I purchased an 87 4wd extra cab pickup with a carbed 22re that is a stock 5 speed except for the 31 x 1050 firestone destination at that were on it when purchased. flat ground she runs great , but when you come to a hill it drops speed very quickly and takes qiute a while to build back up to speed. I have changed the air filter and threw in a new set of plugs after I bought it , removed the rust pile bed and installed a flat bed body , which reduced the weight of the truck . I am looking for some relatively inexpensive ideas to boost the power of this 4 banger. I realize switching tires would help , but I want to keep them on for running in the snow , mud , etc.

 

Advance base timing to 8 degrees, header, 2.5" exhaust, and a cam. That may get you 100 to 115hp at the wheels.

 

Inexpensive upgrades and the 22REC don`t mix.

One ends up spending lots of money for very little gain.

In any case that engine any gains will come from the head over size valves porting and polishing RV type cam

Header and 2.25 exhaust with high flow cat

you might think of going to lower gears

 

OK, you've confused me. OP says he has a 22RE "carbed?" Does that mean carbureted? If it's a 4 banger '87 toyota with a carburetor, it's a 22R, not a 22RE. A 22RE is a fuel injected version of the 22R.

Then Wyoming9 calls it a 22REC? I'd never heard of that, but apparently that's a 22RE that's California emissions-compliant?

¿Que?

By my reading of this, the OP has an '87 with a carburetor (22R) and oversized tires. And probably a few miles on it. Those trucks were not terribly powerful to start with (my bro-in-law bought a 22R toyota new off the lot that year--great truck, but not powerful. Quite a bit less than the fuel injected 22RE trucks).

Probably the cheapest way to give yourself a little power would be to get some stock rubber on it. Or just assume you're always going to be one gear down from where you think (read, no 5th gear unless downhill with tailwind). But I wouldn't expect it ever to do a very impressive quarter mile. Those trucks just weren't built to be fast.

 

My bad force of habit!

Still same basic engine power comes from the head.

 

ok. I guess I am not the only one who did not think this through. it turns out that the converter was plugged enough to effect performance on hard acceleration. cut out converter and installed heap muffler, problem solved. still only so much out of 4 cyl running 31x1050 , but much better

 

I was thinking clogged cat I swear.


After you have gone through everything on the truck....brakes...changed diff fluids....made sure its good to go...

Engn bldr offroad head with stainless valves.
Engn bldr 268 cam
LC engineering header no cat...if ya can....2 1/4 tubing
ait filter kit of some sort...k and n or whatever

Made a dramatic difference in my 87 4runner. It pulls super hard for what it is...
and I dust a 3.0 any day of the week. It would dust a stock turbo 4runner as a matter of fact.