Hey all,

Lots o questions in my first post.

I recently geared to 5.29's. The power I've gained is incredible. I've noticed a lot of power off the line and LOTS of power up hills. One thing I didn't think I would gain is in the mileage area. Well, I didn't think it would be noticeable, at least. Now I like to drive a little faster than the average guy, so pre 5.29 I was getting about 220 to 240 per tank.... ok, closer to 220. Now I am getting about 260-280!! Does this seem right? And recently I took a trip up to northern Colo (Meeker if you care) from Albuquerque. On one tank I got 311 miles! And I wasn't granny-ing it up the hills, either. Average speed was probably around 80 mph. Does this variation in mileage seem normal? I thought it was really odd that I got this much out of one tank at 10,000 ft.

So the reason I got geared in the first place was because I was going up to 33 x 12.5's (from my stock 31's). Going up to 33's, will I lose everything I gained? And if I go with lighter wheels, will I keep some of my power? If I lose all the power that I gained, I have a feeling I will be spending piles of cash trying to gain it back.

On that note, does anyone know the weight of the 33 x 12.5 R15 MTR's? Does anyone know the weight of the stock alloy 2nd gen wheels?

Thanks in advance for any input!

Sid

 

hey and welcome to the boards!

you shouldn't have gained any gas mileage... that is a little wierd. the ratio is bigger so the engine has to spin more times to turn the wheels the same amount, so you would be using more gas... seems like i get over 300 miles on a tank. but thats on a lighter taco and i have a 5 speed. going up to 33's you shouldn't lose everything, but you might notice a change. people usually run 35" tires with 5.29 gears. as far as more power goes, look into a supercharger. the price on them right now is down... do a search here for superchargers and there will be some links, or call up your local toyota dealer. they are only like $1700 right now!! someone else will speak up about the weight of the wheels because i dont know about that, but i never heard anything of them affecting your power.

 

The reason it appears that you have gained mileage is because you have. Not actual miles, but virtual speedometer miles. Your speedo is now off by a certain percentage.

Your transmission and therefore your speedo gear, is turning more RPM's per mile at the same speed than it was before you switched gears. Since it turns more revolutions per mile than it did before, the apparent distance you've traveled is now innacurate. Your speedometer shows more miles traveled than actual miles traveled.

If I felt paticularly industrious, I would figure out the actual percentage your speedometer is now off. But I don't.

Hope this helps explain things anyway.
Dr. Z

 

I have a 95 with an auto, 5.29's and 33's.

I broke the gears in with 31's and it was a rocket.

Now I have MT/R's of the 33 variety. It is still better than stock, which was 31's and 4.56's.

Mounted on 15x8 steelies, the MT/R's weigh 80 ish pounds I would say give or take.

I have better mileage by 1 or so, but nothing too much.

Dr. Z is right about actuall versus speedo mileage.

Good luck with the new set-up.

 

:pat: good call Dr. Z. knew that, but was not thinking.

 

Hey Rowan hook me up with a cheap supercharger for a 2nd Gen! They don't make em yet for the 3.0L
Sid did you buy all new gears or did you do a swap from the junkyard or something? How big of a pain was it to have them changed out?

 

Thanks guys. I had a feeling that my odo was off, just wasn't sure if the gears were a factor or not.

UKMEYERS, getting my gears installed was a nightmare. Actually, it was my mechanics nightmare. Took about a month to install, but mostly because of waiting for parts and dealing with a ring and pinion dealer who wouldn't admit he had sent the wrong gears. He also mentioned that he had a hard time dealing with the ABS.

Feels like I got raped with how much I ended up spending. I had knocked my diff somewhere along a trail and most of the oil had leaked out. By the time I had noticed something was wrong, my gears had already started to weld themselves together

Cost me about $1,500 total I believe, but that was including fixing some of the other damage that had been done. If it was a simple gear swap, it would of been cheaper.

Thanks for your help, guys.

Sid

 

Odometer, speedometer, pedometer, whatever...

Sounds like quite an ordeal. Hope it turns out to be worth it when you go to larger tires. Your mileage wil be more accurate at that point.

Peace.
Dr. Z

 

thats why i said look into it wasn't sure.