I finally had the time to do it, and I'm satisfied with the results. Where I really noticed the difference was at about 4,500 rpm. I had already done the elbow removal, which worked okay, but the deckplate mod was noticable even more. Before I did the deckplate, I noticed a slight stumble at around 4,500 - 5,000 rpm like a rev limiter was kicking in or something, but with the deckplate mod thats gone completely. I'm not big on having a noisy rig. I like comfort. So I was a little worried about the noise level with the mod but I'm glad to say that its only noticable when your accelerating hard at WOT. Now I'm thinking about hooking up the elbow again and just using the deckplate. We'll see. Whoever thought up this modification should be given a medal.

 

No doubt. One of the best mods of all time. I even get better gas mileage.

 

I can honestly say that I never went above 3500rpm in the 4Runnner, maybe that's why never noticed the power improvement. Under what circustances do you need that many RPMs? (please don't say 'racing' a 4x4 )

 

Seriously, you've never had it over 3500 rpm?

Legitimate uses for 3500+ rpm:

-going up a steep incline on the highway w/4 ppl & camping gear loaded up, trying to maintain at least the speed limit. When I set it on cruise control going from Edmonton to Vancouver it occasionally goes over 3500 rpm on its own.

-passing with any kind of authority in the highway or city

-4x4-ing uphill, 4L

-running the yellow, almost red, light

 

Very serious. I don't even get it above 2200-2300 RPM under normal driving, 2400-2500 when going up a pretty steep hill with all the other lead-foots. Can't say I've had it loaded with 1000+ lb, yet.

The sound and feedback from the car is definitely saying 'I'm not a happy engine at high RPMs', certainly not the same as a small 4 Honda smooth and asking for more. It's a pretty big V6 after all. In my experience 3500+ gets very loud, fast and almost reckless driving in the eyes of others. But your mileage may vary (pun intended )

 

UHH Okay I think my 3.slow sounds pretty good at 4 grand!

 

At least its not a Ford at 3500+. They sound like they're ready to explode up there, while my Integra and 280 ZX would be purring like kittens.

 

i dont even shift normally till 4500 on normal driving 8/

 

How do you handle merging onto the highway?

I think it would take me a good 20 minutes to get to highways speeds when merging if I kept it under 2300 RPM.

 

I just went to HomeDepot about 10 miles away and watched the tach very closely. Since it's Sunday and nobody is rushing to and from work it never even broke 1900rpm! Average, pretty densely populated suburban roads. Traffic light every quarter to half mile. Going with the flow was between 1500-1800rpm.

When merging with 60-70mph traffic it would probably take 2300-2400 if there are those nice folks riding each other's bumper in the right lane, but if not merging with a notch above 2000rpm would be fine.

(The tach is definitely working, it corresponds exactly to a bench top tach upto 3k)

 

Can you say, "Carbon build-up"?

 

Yeah, I agree. That thing's gotta' get blown out once in a while.

 

Are you KIDDING? never broke 1900RPM's? My tranny doesn't even know how to shift until 4k. (I taught it well)

What kind of mpg do you get? 30+? Are you retired?

Dan

 

Little help here...
what is carbon build up exactly and how would one either prevent or fix it?

 

Its a by-product of those lovely fossil fuels that we burn in our combustion chamber. Carbon build-up is the excess crap that bonds itself to intake/exhaust valves, to the top of the piston, and basically the entire quench area inside the head.

Carbon build-up can raise the compression - causing pinging and "hot spots."

How do you prevent it? Take it to 5K RPM or more every now and then and blow/burn some crap out of there!

 

About 19.5 all city and 23.5 highway.
Not retired, just realised a long time ago that going fast does not equal getting faster to the destination

I love it when some jerk cuts me off, races through traffic only to end up in the same or worst position in traffic at the light quarter mile down the road

Deposits? Do higher RPMs burn hotter?

 

what about when merging onto a highway?
sometimes you can't help it, if you merge on too slow, you'll be endangering other drivers on the highway, and sometimes you just can't wait all day for a clearing.

 

Im with 4RUNR.

Im only 24, and I love to drive fast, but I never, ever run it above 3k, unless Im towing something heavy up a big hill.

My big concern is the gas mileage.

I do think Im gonna get the spray bottle out one of these days and break up any carbon in there.

 

Couldn't agree more. There's no point in racing in the city w/all the lights but all the examples I provided were legitimate (cept for the last one, well sort of... ) I love it when they swerve in and out, gunning their engine, coming to the stop at the red light maybe 2 meters in front of me. Whoop! It was all worth it for them I guess.

Carbon build-up: occurs most when idling. Lower RPM = lower exhaust pressure = more carbon build up. Higher RPM = higher exhaust pressure = blows more of the carbon outta there so it can't build up as much. That's why you should shut it off if you'll be idling for more than a minute (unless you're in rush hour traffic).

In case I'm the only one that noticed <96 Runner>'s joke, his "can you say carbon build-up?" insinuates that you drive like you're idling the thing. All in good fun. Well anyway, I thought it was funny..

So why rev it up? Cause you can. Cause it's good for the vehicle once in a while. Cause you need to get out of someone's way. Why ever jog or run? Running gets you the same distance & burns the same amount of calories as if you had walked, so why rush it? It's good for you. Get the blood flowin'. It's good for your vehicle, get the fluids movin'.

Sometimes you have to rev the vehicle to be a courteous driver too, like "hurry the hell up and get out of the way" of others, semi-truck drivers, etc. Some drivers I've noticed, who don't rev it up ever, go about their happy-go-lucky way, thinking everything's just ducky, thinking they're not offending anyone and everyone else is going too fast. They're the ones who hold up traffic, delay the whole system, make everyone slam on their brakes for their half-assed freeway merges, and cause the traffic jams getting out of parking lots after a ball game. I'm not saying they need to squeal the tires out of the parking lot, but the gas pedal does need to be pressed with some force every once in a while. Whoever doesn't, should. Dump some of that carbon outta there, do it for the vehicle, do it to kindly get out of someone's way. Anyways, this is just what I've noticed. I'm not flaming you 4RUNR or even referring to you. I don't know you & I've never seen you drive, so I have no right. I just figured I'd say what I've observed while we were on the topic of "never revving it up".

All my replies in one convenient post. One laugh after another. You've all been great, I'm here all week.

 

I'm taking it up to 2400-2500 rpm now regularly cause I'm driving this bad ass V8 now, err I mean a 3.4 with ISR

Driving sub 2200rpm is no way dangerous or slowing down others. It is really just the skill of estimating the acceleration of the vehicle in front and what throttle position it would take to accelerate to their intended top speed while still keeping a safe following distance and not playing with the gas pedal back and forth. The result is smooth acceleration with low RPM shifts.

There is no shame in making more torque at idle than all the rice rockets at redline