91ToyTrck

I have been doing some reading and asking questions to a couple people and it's been split down the middle. I am looking into doing 1 big thing to the truck before I tie the knot in July. I know that a good bit of money will be tied up for the first months. I'm trying to decide if putting a header on the truck or gears (with a locker rear) would be the better choice. I am adding bj spacers, shackle, and 33x10.50s to my truck. I'm not sure about the stock gearing, but I'm trying to find something to help with those on the steet and offroad of course.

I guess my couple questions would be . . .

1. Header vs Gears w/ Locker ?
a. which header and why?
b. which gears and why?
c. which locker and why?

Thank in Advanced ... Chris

91_4x4runner

You're comparing apples and oranges but I think headers put quite a dent in the cost of a 3.4 swap... My .02.

dwh91102

locker and gears first

Elvota

Lockers and gears.

Sounds like your budget is tight, but ARB if you can afford, as it is off until you need it. No bad street manners or tire wear.

3.4 swap would be a better way to go for engine improvement. Although headers might help the engine last longer if you need or want to keep your 3.0.

Off road, the lockers will give you way more than the headers ever will.

regularguy412

I'm for locker and gears,too. Only reason I would do the header route would be to help the 3.0 with longevity (exhaust heat) issues.

Mike in AR

Hmmm,, Elvota and I seem to be on the same wavelength tonite.

RustBucket

iTrader: (1)

locker and gears - gears especially since you are going to do 33's anyways.

tc

If you 'wheel it much at all, lockers and gears. I second the ARB idea, but an elocker would be sweet too, especially if you're only looking to lock the rear.

4.88's are the deal for 33's with manual tranny (I just swapped out my 4.56's - night and day difference!)

Silver_Truck

1. I would say gears and a locker...as you get mroe off road oriented the power gained doesn't help much. Also you need to do more to take advantage of the better flowing exhaust.
A. If you do get headers get NWOR, I realize people hate them but IMO the Downeys don't touch the build quality/fit of the NWORs. But don't get their crossover, get one custom made (cheaper, tucks up higher).
B.For gears go with Yukon, Superior, maybe Richmond, stay away from Genuine although their install kits are supposed to be good. Also go with 4.88s they've got my truck almost back to stock (speedo etc.) and will be a bit over geared for yours but its the best choice.
C. Depends on how much you have to spend, you can go E locker at the top end (gears cost more too and you'll have to modify your rear axle to fit it) then you've got ARB right behind it (which would be my choice if I had the money) but you've got to make sure its installed well or you'll be blowing seals. At the bottom of the good choice scale you've got Lockrites (no aussie yet, maybe ever) which I have, I love it no probs on road really at all though you can get it to act up in really tight turns (i.e 180* etc) or in parking lots you adjust really very quickly and I haven't noticed any increased tire wear but the off road benefit is HUGE.

Bobakazi

Locker(s) and gears.
I would go with 4.88s to put you close to a stock feel.
I have had great success with Detroit lockers, and the Detroit Truetrac.

rocket

iTrader: (1)

Another vote for gears and locker.

Since f/r gears plus an ARB locker would end up costing you about 4-5 times the cost of headers...i'm guessing your not ready to drop that much $$. Heres a good locker thread...
https://www.yotatech.com/forums/show...ghlight=locker
I recommend a Detroit Truetrac.

91ToyTrck

Thanks for the advice and the link. I've only gotten threw the first 2 pages and I have a good idea that I want to buy a locker that engages itself when the tire is slipping or needs to grab and I'm going to leave the front alone for now. I'm a little confused about names of lockers because they all go back and forth so many times int he same paragraph I got confused. I'm thinking Aussie was the best for daily driven vehicles that want something similar to a LSD with easy install. Am I correct ?

I have decided to go with 4.88s for the gearing ratio. Does anyone have anything good or bad to say about US Gears? I think that's the ones that the heep people use around my way. the guy can get them for around $250 front and $300 rear ... that includes the master install kits. I don't think that's to bad of a price.

The one question that I haven't gotten answered is when I buy a locker ... does that mean I'm buying the gear ratio already or is it an add-on ?

Please let me know if my ideas are correct ... thanks

mt_goat

Can't go wrong with US Gear. That was my first choice. I know ZUK likes them too. Read the last paragraph in this link: http://zukaz.tripod.com/410suck.htm

Don't rule out 5.29s, yes 4.88 would get you close to stock, but were you happy with stock? I wasn't with my auto, to me the stock gearing was too high.

tc

I agree with mt_goat. I have found 4.88 to be pretty darn near ideal with the manual tranny, but the overdrive in the auto is so damn tall that you need to go AT LEAST 5.29 if you want any "pep" on the freeway or to be able to hold overdrive on hills. Really, if you have an auto, the question isn't 4.88 or 5.29, it's 5.29 or 5.71.

Lysmachia has 5.71 with 35's and it's a DOG in overdrive...(admittedly, that was at altitude)

mt_goat

Yes, with the auto I found 5.71s with 33's to be great. It was the only time I felt like the 3.slow wasn't slow. But he's got a 5 speed so I'm thinking he shouldn't rule out 5.29's with 33's. It's obvious he wants more power since he's willing to also put on headers. I think if he went for the 5.29s he wouldn't care about headers anymore.

shiftless89

I get around pretty well with my 4.56's 3.slo and 5spd. Run 75+ in the slow lane every morning. now if it wasn't so flat around here I would run 4.88's

Elvota

"The one question that I haven't gotten answered is when I buy a locker ... does that mean I'm buying the gear ratio already or is it an add-on ?"

Locker goes in regardless of gear chosen. So, choose your ratio first, then go with the locker.

Injohneer

I know that at some point I need to regear, but haven't given it a lot of thought yet.

Wouldn't 5.71s put your RPMs pretty high around 70mph?

tc

They are separate, but in a lot of cases (Detroit Locker, ARB, TruTrac, PowerTrax NoSlip), the labor is basically the same to install the locker or install gears because they have to take your factory gears off your old diff and put it on the new carrier and reset them up. It's actually LESS labor to install new gears as you don't have to take the factory ones off...

regularguy412

What they're saying about the gear related issues is just that: they're all related. If you run tall (33's and up) tires with an auto tranny,, the O/D makes the final drive ratio too tall and RPMs too low. That's why all the gear ratios need to be taken into account when deciding what diff gear ratio to run. One also needs to decide, up front, what kind of wheeling the vehicle will see. That is how you decide how tall the tire is you want to run. Then work backwards from the wheel size , thru the diff gear, to the final drive / O/D in the tranny. Having a manual trannsmission is about good for one 'step' in the difference between diff gears ( 4.56 manual -- 4.88 auto 31' tires) 4.88 manual -- 5.29 auto 33" tires) (5.29 manual -- 5.71 auto 35" tires ). Realize that the circumference of the tire grows by a factor of 3.14 with every increase in tire height. Therefore, a 33" tire covers substantially more ground per revolution than a 31" tire. Others will be able to give their personal experiences with tire size vs. axel ratio. Another factor to consider is what power plant is turing these tires. An engine with more torque to apply will be more driveable with taller tire / gear combinations.



Mike in AR

tc

I used to think that until I drove Lysmachia's automatic.
I'm thinking two steps now if you ever want to use the overdrive on anything other than downhill. The automatic in overdrive is WAY taller than the manual in fifth.