Hey guys, I am looking at getting a 96-02 4runner with the V6 and most likley an Auto, and I will be doing about 3-4" of suspension and 1.5-2" of body lift to clear some 35's. This truck will drffinatley see off road, but will also be taking alot of 200+mile trips (@70-80mph) On I70 in Colorado to go snowboarding, so I am just wondering what other things should I look at upgrading to maintain the best reliability and gas mileage on those long mountain trips such as trans cooler, gears etc, thanks. BTW I will be on an AT tire if it matters. Ank I know I wont have the best mileage due to the large tires, but I would like to have the best with what I have to work with. Thanks

 

well first off welcome to YT!! you will need to regear for sure http://www.4lo.com/calc/geartable.htm that should help you out a bit and yes you would want a trans cooler other than rims what size 35s like 12.50 or wider or what anything over that and you will more than likely need to get differnt rims

 

Hey thanks buddy. Yeah I was afraid I would have to regear. I think I might just get the gears and do the rear E-Locker all at once to save the hassle.

 

yea that would save you time and money just find a good shop to do the installs it might be a little more expensive but for something like that you dont want to go cheap

 

Yeah, I figure I will just drive it how it is until I have enough money to get everything, and then just rip it all apart and have a good shop do it, because I can do motors just fine, but I hate having anything to do with transmissions or gears lol.

 

A lot of 4runners come with 4.30 gears from the factory. I have been running 35's for about 3 years and don't mind it. Whenever I get some extra cash I'll regear to 4.88's.

I have added a transmission and power steering cooler though, hopefully to alleviate any temperature increases from the stress on the drivetrain.

 

Holy your runner is crazy! That is good to hear about the gearing. What tires do you have, and what is your average gas mileage?

 

Damn I almost forgot how huge that thing was.

BB6, why do you want 35's just out of curiosity. I did a 3" or so lift, added 4.56 gears, rear Limited Slip, manual hubs and a front locker, a 1" body lift, and run 295's as apposed to 315's. Lifeted to fit 35's but run the next size down for flex and fuel savings.

Aaron

 

First, your choices of lifts will give you 3" max unless you go to a bracket lift like SC4runner did. Bracket lifts cost alot more. Without a Bracket lift you will have a hard time fitting 35"ers under without alot of cutting. 33"s fit well with a 3" lift but may still need a body lift. Check out ToyTec Lifts. I believe that their coilovers and OME891s are the best way to get 3"s of lift.

 

Get a limited model as it comes with the E-locker. Or get an SR5 and install an ARB in the rear. Then you have onboard air for your tires!

I have gone the re-gear route to run 35's and it aint easy. Even with a sonoran steel 2.5"-3" suspension lift and 3" body lift it still rubs the pinch weld area even though the pinch weld itself has been cut off. I will be having to cut out and plate that area to alleviate the problem completely. So you may want to just run 33's unless you know a good welder/fabricator.

Gas mileage is also another reason to run 33's. Mine dropped off by about 2mpg going from 33's to 35's. I run Interco tires and they are much heavier than an all terrain.

Good luck and welcome!

 

Thanks! Thats great to know about the limited having the locker already, I didn't know that. As far as fabbing goes, I am certified in mig flux and hardwire, and also in tig, and have been working fab for 5 years now and I plan on making my own bumpers and rock sliders, so if I need to clearance for the tires by cutting and welding I should be just fine. Thanks alot for all of your replys guys, really glad I found this site.

 

How much pinch weld did you have to remove? I hammered mine flat and the hammered some more. The body lift will almost all but solve this. And the pinch weld is no biggie to mod.. I'm not to sure what the mileage difference is when it comes to 6cyl vs. 4cyl. BB6 won't need 5.29's to run 35's the 4.88s should serve BB6 well. Weight wise you are dead on my 285 or 33.9" Interco SSR mounted were 97lbs. vs a 295 or 33.3" AT was 75lbs. That's a huge difference when rotating mass is considered.


Aaron

 

Honestly I think the body may be shifted forward slightly. This rig took a hit on the front driver side. Frame is fine but I suspect that the P.O. didnt take his time with the ridiculous 3" body lift. Half my front end is held on with cable ties! ha! Perhaps some adjustment is in order and may help. I only rub at full stuff.

I ended up cutting the pinch weld from just under the inner fender up to the next ridge/bulge. I then used a grinder to smooth it down and went over it with JB Qwik (metal putty) to reinforce the area as a welder would have just blown a hole in the thinned metal.

Absolutley he wouldnt need 5.29's. Doesn't really need 4.88's with 33's either. I was just saying I re-geared for my tire size and relative horsepower output.

I've done some research and the 2.7 vs. 3.4 mpg is only around 3-4mpg. Sometimes less.

 

Man who doesn't stuff at full stuff? Well I guess there's a difference between parking lot stuff and trail stuffed. Sorry I didn;t mean to confuse 33's and 4.56's but if BB6 is leaning toward 35's then I'd recommend 4.88's While some will certainly argue I think the best power to gear ratio for highway/ offroad use these setups would be ideal.

Aaron

 

To answer your question: My gas mileage coming straight off the odometer is 15mpg. Its probably more like 17mpg though. I have 35" (315/75/R16) Goodyear MTR's. My favorite tires!

I'm taking off my body lift within the next few weeks, so if anyone wants a body lift for cheap (I was thinking $50?) let me know. Comes with hardware, ultimate blocks, steering extension and bumper brackets.

 

Well damn! If your pulling 17mpg I mine as well swap on over to the bigger meats. Course I'll have to figure out where to stick the spare. Between the odo and gps I get 17 all day.

Aaron

 

Wow, if I could get 17mpg with that setup that would be great, I dont get much better in my semi stock subaru, damn turbos.

 

Yeah only thing that steared me from the Subies to begin with, I thought the mpg's would be better.


Aaron

 

Yeah, they have great motors, but they are pretty inefficient compared to a normal inline or V config motor. Do you guys know what year the limited's started having the rear locker?

 

Limited's and rear aren't as common as I thought, I don't think everyone here with a limited has a rear locker. I Know some of the highlander or sport models came with them in either 00 or 01. I went with a LSD in the rear and a lunchbox style (Aussie) locker up front with manual hub conversion but lets not go there a ARB would have more cost effective for the front.

Aaron