Stock gearing with my 32s (22RE/5 speed/4.10s) isn't horrible, but with a mild load on, I definitely can't take hills like I used to. I took about 500lbs of scrap to the junker which is about 15 miles away. In 4th gear I was having a hard time maintaining 55 MPH up a mild grade on the highway with the weight. Granted, trips to the scrap yard aren't an everyday thing, and the truck is not a DD, but it is going to used mostly for hauling heavy loads of firewood around town. Lower gearing will definitely help in that department. I know 5.29s and 32s would be out of the question if I was doing highway driving on any regular basis, but I'm not. My driving will be 90% on local/county roads (50 MPH) and 10% interstate highway for maybe 30 miles once in a great while. Even when my truck was stock I never went faster than 65-70 or so. The thing is, my truck doesn't have a tach, so it's hard for me to judge the difference in RPM between the stock gearing and what I'm thinking about.

Stock gearing with stock tires yields 2509 RPM @ 65 MPH in 5th gear. 32s with 5.29s in 5th gear at 65 MPH (probably will go that fast once in a blue moon anyway) gives me 2832 RPM, an increase of just over 300, but since I've never actually been driving the truck and seen the tach hit 2800-3000 RPM it's hard for me to peg how loud it is, or how strained the engine seems. For a little engine like the 22RE the upper ranges of 2000 RPM shouldn't be that big of a deal right?

 

Cruising around 3000rpm isn't going to hurt a thing. Mine's a veezy but I've run between 90mph/3500rpm and 100mph/3800rpm for hours out in Eastern Oregon. Roads are pretty much all straight lines through the desert and not a soul for miles.

 

I have 33's and 5.29's on my '83 with a 22r. I put an aftermarket tach on, so it may not be entirely accurate, but I'm confident it's close enough for gov't work. I'll run mine at 75 mph or so, close to 3,500 rpm, for up to a couple hours at a time. It's not hurting a thing if your engine is in ok shape.

 

You went from 4.10's to 5.29's and only had an increase of 300 RPM?
I got an increase of 300RPM going from 4.10's to 4.56's and then again from 4.56's to 4.88's.
Usually you change the gearing to run bigger tires.
4.88's, 22re, 5 speed and 33x12.5's with an ARB, tube rear bumper, roll bar, 200 lbs of tools, and bushwacker fender flares is pretty nice.
The flares and roll bar really increase the drag on the highway.
4.56's or 4.88's are all you'd really need to run 32's.

 

I'm running 5.29's and 285/75/16's (just about a 33" tire) and it's fine. I have a crap load of stuff in/on my 4runner so there is a lot of drag and I typically run the 22re up near 4K rpm for extended periods.

You'll be fine with the rpm your talking about.

 

X2 the only down side to that would be if it was a freeway commuter, which in your case its not so your good.

 

With my 4.56's and 30's doing 75(speedo says 80) I'm at 3500 rpms. The power is amazing. there's a sweet spot at above 3400 rpms. I can pull mile long or more hills in 5th gear and not loose any speed! Just make sure your engine is in good shape like someone else said. I burn and leak oil. When I lived in CA I never noticed it because I only drove 5 miles a day around town. Now I drive 50 miles a day all highway above 3000RPM's. I go through a qt or two of oil a week

 

Nice catch. I bet 65mph isn't 65mph with the 5.29s. I bet the 65 mph is more like 55mph.

For the same exact reason 65PMH going from 29" tires isn't 65mph with 35's. It's more like 75.

 

5.29s with over inflated 36s is right on the speedo, fyi for anyone who cares... i run my 22r at 4k rpms all day an its fine, just make sure evertyings good, run it a little lean or low on water and poof ur done

 

Sorry I should have clarified-I wasn't making an apples to apples comparison, I was comparing RPM at 65 in stock configuration (4.10s and 28" tires) to RPM at 65 with 5.29s and 32s. The RPM only increases 300 or so because though the gearing is lower, the tire is 4" larger in diameter so you're kind of gearing up (tire size) and gearing down (differential ratio) at the same time:

4.10s/28" tires/5th gear @ 65 MPH = 2718 RPM

5.29s/28" tires/5th gear @ 65 MPH = 3507 RPM

5.29s/32" tires/5th gear @ 65 MPH = 3068 RPM

Here's an interesting thought:

5.71s/32" tires/5th gear @ 65 MPH = 3312 RPM

3300 RPM on the highway in 5th would probably get old after a while, but at least now I know I'm not going to blow the thing up. It's tempting...I'm taking a WAG that I probably shift around 3200-3500 RPM because I tend to wind the gears out-according to the specs I've read (Wikipedia) peak torque (all 140ft-lbs ) occurs at 3400 RPM so I'll use that as the max RPM for each gear:

5.71/32" tire @ 3400 RPM:

1st - 14.3 MPH

2nd - 26.5 MPH

3rd - 41.0 MPH

4th - 56.7 MPH

5th - 66.7 MPH

For a truck that rarely sees the highway it seems like it would be in the realm of acceptable, especially when you consider I'd end up with a crawl ratio of 50.53:1. Now if only I could afford 5.71s

 

My samurai has 5.29s and 32s it is a dd no need for highway driving but I do want to take it on short road trips info helped out I think i a running 40 in fourth at 2000

 

Don't be afraid to run at rpm's above 3000. The sweet spot of these little Toyota engines (22re and 3vz) is between about 3000 and 4500 rpm, and they'll run for years at 3500. They're not big V8's that can generate lots of power down at 2K. You're only getting about 1/2 the horsepower you paid for if you run these engines at 2500 rpm or so.

My 3vz with 31 inch tires and 4.56 gears runs about 3100 rpm at 75mph, as I recall. Feels fine that way.

RJR

 

if you're not driving on the hwy, then do it. you'll really appreciate the extra grunt, especially if you always haul with this truck. i'd imagine the combo you seek is very close to the 31s/4.88s combo I for a few years and it had great power for city and trails. on the hwy, i was at 3500rmps at an indicated ~65mph which was actually like 70+mph since the speedo was off. i didn't care too much for the high rpms on the hwy for long trips, but the 22re did just fine, i just didn't want to risk blowing my engine since it's not in the best condition and could use a rebuild - the only time i ever hit 4k rmps or higher is when entering the hwy or going through mud/trail use, but I try to limit my revs to shy of 4k until i have $ to rebuild. after swapping to 33s i have begun to long for my lower gears again because at "stock" gearing there is still much to be desired from the 22re at hwy speed or when hauling (currently i'm around 3000rpms/70mph indicated/actual?). if i could do it again, i would swap in 5.29s and run either large 33s or 34s - might be possible for you once your 32s are needing replacement.

 

if you have 32's and 5.29's-- your speedo is off by 12mph (high) which means that you are not actually going 75 when your speedo says 75. 529's and 33's in my truck make the speedo off by 10mph, so 75=65.

Keep in mind that this also affects your gas mileage, as you can no longer use the odometer to figure out how many miles you have gone...

 

The samurai is propane only got one eight gallon tank in the back so I try to keep therpms a little low. Straight piped also a little loud. Don't think I need a catfor propane right? It weighs 2700 I think about a thousand pounds less that a stock 4runner so it pushes it around good. Use my phone for a Speedo because its non existent. tach works when it wants too. Cant upload pics for some reason