I know different versions of this question have been asked tons of times, but after searching - I still wasn't sure what to do. I have a 1990 extra cab 4wd - planning on doing the 3.4 swap and will put on a 2" Crawler body lift before hand. I currently have 31x10.5's with no rub and some room to spare. My question is how much more lift (and which type is best) would I need to slap some 35x12.5's on? Any first hand info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.....

 

more importantly, have you budgeted for gears before you put on those 35s?

 

Dr.2005 - that is just one more thing I need to ask about. By your response - gears sound expensive but necessary.... How much are we talking about?

 

around 600-700 per axle depending on who you have do your gears. Do you have a 5spd or auto?

 

It's a 5 speed. What other things besides gears do you think I need to seriously plan on? Thanks.....

 

obviously shocks, possibly extended brake lines, then theres lockers of course, but they are not necessary - just very conveinent. As you delve into your project and start adding things, you will find many little things you will need.

 

that is a high end estimate. That is 300-400 for labor per pumpkin. If you pull the diffs yourself you can get it cheaper. Around here, if you pull diff, you can have it done between 100 and 200 at a shop, or for a case of beer if you have a friend.

 

Isaac, when I do my gears, if I drive to Colorado, and bring some beer, will you be my friend?

 

Definitely regear. A 4 banger on 35's with stock gears will suck as a daily driver. You will have zero power. I had 33's on my 94 with just a 2" body lift. If you did ball joint spacers and some sort of add a leaf you could probably clear 35's. The best would be a 4" suspension lift of some kind but they are spendy for what you get. If you decide to regear go with Yukons. Do not get cheap gears you'll be sorry! If you can swing it I'd save up a few extra hundred bucks and put a locker of some kind in the rear as a minimum. I cheaped out when I regeared the first time and then spent a ton of money later to take it all apart again and put a locker in.

 

It won't be a 4 banger, it will have a 3.4 V6.

4.88's are OK for 35's with the 3.4L. You MAY have 4.56's already, so you could hold off on gears for a while.

Usually a 4" lift is required with the 2" body:
http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/ForSale/...it.shtml#FAQ10
but depends on how much you want to trim:
http://www.trailslesstraveled.com/ar...e28aae5a49249a

 

A guy in my club ran a 4" Superlift kit with a 2" body lift to clear 35s. Since the lift kit required that he run ~3.5" backspaced wheels (that push the tires out wider), the body lift was needed on top of the susp. lift when he went from 33x12.50 up to 35x12.50 tires. He did not (want to) do a lot of trimming.

 

Well, strictly from a height clearance standpoint, the 2" bl only will fit 35's (note that the 12.50 width will present some issues, however with the correctly backspaced wheels or wheel spacers, you may be able to work the 12.50 width.).
You can always get some of the fiberglass fenders for the front and maybe a touch of neat trimming in the rear and be done with it. Oh, wait, they make fiberglass fenders (sides) for the rear of trucks also, don't they (they don't for the 4Runners I believe)
This will give you a nice low cog also.

How do I come up with just a 2" bl (for height) you ask
Well you can run 31's on a stocker (at least a 4Runner and you seem to indicate with a truck also).
A 35 tire is ca 4" larger in diameter than a 31.
That's 2" greater radius, so, again strictly from a height standpoint, you need the top of the fenders to be 2" higher than they are now, viola 2" bl to the rescue
You'll have the same amount of flex as you do now without having to mess with brake line extensions, longer shocks, front diff drop (thus negating some of the suspension lift) etc., plus, as I've already mentioned a nice low cog.





Fred

 

Thanks for all of the input..... It looks like most of you guys run 33's and after reading about some of the extra mods required to fit 35's correctly... I am now leaning towards 33's. Would I have to get new gears for this size?

 

This is good advice.

As a side note, if, in the future, anyone else with a 4runner is reading this, they do make sides for the 4runenrs as well now. Both stock and flared. However, you'd still need to modify the inner rear fenders in the 4runner which is more difficult than in a PU.

 

Folks have run 33s w/ stock gears. Most end up regearing in time. Good thing is you can get some used, stock diffs w/ 4.56 or 4.88 gears to lower the cost.

 

For a manual tranny, 4.56's are OK, but 4.88's are better. You may already have 4.56's if it came with 31's from the factory.

 

This is probably a dumb question....but how can I tell if I currently have 4.56 gears or not? I haven't modiffied anything since I bought it 12 years ago - not sure about the previous owner who had 31's on it at the time. Any "easy" or simple way to check this?

 

Yes:
- http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/4R_TechI...oDetermination

 

Who makes the sides for 4Runners.
I'm probably going to do this (front fenders for sure) in the near future and have been kinda thinking about what to do with the rear thinking that no one made anything for them


Fred

 

I run 35x12.5x15's with 3.75 backspaceing on rims on my 904runner and to be honest with you your gonna need every bit of 4" to clear 35 12.5's and a bit of fender pionch weld trimming.

I also ran it with 33x11.5's and stock 4.10 gears and i will tell you now you will be regearing if you have the 4.10's. Not sure if the trucks came out with different gear set ups for the 5 speed but if you do it regearing with anything other then5.29/5.71s will be a mistake.

The cost of the regear is definitily cheaper if you pull the 3rd's out yourself. Figure it to be arond 150.00 per 3rd pulled and 300-400 if they pull them and do the work.

With 5.29s and a 5speed 35x12.5 and a 3.0 I can get to 90 mph with no problems but I run 60-65 most always for the mpg. You will also need the extended brakelines and a panhard drop for the 4" 's you intend to go with and if you body lift you may end up needing to extend the steering linkage( not sure I have a suspention lift much better option in my opinon every thing you need except wheels )

THE ONE ADVANTAGE I HAVE NOTICED WITH THE 35'S OVER THE 33'S IS THERE ARE A LOT MORE PLACES THAT I CAN GET TO WITH THE 35'S THAT I STRUGGLED WITH THE 33'S.

Also if you are gonna do the regear do the locker at the same time its a whole lot cheeper then pulling the 3rd's again and having to pay that bill., But the lockers are pretty easy to do and you won't have to reset the pinon just mark what you got and set it all back to them marks.