chimmike

So, on my 3vz auto, if I got 4.88's (I'm assuming I'd need front gears as well) Are these going to kill the daily driving aspect? Compared to stock, are these going to obviusly take better advantage of the torque curve and thereby be less sluggish off the line and have better torque for off-road situations?

And I'm hoping I'm not looking at a crapload to purchase/install these effers......


thanks for the help

slow 'n saggy 'n newbie-to-offroading-stuff in Sarasota.

tc

Ummm - they come stock with 4.88's if you got the 31" tire option...

drew303

Lower gears will help you in any off-road (crawling not baja) situation. Your overall stop speed will be less mind you but overall you'll get more torque and more response out of the drivetrain.

As for price, Yukon gear sets 4.88 for the V6 (front and rear) from Marlin Crawler are:

MC-14602, V6 4.88 R&P Gear Set, $195

http://www.marlincrawler.com/htm/diff/pickup_diff.htm

per axle. $400 just in the gears. I know a thing or two about installing gears, it's not to terribly difficult but it's also unfortuanetly not difficult to eff things up either. Zuk does installs: http://www.gearinstalls.com/ but you'd have to ship him your 3rd members and the gears which is pricy.

Not sure how much a shop would charge.

norcalsvx

i got quoted $1600 for front and rear 4:88 and a detrot in the rear

chimmike

I'm pretty sure this truck didn't come with the 31" tire option, even though it's running 31x10.5's now. It's incredibly sluggish off the line, which makes me believe they're significantly lower than 4.88 haha.

Kyle95sr5

Im betting that you have 4.88s stock just like mine. There is a very good chance you do and 3.0s are very sluggish. Get your gear code off your 4runner and look it up on the internet. It will tell you what gears you have.

Kyle95sr5

http://www.brian894x4.com/Gearratiosanddiffs.html Read this!!

chimmike

Mine is G254, which says I've got an 8" gear, 4.55 gears, and 4 pinion open diff.

So, 4.55"s should mean good ,right? lol. But it's SO SLUGGISH. Also open diff=bad, I know, I know......and 4 pinion, I'm assuming that's good haha

Kyle95sr5

Well i have to say that is the first 4wd auto 4runner that ive seen without 4.88 gears. You got the crap end of the stick!!

Your money won't be worth the SLIGHT gain you will recieve from going to 4.88 gears especially if you are planning on staying with 31x10.50s.

chimmike

yeah I'm not going to increase tire size. Well, I'm certainly not getting better miles by sticking with the 4.55"s ,lol! I guess I'll scour junkyards and see if I can pick up diff's out of there.

Thanks for the honesty

Kyle95sr5

Just curious, but what kinda mileage are you getting?

chimmike

Honestly, I don't want to think about it, it's horrible. I'm in the process of swapping out plugs and what not as I just picked this up and I'm sure maintenance wasn't kept up.....can't find the ˟˟˟˟˟˟˟ pcv valve, I'm dreading that it's under the intake manifold.

Probably going to custom make a y-pipe for the stock headers and get a high flow cat as well. The better it breathes, the better the mileage will be. Already got a k&n drop in and will be fabbing my own CAI piping.

I'm guessing 12-15mpg mixed city/hwy. It just has a terrible time getting to speed.

I'll probably end up changing out all diff/tranny fluids soon too as I'm sure those weren't done.

Kyle95sr5

You are definetly on the right track with performing all the maintanence stuff first. Im not gonna bore you telling you all the ways to improve gas mileage because you seem to know what you are doing and what you are talking about. But just fyi, you getting a very average amount of mileage for the 3.0! Im getting 11 myself but we will see how that goes up after my top end rebuild is finished.

Here are some good threads to read through. Gives alot of real good info.
https://www.yotatech.com/forums/show...ou+getting+3.0

https://www.yotatech.com/forums/show...ou+getting+3.0

tc

After going to 33's, I changed from 4.56 to 4.88 despite all the people who said "you won't notice such a small difference". Well, guess what?

THEY WERE WRONG! Unless you have done it Kyle, you're just guessing.

The powerband on these motors is small enough that gearing is SUPER critical. I'm at 3000 RPM at 70 MPH - right on the bottom of the powerband.

All that being said, IMHO the autos were undergeared from the factory, and if I were you, would do 5.29's for 31's with the auto, especially if you're on the highway a lot, or a lot of hills, because it will make the overdrive actually usable.

Kyle95sr5

My statements were made on driving my 95 4runner with 4.88s and 31s and my brothers 93 4runner with 4.56s and 31s. I didn't notice any noticeable difference in power between the two and I drove both offroad many times. Keep in mind tc that he is planning on staying with 31s.

With that being said, TC has more knowledge then me on the subject as he has had first hand experience with different tires sizes and different gears on the SAME 4runner.

tc

Was the 4.88 'runner an auto and the 4.56 a manual?

If so, there's the problem... LOL

The VAST majority of complaints about the power of the 3.0 come from auto owners. The auto tranny is not bad, just EXTREMELY poorly matched with the motors from this era.

I also drive a SAS 4Runner with 35's and 5.71's with an auto, and it is a DOG despite having a new motor. It tachs almost 1000 less RPM than my manual transmission 'runner, and won't hold the overdrive unless you're going downhill with a tailwind! LOL

Kyle95sr5

Now that I think about it, you are correct. The 4.56 was with a manual. D'oh, should of tthought about that before. TC is correct, listen to wha the man says!!

Rammedic

While we are on the subject, is there a drawback to running 5.29's with 33 in tires for the long haul? Would be kinda like running 4.88's with 31's. Seems it would keep the rpms up a little to help with daily driving. Top speed would be reduced but is that a real problem with a lifted truck and bigger tires?

chimmike

well I'm going to look into getting a used 4.88 set of diffs. Since I don't have manual hubs up front I'll be picking up the auto hub diff.

also, after changing out the plug wires, I was looking at the coil......any way to get rid of that sucker and slap on a good MSD coil of some sort? Give a lil more fire to the plugs?

I've thought of PCV valve, plugs, wires, thinking maybe cap and rotor as well, and high flow cat.....and maybe o2 sensor replacement....any other ideas?

I've sprayed Sea Foam deep creep in the intake manifold as best I can without removing the throttle body, don't know if it helped at all but I'm sure some of it tore away the nasty crap in there, and I'll probably pick up a used intake and ghetto port it.