dava flav

so im a new guy...
i sold my show truck and my fun truck. to buy a house. i have a 86 4 runner as my daily. very well maintaned good condition truck.
im gonna put some downey t bars and 3" spring pack on it and some 33s.
heres the problem, i know that 4.88s are good gears for these tires ive used the search button a lot lately onthis site. but i drive up mountains alot to go snowboarding and i dont like to go below 55 going up the hill.
would 5.29s really kill it on the freeway.. i also do a lot of freeway driving.
its 22re 5sp wiht 220k on it. header no cat hopefully be rebuilding the motor next fall with some head work

fireman1559

well first off welcome to yotatech and glad you used the search button now the downey Tbars you can save your money they wont net you the lift of the 3in spring pack in the rear ive heard that they are weaker than stock and are just crap this is not my opion ive never had then its what ive heard other people say i would just stick with the 4.88s if you gert 5.29s it will kill your highway speed because your not turing 35s

dava flav

i wanna run the 3" springs because i want a little bit of a rake and i have a huge drawer tool box that i built in the back. and with it fully loaded with tools for work its a heavy bitch..
what do you recc. for the front.
are bj spacers really that strong. i come from a susp world and i just dont think it would be very safe.

abecedarian

Up front, I'd say stock bars and BJ spacers. It'll keep the ride quality near stock and net you about 1.5" lift up front. It's an 86 so I'd assume the rear leafs have fatigued- seems they all do even when not used as a truck. Worn leafs complicate planning what to do a bit- if you want the rear 3" higher than it is now, a 3" lift spring is NOT what you want. You'd need to find the stock height then order aftermarket lift springs for what you want the over stock.
You might even consider a 1-2" rear lift over stock and airbags to take up the weight from the tool box without resorting to having too much lift to compensate for the weight.

space-junk

iTrader: (1)

4.88s will be fine gears... you wont make it past 65 with 5.29s...

waskillywabbit

iTrader: (-1)

Regearing with only 33s is a waste of money IMO unless you plan to go bigger later on.

85TurboRunner

I ran 33" tires and 5:29's on my old runner and it did fine driving 10 miles each way on the freeway daily. I'm not really sure the speed I was going but the speedo said 80 and I'd guess I was doin 70 somthin.

I'd say go with the 5:29's that way if you go bigger you'll already be geared.

As for the lift, can't help ya.

tc

1 step in the gearing only makes like a 300 RPM increase on the highway .. it's not like you're going to go from lugging it to tached out!

Where do you live, what's the altitude? If you're in CA, and your "mountains" are <5000 ft, then 4.88 will be fine ... here in CO, I wish I had 5.29.

I TOTALLY disagree with wabbit - I went from 4.56 to 4.88 and it was night and day. I wouldn't say it was undrivable with the 4.56's, but I always had to be on it and downshifted a lot, it's SO much better with 4.88.

space-junk

iTrader: (1)

i am in the same boat with TC... 4.56s to 4.88s is night and day for me too, and im only runnin 32x11.5 tires...

and in my opinion, if you know how to drive your rig effectively, and unless you like to play in the rocks, 33s are just fine for the average trail runner/daily driver...

mikepr55

i just went to 4.88s and 32x11.50x15 bfg at s and a three inch procomp susp lift i hope yall are rite i don't have the money to do it again. By the way i scored those tires with 90% tread on 15x10 eagle alloys for $450 think i payed to mutch? The wheels are in perfect condition.

Jay351

You will like it A little extra pep when you need it.

dava flav

i live in north seattle and the mountain we ride jumps 3000feet in the last 18 miles so its a bitch to drive. i can do it right now in 4th around 50 the whole way. im not sure what gears i have now. i need to find out. i already have a shackle in the back.
i thought he downey t bars were good bars. theyre bigger diam how could they be weaker.
ill stick with the 4.88s and 33s then. and i like a little rake to make the gaps even. even though the vehicle wont be level. i may just get a 3" spring take th shackle off and get a 2" body lift adn leave the front stock

pacorunner

I had stock gears with 33" swampers on my 89 4runner. No lift, no rub. If you want to boost up the rear a little look at www.gearinstalls.com, he'll show you how to regear if you go that way but also shows some neat looking helper coils which I'm thinking about getting.
I didn't mind the 33s with the 4.10 gears but I had a v6, I know a lot of people don't like the 3.0 but it did have ALOT more power than my 22re. I wouldn't go past 4.88. Google a gear calculator, that will give you an idea of how to get close to stock speedo numbers.

Junkers88

I'd say go with the 1.5" BJ spacers in the front and some ZUK coils in the rear (see the above post about). You'll be able to clear 33's without any issues and the coils in the rear do wonders for payload and ride quality. I would also recommend not going with 5.29's unless you plan on going much bigger in the future.

Matt16

Totally disagree with that Wabbit said. i regeared to 4.56s for 31s from 4.10 and the difference was amazing. I'd do 5.29s, if you're in the hills, this will give you more useable gears. When I'm driving in the mountains I wish I had 4.88s with my 31s.

The actual BJ spacer will never fail- its a solid block of aluminium. It may slightly increase wear on ball joints depending on how much you use it offroad.

randito

I'd go 5.29's as well. Your going up a steep incline at altitude to go snowboarding and carrying a lot of extra weight as a dd. I'd rather be able to do 65 in 5th at 3000rpm than 55 in 4th at 2900.

http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/4LoCalc.shtml

NYChopshop

Personally, I say since you have a solid front axle on that beastie you got there, go with 5.29s if you're going with 33s. I'm convinced you will change your mind when you tinker with your toy a bit and go with 35s eventually, thanking yourself for the regear. I'm regearing my runner with 4.88s for 33" tires because I'm keeping my IFS and don't need to go bigger. With either the 22re or the 3vze engine, at highway speeds you're never gonna be totally happy. At least with the 5.29s, gettin TO 55 will be easier (I've never seen a mountain you didn't have to slow down and turn on occasionally) and you will be able to cruise up a hill without much of any problem. I would only agree with WaskillyWabbit in that it's an expensive proposition to regear. If you final tire size is 33", go for that 4.88 regear, even though its staggeringly expensive - it's something to be done at the same time if you are adding lockers, which many of us are. If you are going to get (or possibly maybe because you can get) the larger 35" tires as most of us will tell you to get with a solid axle toy, then WaskillyWabbit is right and you shouldn't waste your time with 4.88s, but I say man up and go for the 5.29s. Get yourself a limited slip for the front axle, (as its half the price of a locker and I love them in the front axle of medium duty 4x4s although unfortunately you 'aint takin it on the rubicon trail unless you're properly locked) which is what I'm planning to do on my own ride. You might be able to find a used assembled 3rd member with 5.29s, which would make the whole deal a whole lot more affordable, but they wouldn't be stock and most likely have seen some abuse (since they're rebuilt they might be equipped with a locker - useless on winter roads if not seriously detrimental unless its selectable which means even more pricey) and probably wouldn't be right for you. The only other way I would agree with WaskilyWabbit is in respect to the fact that if you'd have to have an open or limited slip rear end built for yourself to keep it cheap(er) and that may not necessarily be worth the huge amount of money. I'm having an e-locker equipped 4.88 rear end built for me, and I know how staggeringly expensive that's going to be for the minor gear change, but I'm get a selectable electric locker in the rear! Shizzam! The gear change is almost an afterthought. I'm also positive I don't want bigger than 33" tires. I'm planning on more desert driving on this rig than rocky trail navigation. Suspension travel and high shock absorbing are higher priority to me than 'articulation' or massive ground clearance.

dava flav

ill prlly never do a sas on this yota. id love to four link it front and rear coilovers 35s or 37s but in reality i dont have any friends that do that . and im more into laying the rockers on the ground than 4x4s. 4x4s are exp and break a lot and i like to drive vehicles alot that i dump tons of money into..
so this rig is mainly a driver that i will drive to mountains a lot in and go play occasionally.
it will be more of a streeter than a wheeler thats for sure. but i do like to go play and maybe i can get my dad back into it since he use to have a crew of 8 friends with trucks that we would all go out every weekend. but that doesnt happen anymore.

ill prolly stick with 5.29s ifs 33s lockrite in back and limited slip in front 3" spring in back and bj spacer and t bars in front. maybe a 2" body lift just to sit a little higher

vwfastg60

dont do the T bars its a waste of money. Stock ones are great and if you want a bit of height crank em up a bit. I ran BJ spacers and relaxed bars with a 4inch bracket lift on my truck with 36's for 3 years with out an issue related to the parts. 36's on IFS is another story.

I would go 5:29's and think its pointless to do anything but that. Nates truck on 33/34 inch tires and 5:29s seems quicker and more powerful then it did stock...or close too. In the mountains here with a 22r/re bone stock wheels and tire size you still need gears lol