we're not talking huge HP gain here, but maybe more of a flattening of your hp & tq curves, and making the engine a little more efficient from a not having to work it so hard point of view.

AH64ID

I thought of one more thing, not for a hp increase, but a lower drag. Put hubs on up front, currently with your ADD the CV's are always spinning. Spend the 100 bucks get some Warn hubs, and presto..CV's last longer and less drag on the fwy. Then when winter rolls around, if you need 4wd, lock the hubs and you have the same shift on they fly you had before. I did this on my 95 runner, it was noticible.

91_4x4runner

Can you point me to a link to get the WARN or AISIN manual hubs? I really need the extra mpgs too.

AH64ID

look here, you dont need a conversion kit since you have ADD. Shop around they might be cheaper elswhere

tc

A 5VZFE (3.4L)
:rofl:

Seriously, the 3.0 is what it is. It makes decent power, is very smooth, and reasonably reliable (in the grand scheme of things - maybe not so much compared to Toyota engines). The only mod I would do is headers, and that's more for the reliability aspect of getting the heat way from the #6 valve as for power/efficiency.