bugguy68

92' pickup 3vze, 5spd, 4" suspension lift on 33"s. Just bought my first pop up camper. Dry tow wieght 2970lbs. Figured my truck was rated to tow 3500lbs so it shouldn't be a problem.....well I guess that I was mistaken. Drove it 2 hours from where I bought it on interstate highway and I thought my poor truck was going to blow. 65mph max speed@ 3200 RPM, doing the old Fred Flinstone trick with my leg out the door, pedaling to help it keep up. The slightest up grade and it was just dying. Down shifting did little to help. Thought I was going to burn it up although my temp guage never moved. 222,000 miles on it but I had just reworked my heads and I have great compression and my cylinder walls looked awesome. Short off bying a bigger truck, or dropping a small block V-8 in it "YUK!" Can anyone please tell me how to get more towing power out of this this thing. I'm currently running K+M cold air set up in it. Please give some help so I don't have to by a full size truck for the purpose of towing this thing. Thanks!

TNRabbit

drop to 31 inch tires or smaller; you're killing your power with 33s. I figure you're on stock gearing?

bugguy68

Yes stock gearing. The 33s make that much of a difference? Could a gear change help than?

TNRabbit

That's you other option. Probably need 4.88s.

bugguy68

The truth is, is that this, believe it or not, is my dream truck. Like new condition, set up to look the way that I want, but I also want it to perform the way that I want as well. I've owned it about three months now and have been extremely disattisfied with the acceleration. Hence leading to a compression and leak down check which found a bad intk vlv on #6. Ofcourse thats what prompted the head rework. Runs great overall but still accelerates like a dog.....yeah, I've heard all the 3.slow jokes, but I just kept trying to convince myself that the truck was just geared low, fueling my mind set that it would tow great and the slow acceleration was just the nature of the beast. I would love to think that new gears would not only fix my towing dilema, but my entire acceleration problem to boot during daily driving, but also allow me to keep the 33s for the look that I want.

TNRabbit

I will probably increase you fuel economy, too.

4Mogger

actually I would say 'overgear' your axles and let the motor really rev. Going back to 31's is not really going to give you much more power. Yes, regearing will kill your mileage in daily driving.

Patience. This is important if you really like the truck. Just because you could go faster does not mean that you should. That is a lot of weight for your truck all things considered. 65 mph max is not bad at all.

4Mogger

at least and that would be for 31's IMO.

bugguy68

To be totally honest to you, I don't even know what the stock gears are in this truck?

TNRabbit

Probably 4.10

nix4x4

Pretty sure your stock gears are 4.56's. I have a 1992 pickup EXACT same setup with stock gears, so I feel your pain

bugguy68

Yeah, you described it pretty well.....pain! It just makes me sick to think that the truck that I love just can't cut the mustard when I need it most. Definitetly got a big contrast from 4.10 to 4.56s. May have to call the dealer with the VIN to really know for sure.

thook

Let's solidify this a bit, shall we?
http://home.4x4wire.com/erik/diffs/#ratios

Determine what gears you are running and then go from there. Some...probably most...say restore your vehicle to stock ratio when running oversized tires...meaning install appropriately lower gears. And, oversized meaning anything larger than manufacturer recommendations. So, determine what that is, as well. It'll be on the metal placard inside the driver side door. There are some...probably the minority...who would say overgear. In your case, with a 5spd, it might work well according to one I would consider an authority on the matter. "You're clutch will love it" as was said. Within that, it really is up to you and what you're comfortable with. A lower than stock ratio will raise your RPM's, but some like the difference and some don't. I'm in agreement with 4mogger myself. Atleast, in your situation. It will give you more power on the bottom end (on start up and acceleration) without necessarily doing any engine modifications. Not to mention, I recall someone saying (tc...I believe) the 3.0 performs better at slightly higher RPM's.

(Listen to me..ha. I sound so authorative. I love writing. )

CoedNaked

3000 pounds IS a sizeable workout for this engine in stock form. Hell 3000 pounds is a workout for the 3.4 in 4runners and Tacoma's. And to top it off that's just dry weight for you. Add some wet weight in there and you'll potentially be pushing your legal tow rating, and a 1 or 2 more poeple in your cab will compound the problem.



Here are a few suggestions for you to help put the odds in your favour. Some are expensive, some are relatively inexpensive, but they will help things

1) Get the best fluids you can. Put synthetic oil (Amsoil or Mobil 1) in your engine and synthetic gear lubes (redline, or Amsoil) in your front and rear differentials and transmission and transfer case. These will help keep things cool and give you a tiny bit of performance as well (maybe 1-2 HP and 1-2 foot pounds of torque).

2) Make sure your cooling system is in ABSOLUTE top shape. New thermostat, no holes in your rad, newer water pump, etc.

3) Advance your timing to 12-15 degrees.

4) Run Premium Chevron Gas (92 octane). This will help you avoid pinging under load and if you advance your timing you will probably need this to avoid pinging as well.

5) Consider at the bare minum a performance exhaust of some sort, and also consider spending the bucks on headers to compliment this exhaust. Doug Thorley has a 2 1/4" Mandrel bent system that would give you some added pep in your step at the bare minimum. Thorley, Downey, or LCengineering make headers for this engine that would help make your towing load a bit more manageable. The other thing worth noting is LC Engineering makes an exhaust that works on 22RE pickups, which as far as I know is 2 1/4" mandrel bent. I don't see why this same exhaust wouldn't work on 3vze's. The reason I say this is because my Borla 2" mandrel bent catback will work on 3vze''s or 22RE equipped trucks. Perhaps something for you to investigate.

6) Your tires are a bit big for stock gears. Whether they are 4.56's (most likely) or 4.10's, is not the point neccessarily as much as you obivously have tires that aren't helping your gearing. I would imagine if you have a manual transmission, and you were doing 3200 RPM's in 4th gear at 65 MPH, that's roughly what I do and I have stock 4.56 geras. You can either regear to 4.88's (although 5.29's might be better for towing) or go find a set of 30" tires to work with the stock gears for when you tow (although this would look silly with the 4" suspension lift, BUT, I honestly think it would be a better and stronger option for towing than going to 4.88's or 5.29's wit the bigger tires).

7) You're looking at a big of $$$ to get your truck into towing shape for this amount of weight. You could always take the trailer back and get one about 1000 pounds lighter which is a lot more realistic for a towing load.

Emms4runner

I just towed 2 full size dirt bikes and all the associated gear and fuel that goes with them, and on the way there it was just like your describing, however, on the way back it was absolutely flying! me and my bro couldnt belive it, we were overtaking people in the right lane up fairly steep hills in 5th gear! The motor was really singing along.
I did just fill it up halfway with premium (98) fuel, maybe the fuel i had on the way there was a bit crapy...

But i wouldnt expect to be able to tow at all with 33's and stock gearing.

RobD

I'm going to beat the dead horse, just because I can.

Save your pennies. Save your dimes. Buy a good, used, complete 3.4 liter V-6. Do the swap. There is no comparison. For the amount of money you'll pour into the 3.0, you will be hard pressed to match the power and torque. I know. I've done the hills in 3rd gear struggling to keep up with traffic doing 50 miles per hour in the old 3.0. Those same hills I now do in 5th with the 3.4, 4th if I want to pass people. That's right, pass on an uphill! You love your truck now? This is like going from Roseanne Barr to Angelina...sure, they have all the same parts, but they're built a lot different. One is sure a lot faster than the other...

bugguy68

Just now getting back with you guys. I love all this input, I really appreciate it, but you won't believe what I found after running the numbers. 3.15s holy crap! No wonder it's such a dog. All the advice is great but you guys can best tell me if this is, or is not a good starting point to fix my problem. If so I guess the next question would be, what would be the best ratio to still run the 33s, and be able to tow 3000lbs plus use it as a daily driver in stop and go traffic with out burning it up. So you guys are the experts here. Please let me know what you think. So far I have heard 4.10s or 4.88s. Which way should I go. Having never done a gear change like this before I really don't have anything to compare it to, to know how drastic the change will be, hence why I don't have a personnal preference at this point. I'm just going to have to go on the most sound advice that I can get. Please remember that although the tires are bigger, I'm not into the off road seen although I don't want to rule it out. But for right now it just ain't happening. Just needs to get me to work and back.

SoCalWheeler71

You made a mistake checking your gears, AFAIK 3.15's for toyotas do not exist. You have either 4.10's or 4.56's if the gears are stock. Towing 3000lbs is completely unrealistic, no matter what the rating says. The whole truck weighs about 3500lbs and its a dog just trying to move that weight, you are almost doubling that. There are some small tuning tweaks that can be done to get a little more power but like it has been said above the 3.0 only makes power from about 3000-4000 rpm. Should be no surprise that the autos come with a 2800 stall converter from the factory. I've towed with a 3.4 and the difference is unreal, if you want to spend money to get more power that is the way to go, don't waste any on the 3.0

SoCalWheeler71

Cheap 3.0 power-
First make sure your tune up stuff is tip-top.
1)Adjust the AFM richer- info on how to do this is in the Pirate FAQ
2)Set timing to 12-15 degrees while terminals are jumped, then only run a quality name brand Premium gas
3)Put in a 180* thermostat or lower if you can find one IIRC stock is 195
4)Taurus fan mod, search here

4.88's will be close to stock with 33's, 5.29's will pull harder but you will be shifting like a riced out drag racer when not towing.

CoedNaked

Yeah re-check your gear ratio's.

If you did Weasy2k's cams, Headers, exhaust, combined with your intake, combined with a regear to at least 4.88's, I think you would find that trailer much more manageable.