I know you get these almost everyday and have just spent a hr in the search bar only to become extremely confused!!!!!

I have a 3.0 with auto and 33x12.5 on 4.10 gear ratios,well gas sucks like horribly im guesstimating about 12 mpg average.The speedo is 15mph off(slow) at 60mph the odo is extremely wrong.Power sucks,my truck will no longer shift into 4th(final gear) because the rpms are to low.At 60mph I cruise around in 3rd gear at 2500 rpms.

Now from knowledge in the past i have learned this as rule of thumb,
manuals:
31=4.56
33=4.88
35=5.29

autos
31=4.88
33=5.29
35=5.71

I was reading through threads and I saw what looked to be very knowledgeable people disagreeing with everything I thought was true lol.They was saying that 4.10s would be best for 33s and im sitting here thinking I want the they are smoking haha.Now they never said for autos or manuals or for v6s or v4s they were just talking about gears and tire sizes and got me completely confused so can someone point me in the right direction?

This is my dd and im looking mostly to get the mpgs back up power isn't important right now.

so 4.88s or 5.29s for my v6 auto?

edit:thanks for correcting me on the 4 speed auto.

 

First, you have a 4 speed auto, meaning you have 3 gears and 4th is an overdrive gear.
The gear ratio to tire sizes you posted are correct. People say that 4.10 is the best because thats what they run and can handle it. Using steeper gears will get you back to "stock" ratio for the most part. You could do 4.88s with your v6 auto and 33s, it would be better than 4.10s, but if you ever wanted to go 35s and not feel like it feels now, then you'd have to regear AGAIN. You'll probably want 5.29s. Personally, I like the feeling of a little under geared, maybe its because I have been running 31s on 4.10s with the 22re/5spd combo on my 3 trucks for about 5 years With 31x10.5s, 22re/5spd, 4.10s and a 4200+ lb truck, I'm getting about 15 mpg city, and 24 hwy if I use a higher grade fuel.

 

5.29's if you want a rig that has good power on the road and goes down the freeway at a reasonable RPM, but pulls hills close to stock.

5.71's if you want a trail monster, but something that is not very good on the road.

I would not do 4.88's in an auto rig with 33's, unless you comute on the freeway at high speed all the time.

I can say this because I own a 1989 4Runner, V6, Auto with 5.29's and 33x10.5 15's. It has very mild road manners with the 5.29's and 33's. The speedo is 10-12% high. In 4th gear(the auto's are actually 4 speed transmission, 3rd is 1:1, OD is very steep, .705:1) The RPM on the freeway is 2550 at 65 mph.

 

Ok,so your running 2500 rpms at 65 correct?Wouldn't that put you at the same mpg range that I am in?

I wonder how much of a difference it is to have 10.5 or 12.5 wide tires.

 

My rig:
4 cyl
5 speed
xtra cab
31x 10.5 x 15
4.56 gears
Speedo is 5km/h slow.

This combo is better than stock.
A while back, I had 4.10's and the small stock sized tires (28.5"?). City driving, I got 19-20 mpg. Not terrible but not good. I put 31's on with the 4.10's. Terrible gas mileage dropped to 16-18 mpg. I swapped the gears out to 4.56's. I get great gas mileage 21-23 mpg. It's great. Highway is about 20 mpg. I can't complain. I don't do very many long trips on the highway. Most of my days are spent commuting to work and back.
My crawl ratio is better and my daily drive costs me less. It's great. Just gotta wear ear plugs on the highway.

 

You know I just read in another thread where a guy originally had 4.56 gears on 31s and upgrade to 4.88 and he lost gas mileage.

 

I would definately go 4.88's. 5.29's really seems to low for a daily driver

 

I'm running 35's with 4.88's with my '85 5spd and it's got plenty of power.
If you're planning on running 33's or smaller 4.88's will be ideal.

Fink

 

So you guys recommend the 4.88 gears?even tho those are recommended for 31s?

 

I'm not sure there is really any concrete "recommended" gear ratio.
Some people may think it feels fine while others wish it had more oomph.

I can only speak from experience and in my experience 4.10's with the 33's was God awful and the 4.88's with my 22RE 5spd and 35" KM2's feels perfect.

Fink

 

One thing that no one has really touched on (all but toyota4x4907) is the auto. You need to be one step lower with the auto. 5.29's will put you where you want to be for 33's. I mean really, if Toyota put 4.88 in for the 31" tire package, allthough better than 4.10/4,56 what makes you think they'd be fine for 33's? After all they put in the R&D to figure this out.

Here is another reason/example....

W56 gearing
1st 3.954
2nd 2.141
3rd 1.384
4th 1.000
5th 0.850

A340 gearing
1st 2.80
2nd 1.52
3rd 1.00
4th 0.72 (OD)

Tall 1st/2nd gear = no go...

 

Wouldnt the v6 have an R150F behind it?

 

I have driven a '94 low mileage 3.0/5spd 4Runner and a '95 average mileage 3.0/auto 4Runner, they were both mostly stock and in very good condition.

My observations were that they seemed much heavier than my pickup and the auto didn't rev to anywhere near the same shift points that I use with my 5spd.

I would think that in this never ending debate on 3.0 gears that there should be a definitive line drawn between 4Runners and Pickups, as well as a definitive line between autos and 5spds. Which would be four columns of gearing, not two.

The only common denominator is the 3.0, but the rpm shift points used and weight that is being pulled by this engine will be BIG factors as to driver perception on performance.

 

Im really leaning towards 5.29s I just don't want to get them and they be low and I don't gain any gas mileage.

 

With your auto they will not be too low and you will gain mileage over your current setup no matter what.

It's been 5 years since I've been in a 2nd gen - do they have ECT?
If so you may play around with that, made a huge difference in my '95.

Also, try shifting manually and see what difference that makes.

Fink

 

The 3vze likes to rev, all the manual trucks rev high. Mine tachs about 3,000rpm at 65mph. Just the way it is. I can get 18-20mpg all day on the hwy at that speed

The 5.29's will be great. You will actually have power again. Remember toyota undergeared the automatics from the factory. Most guys will go to the next size r&p.

For instance 5.29's and 31's.

As mentioned the auto has a super tall OD gear, this will let you cruise all day on the hwy.

 

Ok,thanks for the info now I just have to find a set of 5.29s

 

anyone know how much it cost to have gears setup?

 

Go to www.gearinstalls.com

ZUK has tons of info on his site. Don't know about pricing though.

You could also e mail him to find out how much labor he charges.

Gears with master install kits are between $200.oo and $300.oo for each axle.
Labor is extra.

 

So poor/dumb me that has a 22RE with an auto (A44D: 1st 2.826, 2nd 1.493, 3rd 1.000, OD 0.688) should probably go with shorter gearing than the stock 4.56's?? Running 31's BTW.

This is a fresh engine/tranny combo with about 10k on it, best I EVER got was 18mpg's on the freeway. Would 4.88's help??? Was thinking about an LSD anyhow, so R&P swap would be gravy.