Cshelt20

Just bought a 93 pickup 4x4 DLX, with a 3.0 and a 5 speed transmission. I've got a 4" suspension lift and am running 33's. At the moment, I believe I still have stock 4:10 gearing, and am looking to re gear it in the near future. I've done enough research to narrow it down to 4:56 or 4:88. I drive about 50-60 miles on the interstate per week and maybe 20-30 miles of intown driving. My question is, based on my driving scenarios, which gears would be best? I have some hills around where I'm at (right outside Charlotte, NC), but nothing too major. Just trying to see which gears would be better for me.

Thanks in advance!

By the way, I'm a newb to the forums, but I do know toyotas fairly well. Dad just got rid of an 84 pickup 4x4 with the 22r. Man I loved that truck. Lol

BigBluePile

iTrader: (3)

Go with 4.88's. That'll make justifying going to 35's that much easier

dark_fairytales

Here is what the numbers say. If you would like the pickup to drive like stock then you must first consider what the stock torque value is that is transmitted to the road surface. The formula is ENGINE TORQUE multiplied by FOURTH GEAR (1:1) multiplied by FINAL DRIVE (diff. ratio, 4.1:1) divided by HALF THE TIRE DIAMETER (14 inches) = 55.6lb/ft torque to road surface.

4.88's and 33's = 56.19lb/ft
4.56's and 33's = 52.50lb/ft
4.10's and 33's = 47.21lb/ft

Looks like the 4.88 gears are closest, plus you must account for the added weight of the tire, which would negate the one extra lb/ft over stock setup. As you can see with your current setup you are running 8lb/ft under the stock setup, so your pickup will certainly drive much nicer no matter which set of gears you choose to go with.

Cshelt20

Thanks for the replies! I had looked and seen that most people go 4.88's, but some had said they weren't the best for interstate driving? If that's true, would I go with the 4.56? I know a guy who has the complete third members with 4.56 that I could get for around $250, so I didn't know which would be best.

dark_fairytales

My guess about the 4.88's not being the best for interstate driving would be how slow it feels to drive the interstate, and how low the mpg's are with the 3.slow (3.0 V6). Both issues have to do with torque, and torque is the actual force of the engine, not horse power. Torque is effected heavily by the driving environment, such as altitude and hills/mountain vs. flat terrain.

Mountains and hill require more torque to maintain speed while driving up the slopes, while flat terrain only needs enough torque too break wind resistance for maintaining speed. So taller gears would be better if driving alot up and down mountains and hills, regarding both speed and MPG's.

For every 1000 feet one ascends in altitude the engine will loose on average ten horse power. For the 3.slow engine that translates to a lose of 14lb/ft of torque for every 1000 feet climbed. Meaning the higher one drives the slower the top speed of the vehicle, and this is not accounting for hills and mountains, just flat terrain.

Personally I would not choose a gear set that is be low the torque specification of the stock setup. Gear sets are chosen by the manufacturer to optimize driving experience and MPG's for highway speeds. The lowest choice of gear set for me with 33 inch tires would be 4.88 gears if I was driving alot of flat highway miles. If mountain were a concern I would choose 5.29 gears. The MPG's would be nearly the same for both driving conditions.

Innocent Fool

I've got the 3.0 with 5spd manual and 33x12.5s on my rig.
I'm running 4.56 gears and like them. I think they're a good match. IMHO 4.88s would be better for crawling but are harder to find and would rev the crap out of your engine on the highway. 4.88s would be better if you were running tires larger than 33s

dark_fairytales

How so, according to grimmjeeper gear calculator the stock setup with 4.10 gears and 28 inch tires pushes the engine to 3000rpm going 61mph in 4th gear, and 73mph in 5th gear. Rerunning the number through grimmjeeper with 4.88 gears and 33 inch tires places the engine at 3000rpm going 60mph in 4th, and 72mph in 5th.

The difference between stock and 4.88's at the same rpm is one mile per hour. 3000rpm's is well with in the torque limit of the engine,
"The 3VZ-E is a 3.0 L (2958 cc) version and is the only SOHC VZ-series engine, and the only non-DOHC V6 Toyota has ever built. Bore remains at 87.5 mm (3.44 in) but stroke is pushed to 82.0 mm (3.23 in). At introduction output was specified as 145 hp (108 kW) then later bumped to 150 hp (112 kW) at 4800 rpm with 180 lb·ft (244 N·m) of torque at 3400 rpm. Despite sharing an engine family designation the 3VZ-E and 3VZ-FE have few parts in common" (wikipeidia)
This indicates that the fuel economy will be nearly identical. Could you please describe what you mean by "rev the crap out of your engine on the highway"?

RJR

My 4runner came with stock 31" tires and 4.56 gears, which give the same numbers as 28" tires and 4.10 gears, as dark_fairytales has pointed out. I definitely noticed the difference when I switched to 33's, but now that I'm used to it I'm fine with it. Mileage is slightly better, I think.

I don't think I'd be happy with 4.10s and 33s, though. That would seem to be a bit far from optimum. 5th gear would be pretty much relegated to going down long hills.

Also, I haven't tried pulling my 2200lb popup since I went to the bigger tires. I'm sure it would not work quite as well.