thook

X2

Just regear the differentials for now even with your current size tire....which I'm going to assume isn't very large. You'll get up the hills much better than you do now. Would cost you less than the engine mods even with paying someone for the labor. You don't have to touch the transmission or motor or anything else which in a way is kind of nice. Seeing as how it's running so good. Regearing alone would make a marked impression.

Think about a bicycle. It's much easier and faster to get around the hills in lower gears...even with the most spindley legs.

DeathCougar

iTrader: (23)

And i can only imagine the high quality motor thats in there.

dcg9381

Under a grand, see posts below. Gear it right, do a header, inexpensive exhaut and a mild cam.

Over a grand, turbo is the best HP for the buck you're going to get.
You could probably do it for a little over a grand if you can do the fabrication and work within the limits of the stock motor.

Diesel_Freak

Start by swaping to an MAF type system (as opposed to the vane type earlier trucks and runners use) and go with a cam for a little more mid-range. That and gearing and I think the 22RE for being litteraly THE most bulletproof motor ever can be made a perfectly great little motor. It's not a v8, it's a 2.4L 4banger, so stop the comparisons... The head flows very well, and from what I remember of being around my uncle's race cars and trucks years ago, you can make the little beast into a pretty powerful little I4...

Dave

jagger_snitt

As said above. Remove your A/c belt and add a flex-i-lite fan with an exhaust and possibly an intake(snorkle)

toyotatom93

Thanks again for all the ideas. I will regear first, and see how she goes from there.

I dident think that would matter that much as my tires are 29" and I believe stock is 27".

Can someone recomend what to gear to? And what the stock gear ratio is?

strykersd

I'm new to Toyotas and the 22re, but there are a few other ways I've made power on my hondas.

For One, Intake manifold gaskets which keep the intake manifold cool, here's the only one I found for our motors (http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/89-95...pagenameZWDVW). Anyone know of a more respectable brand that sells them?

Another way is milling the head to bump the compression. How much metal can you take off a 22re with the stock cam and pistons?


Patrick
86 4runner

4bytruckin

actually oly had 3k on entire drivetrain when i bought it. just had full rebuild and overhauled tranny and transfer case. guy built it for his blazer and then dropped a 6.5 duramax in it after. so it was high quality.

norcalsvx

i would stay with the stock gears unless you go bigger than 31's

OSU4Runner

x2....

MudHippy

I'd save my money up and stroke it(2.7L). No replacement for displacement. But for under a grand, I'd get the Big Valve Head(+2mm In/Ex) & Custom Cam(5 choices or any desired grind) for $895 from this site:http://custommachiningusa.com/Specialty_Items.html

The description of that cylinder head and valves is on this page:http://custommachiningusa.com/Engines.html

ewong

There are no "budget" answers.

IMHO - the "stroke it" approach is better served via a 3RZ swap than a 22RE stroke kit.

Budget is a header, exhause, proper gears. That wont get a whole lot tho..

Turbo is one way to go - but alot of $$...

thook

[QUOTE=ewong;50563245]There are no "budget" answers.
Budget is a header, exhause, proper gears. That wont get a whole lot tho..
QUOTE]

Sure would get him around the hills better, though. Most the problem in driving through hills is starting and stopping, then there's a lot of shifting.

Personally, I get tired of chugging the hills. I'm regearing. You guys do what you want....

thook

Budget is what one can afford, though. In his case, less than $1k. Me too, but actually much, much less....

From what I've read and heard (from good sources) it will matter that much even with your current size tire. I have also read from people that have regeared it was the best mod they'd ever done. If running a larger tire will make a big difference in power loss, why wouldn't making a step in gears make a big difference in power gain? Even one step.

You probably have a 4.10 gear ratio. But, there is an axle code on the metal plate along with your VIN# and stock tire size. Maybe on the inside of your driver's door? It is on mine. With that code you can identify the gear ratio using this chart.
http://toyota.off-road.com/toyota/ar....jsp?id=274535
If it's 4.10's, I believe the next step is 4.56. If I can shuffle my cards right, I'm swapping to some 4.88's (out of my wife's '92...hers is getting 5.29's or lower...hopefully ) and installing 31x10.50/R15 tires when I need a new set. Right now I have 30x9.50's with 4.10's. Personally, I drive a lot through hills and usually have weight in the back of my 4rnr. I RARELY ever drive beyond 60mph (mostly between 50-55) and don't use my 5th gear a whole lot...only when I can get to some level ground and cruise. But, still I rarely do beyond 60 in that case. (I just don't think you can stop that easily going much faster. Plus, it's better on gas.) What I'm getting at is this. In my application, it's perfect. My 5th gear will be more like my 4th, but my lower gears will work even better for me to get around the hills and getting me going quicker. I've been told....again, by good sources... my trans. and clutch will be much happier and last longer, too. AND since stopping and starting uses the most fuel, I will potentially also get better mileage. If your case is anything like this, you could expect the same thing. That's my reasoning behind gearing.

My view is, and it's only my view, messing with a motor is more complicated and potentially more costly considering labor. I guess the labor cost depends on who's doing the work....like machine shops. But, I've compared modifying my engine and modifying the gears and the cost for the gears was cheaper and easier. So, the gearing is the first step I'm taking. Air intake and exhaust may be the next, but for anything...gee...I hate to mess with something so reliable as it is. And for me, pretty adequate. To each his/her own, though. Many do have great results with cams, etc.

bktaco

just to be clear, if you are going to regear, then get some larger tires as well. i mean, all the gears cost the same, so just do it once and do it along with a larger tire. 32" tires and 4.88 gears would probably do very well for city/highway driving and grade/load hauling. and 31-32' tires arent very far from stock, i think they are naturals for these trucks as DDs.

89silverpu

Has anyone had any experience with putting 4.88's or 5.29's in with 31's? I have 31's now, but I am going to be putting 33's on my truck the next time I have to get new tires ( not for another 30,000 miles or so).


Sorry to highjack the thread

AH64ID

Aside from the intake, thats a great bang for buck right there..... IMO just put a trueflow in the stock air box and call it good....

email Ted at engnbldr.com, he seems to know this engine as well as anyone.

Dont waste your cash on a gear swap for that small of a tire increase, you will feel it, but probably not the the full price worth.

Your OEM gears are probably 4.10, you could junkyard a set of 4.56 and go from there, but clean the motor up first...

I am not a fan of the stroked motor, a buddy had one, they run hotter on the piston, and if you idle a lot, traffic, wheeling, etc, they can burn a hole in the piston..... They need to have the revs kept high when driving...Just my .02... and correct me if I am wrong...



Okay so here is my take, after having owned and modded 2 22RE's, this is what I would do to my next 22RE...

IME the intake is fine, I dont feel the need for a big bore throttle body, or fancy intake tube.. so put a trueflow in and call it good.... (remember this is minimum, you can add intake but I dont think it has the bang for buck the rest does)

Exhaust, get a LC header... not only is it stainless but its ceramic coated.. yes it a little more, but I have run non coated headers and the engine bay gets HOTTT, I mean HOTTT... then get a carsound(magnaflow) universal 2.25" cat and a 2.25" muffler of your choise (I like the 60 series flowmaster, great flow with a very mellow sound)

Engine internals... first and foremost take the injectors OUT and take or ship them to a good injector shop and have them cleaned and match flowed. (I just did this on my 92 and WOW.. I had to adjust the idle down it ran so much better, it was smoother, and more responsive...) so if your injectors have never been pulled and cleaned this would be a must IMO.

Cam. I have run the TRD Stage II cam, sold by other companies by other name, but all call it stage or level II.. despite what some say, its too much cam for the ECU, if you live anywhere but sea level. When I had this cam it was super powerful on cool day at sea level, but I lived in Idaho at 3K, camped, hunted, and towed up to 9K feet... I could tell when the day would warm up, it was like my 4cyl became a 3cyl... I would loose a TON of power and the mileage would drop... so dont get that aggressive of a cam... From what I have researched the LC cam falls in the too aggressive of a cam, they even claim it maxes the ECU.. with the enviornmental changes I see I dont want the max, I want something that is well within the operating spectrum... so climbing off my soap box, email ted at engnblder.com and tell him what you want to do, get what he sells and recommends.. you will not be sorry.

As far as the head, if you have the $$ or yours is bad get the one from Ted... I havent used it, but have read good things about it...

As far as cooling, when you replace the radiator get the HD 3-core that is made for the 22RE... And if you want to spend the $$ go with an elec fan, it will allow a decent amount of hp to reach the wheels, instead of stopping at the engine.

When you replace your spark plug wires get he HD ones, but still run OEM plugs, 22RE's dont like them fancy

And my best engine mod wasnt even and engine mod... I replaced the OEM flywheel with a heavy one from centerforce.. it made a HUGE difference in 1st thru 3rd gears, and didnt notice a neg impact in the upper gears.. .the extra tq is very noticeable... so when you replace your clutch go with a centerforce and get their heavy flywheel.

So what does all that cost...

Intake, filter only, about 60 bucks
Exhaust, Header, 450, muffler, 100, cat 55, custom install...depends on where you live
Cam about 100 bucks
Injectors about 100 bucks

So start there.. you will get a decent increase in usable power.. and still get great mileage.


I did it for a while before my lift got installed... 4.88's and 31's that is... .The gears are short, very very short... and your rpm's are thru the roof at 65mph (3000), so 75 is 3500, a bit too high even for 31... Say you shift at 3K, you shift at 14, then again at 23, then again at 38... vs 17, 28, 45 with 4.10's and 31's... IMO 4.88 is too much for 31's, unless you live on the trail.. even then stay with 4.10 and spend your money on xcase gears, diff gears help but xcase gears really make a difference.... Not to mention you will get the lowrider affect... your speedo/odo will read 16% faster... so over 30K miles thats 34800 recorded on the truck.. save your $$, and do it all at once.

thook

John,

So, an electric fan? Hmmmm...I'll have to do some reading about that myself. If you know of any good articles/threads on that I'd love to read them.

And the injectors? Makes sense, but it really makes that big of a difference, huh? Even more so than a Seafoam treatment?

You have talked about that clutch and flywheel business before. I am very curious still, but will of course have to wait on that. I've a brand new Marlin 1200lb'r I installed in Jan. The flywheel is stock, though. Do you think the centerforce clutch is an improvement over the 1200lb Aisin/Seiki?

I hear what you're saying about the 4.88's and 31's (and even t/c gears), but I don't believe I'll be running into any undesirable issues in my situation. Plus, I've talked it over with someone real familiar with gearing and his assessment was more favorable. I guess living in the hills....especially in-town travelling....really produces a different set of circumstances. In town, I don't get to use 4th hardly at all. Most shifting is between 1st-3rd, and it's the starting out on hills and accelerating up them is what kills me the most. Once I get going, I'm fine. The highway? F' it! I like to cruise nice and moderate like. Let everyone else be in a hurry.....they can pass. The scenary (the Ozarks) is nice to soak in. But! but!, that speedo/odo issue does concern me a bit. That can be modified, can it not, to reflect a true picture?

Thanks for the insights.

AH64ID

I dont know of any articles on the elec fan, but know a few that have run them. with good results...

The injectors I cleaned had a seafoam treatment 1K miles before, and still made that much difference, they also had 160K on them... and 15 years of gas gunk.

I only have experiance with the Centerforce clutchs, but I am sure the 1200lber would also work well with the heavier flywheel.. Personally I dont like clutch slippage.. in fact (I didnt know it until I took it out) but I replaced a perfectly good Centerforce Stage II with a dual friction because I felt it slipped to much with my 35's... but IMO any slip after your foot is off the pedal is too much.. which doesnt happen with the DF...

If your just around town mostly the gears and 31's may not be too bad.. you'll just wind up quicker.... I know all about hills, and am torn between a little more power in 4th and 5th, and a little more speed in 3rd.. Around here, Idaho, I was in 3rd on every hill so I liked the 4.88's better with 35's than 33's because I have enough power to redline in 3rd so that got me a few mph better up the hills... So it really depends on where you live... Around town lower is better, but on the hwy where 3rd is the powerband its about the ability to run constant at 4500 in 3rd and get up the hill faster... so 4.88 is perfect, and then get xcase gears for the trail, as no amount of diff gearing will replace a 4.7:1 xcase...

I keep thinking about putting OEM 4.10's in my 07 taco since I tow, but I go back to 3rd... 4.10's wont make enough more power to stay out of 3rd and I would loose several mph for the same rpm... So I think 3.73's are where I will stay.

thook

Okay, I'll do some searching then. Thanks for all the info.

Let me know if you later decide to go ahead and do the 4.10's. Mine will be coming out at some point. I've treated them real good..... with synthetics and good driving and all. Last time I peaked in, which was a few months ago, they were pristine.

Oh, and I'm definitely going to keep the DF and heavy flywheel in mind. Seriously....thanks for that info.