heres my story now i need an honest opinion. i dont have any real money but i do have a clean credit history. my 82 yota does not like 33's at all. no 5th gear, cant even hit 70, bad gas mileage and so on. i was thinkin about gettin a credit card and doing gears and steering conversion. Im not in the mood for saving money since i have had bad luck with that. i have had to fix in the last month, both driveshafts, front still isnt fixed, steering box, starter, belts, radiator brakes, anyways my point is i just want a more reliable dd and i think gears are the way. plus i have enough lift to almost run 37's so i want to go bigger if i gear. is it a good investment or is this a bad decision???

 

Gears can be a large investment. If you plan to keep your rig for some time I’d re-gear. If you have a 3.0 you’re not going to see a HUGE difference in gas mileage or speed. You’ll be able to use 5th gear but it’ll still be slow.

I’d re-gear if you plain to go large than 33’s. You could also find some used differentials out of an auto rig and swap them. Most autos’ came with 4.56 and some even came with 4.88’s in 2nd gens.

Try car-part.com for some used diff’s.

 

OK, I'll readily admit I don't know much about gearing or differentials. I see this on E-Bay and it seems like a decent price for what you are getting?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Toyot...spagenameZWDVW

When you regear, do you have to do both front and rear diffs at the same time? Or do you only need to do the front if you use the 4WD? I plan to pick up used diffs and install them both at the same time, but I was wondering about that.

Thanks.

 

if you regear, give Alex @ performance offroad center a call

1-866-540-PORC(7672)
www.performanceoffroadcenter.com

i got yukon 4.56's with front and rear master install kits for $501 shipped. if you pull the third members yourself, then you can count on another $250-$350 for labor.

 

no i have the 2.7 i believe. justa carbed 22r motor. i have a good guy for purchasing gears as well. i just am nervous about bitiing the bullet on this one but the temptation is so strong. haha.

 

i was plannin on 5.29 gears for 35's or 36's if i go that route. is this correct?

 

[[Im not in the mood for saving money since i have had bad luck with that.]]

LOL I seem to have the same luck.

[[If you have a 3.0]]

Not likely in an '82... If you think the 3.maybe is slow, try a carb 22R...

[[When you regear, do you have to do both front and rear diffs at the same time?]]

Yes, or you can NOT put it in 4wd until both are done.

Dell - As Yotaman said, consider if you plan to keep the truck.
Then regearing is the best single investment you will ever make for it. If you are going to stick with 33s, go 4.88. If you are going to go with 35s or 37s go with 5.29. You will not BELIEVE how much difference it will make in power, and since you only have 90 hp it will help your mileage too. It's very simple, for under a grand you will net 20% more power than you have now if you do 4:8ss with 33s, or 30% more power than you would have with 35s if you go with 5.29s.

 

Not really. 4.37s aren't good for much. Numerically they are the perfect ratio for 31s... 31s don't affect your power much so why bother changing gears.

 

[[If you have a 3.0]]

Not likely in an '82... If you think the 3.maybe is slow, try a carb 22R...

My bad, I looked over the part that said he had an 82.

 

Thanks 4.88s or 5.29s it will be!

 

Here's my honest opinion:

You're going to take out credit to do mods on your truck?!?!? That doesn't sound very wise to me. In my honest opinion I think you should sell your 33s and put the stock tires back on until you are financially stable enough to afford building up your truck. Better yet, you should sell your truck and get something more reliable like a civic or corolla.

How are gears going to make it more reliable? How is off roading going to make your daily driver more reliable?

No wonder so many people in this country go bankrupt every year.

 

An any 1982 vehicle running 37s isn't going to be good daily driver. It's going to be a repair hog, 37s will be much harder on just about every drivetrain and steering part you have. It's a bad decision.

 

All that is true too, for a daily driver 37s aren't a great idea for handling and ride quality. But then again, neither is a Civic with 1" of ground clearance, so to each his own. I don't much see parts breakage as an issue with the horsepower available.
Seriously you'd have a fun truck and still quite useful with 33s.

 

The guy's obviously decided to stick with the tires and do whatever it takes to make it work, so the best that we can do at this point would be to advise him how best to make his decision, however impractical it may be, work.
It is, afterall, the YOTATECH way.

 

I agree, I know I'm not going to change his mind, but he did ask for my honest opinion and that's what I gave him.

When I said to get a civic or corolla I meant to come back to off roading later when he's more financially sound.

 

regearing now to go to 37's and putting it all on a CC isn't the best way to do it - ESPECIALLY since you're having other issues.

fix the current issues, then if you want to regear and get new meats, then at least limit them to something more reasonable, in my opinion. it's not a good idea to go into CC debt to get gears and huge tires that are going to end up putting even more stress on the drivetrain and steering.

you can fix the gearing and put 37's on it, but as soon as you do, that will uncover another shortcoming that you'll have to fix. after that one's fixed, another one will pop up, etc ad nauseum until you've replaced or repaired all your "weak links" - and there could potentially be a lot of them on an 82...

 

[[you can fix the gearing and put 37's on it, but as soon as you do, that will uncover another shortcoming that you'll have to fix. after that one's fixed, another one will pop up, etc ad nauseum]]

Indeed. But that's part of the fun, no?
"There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness."

 

oh, a VERY fine line...

 

My advice would be to go to smaller tires until you have the cash to regear-don't take out a credit card to do truck mods-bad idea.