So I just got new gears in my truck and have now been through quite a few setups. Everyone has their own opinion, lots of people will say thinks won't work without ever trying it, others could BS you saying it will... here's what I found from actual driving experience.

Started with a stock 91 4Runner V6

31"x11.5" w/4.56 gears, Auto trans - Ran fine, not a speed freak, good soccer mom setup. Worked fine on the trail.

33"x12.5" w/4.56, auto - Slow.... I could drive around town ok, any hill on a freeway I would have to put the foot to the floor to keep up speed. It was ok on the trail.

33"x12.5" w/4.56m Manual Trans - Much better. 5spd makes a WORLD of difference to driveability. Still the odd downshift on steeper highway hills. Iliked it alot better on the trails as well.

35x12.5" w/4.56, Manual - Back to about stock setup. Driveability in town was ok, any hills at highway speeds meant I downshifted to 4th, sometimes 3rd to keep up. On the trails I had to slip the clutch a fair amount to avoid stalling.

35x12.5" w/5.29, Manual - Wicked, lots of power, no issues holding 5th on the highways, passing is no longer a iffy issue. Around town it's fun to get a little pushed into the seat once again. Haven't had a chance to take it onto the trails yet.

Buddy's truck - 84 Pickup 22R 4.10's 33x12.5 - Slow, ok around town, kiss 5th gear goodbye

So that is my experience with different setups. To me, the biggest difference was the transmission swap, and then the new gears. Hope this sheds some light on people wondering if their tires will work with the gears they have, ect.

 

To contribute, 4:11 and 31's with a manual transmission and a 22RE 2nd gen 4Runner is alright, but leaves a little to be desired on hills.

 

This is very helpful info. I want to run 33's and was considering regearing. i have 4.56 right now. but I think I'll start with the 5spd swap and see how I like it before I put money into regearing.

 

i picked up an '86 ext cab 4x4 with the 22R...it had 28's on it....i bumped up to 31x10.50 SS TSL's...before the 31's i could take on anything..(like highway wise...hills, passing..all that stuff..)but now with the 31's...my top speed is about 58 or 60...it used to be about 90 or more...so im thinking my truck has like...3.90 gears or something...i thought 31's and 4.10's was like the perfect match...anybody what to shed some light on this??...thanks!!

 

4.88's w/ 33x10.50's w/ some motor work pulls really well use 5th gear all the time (cruise's 75-80mph all day) speedo is almost dead on as well