Reckless89

I am buying new tires and wheels for my 93 4X4 Toyota Pickup. I want to put 31/10.50R15s on it. I am worried about losing a lot of power though. It currently has stock sized tires on it and the motor is completely stock. Am I going to lose a significant amount of power with these bigger tires? Also, what is the best upgrade(s) to get more power out of it without losing any gas mileage? Prefer to spend less than $1000 on the upgrade(s). Upon research of this topic I found the EFI Power Package - 22RE (89-95) (Includes, Header Kit, Camshaft, LC Pro Air Intake Kit & Big Bore Throttle Body) on the LC Engineering website. Is this the best upgrade to go with? If so, is there anywhere to get it cheaper or does LC Engineering have fairly competitive pricing? Thanks in advance to all who respond.

toyota4x4907

The loss will be noticeable at first, but bearable later on, and eventually you'll learn to love it. I went from 235/75r15s to 31x10.5 on my '93 22re 5spd. I got around 14-16 mpg city (it needed some engine and drivetrain work) and about 22 mpg+ on the highway. 31's look awesome on stock 3rd gens, IMO. Those engine upgrades are not necessary and I dont have any info on that package you mention, sorry

Really, if you want to regain MPG and power, regear the differentials to 4.30 or 4.56. That will be under $1000 probably.

gary96360

hha i dont have those problems because my truck came stock with 4.56 gears. my dad had a 92 with 28's stock and he said 31's made the truck pretty slow. im about to run 33's and im not worried about the power loss. w.e its not like i need to drive faster in a mini truck.

toyota4x4907

I really couldnt feel a power "loss" after driving for a month. All I could tell the difference in was the top speed. went from 96 to 86. haha. I actually liked the feeling of the 31" on 4.10 for some reason.

Reckless89

Ive worked at a Tire and Service center for over 3 years now but deal mostly with tires and maintenance work. There are two veteran mechanics there that I work with(Each with 20+ years of experience). How much trouble would it be to regear the differentials and do you think one of them would be able to do it?

toyota4x4907

You might be able to regear them yourself, saving yourself probably $200-$400 in labor for each one. Gears themselves are I think around $200 for each set, you just got to look around at prices and companies/distributors.
I'm sure those veteran techs could regear them. Seems like gears in the drivetrain is a pretty important factor in auto tech. And after 20+ years one would assume they have had some experience with disassembling differentials.

Also, look for already regeared differentials on craigslist. Or factory steeper gears at junk yards or craigslist. '90-'95 v6 auto's could possibly have 4.56 factory (depends on tire package) '92-'95 v6 autos with the 31" tire package will have the steeper 4.88's if you wanted to go taller later on in life. You can usually pick up whole used differentials for anywhere between $50 to $350.

Reckless89

Which gear would you recommend for the best mpg? The 4.30 or 4.56?