Hello all,

I recently acquired a 01 Tacoma prerunner, SR5, 4x2, extra cab, v6, auto with 115K and have a question. Is it normal for this truck to be at 3500rpm while cruising at 75 mph?

I dont hear or feel that the motor is working hard and the OD works fine. This is my first tacoma and the previous owner had it for 4yrs. He isnt sure if the gears were changed. Also, im running the stock size tires.

Thank you in advance.

E

 

that seems pretty high, im pretty sure i would be around 2500. are you sure overdrive is working? turn it off while your cruising and make sure your trans downshifts to verify it is working.

 

I turned off the OD several times and the rpm went up to 4K. I also counted how many times its shifts and all 4 gears are working.

 

Maybe your torque converter isn't locking up? Seems like it should be around 3k at that speed.

 

Thanks. Do you happen to know how to check it?

 

my 02 frontier was about 3500 at 75 also, but it was manual.

 

Input your vehicle information into this
http://www.grimmjeeper.com/gears.html

You'll need to know the gear ratio.
Search on how to check it.

 

Your #s make total sense if you have 4.88 gears and small (30" or 31") tires w/ the 3.4 and auto tranny. You can't go by any door or axle codes to check your gear ratio because a PO probably changed it at some point. So the easiest way is to jack up the rear and have a buddy spin one of the tires exactly TWICE and count the driveshaft revolutions. If it's a little under 5 revos, you have 4.88s. a little over 4.5, you have 4.56s, etc...

You can remedy this problem by putting on 33" tires (but you'll need to lift it) or you could trade someone your 3rd member for a 4.11 geared one (which i'm sure you'd have no problem finding soemone up for that trade).

 

Thank you for the detailed answers. What are the pros and cons of having 4.88 gear? Im assuming that the gas mileage will suffer?

 

Yes, but you will have more torque to the wheels. Also, since the engine is turning faster for a given speed, you will be able to drive slower without stalling out while being higher in the power band, which is useful when crawling.