Hey,

I have my 81 toyota truck and I love that thing like it is my child. I am just realllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll y needing to get some more power out of the engine. i have done a hell of a lot of work to it and need to be able to go about 75 in it which ain't happeneing right now. I have redone the exhaust, header, flowmaster 2.25 pipe. Got the webber carb on it. Engine compression is about 150 all the way around so I know the engine is strong. Got it geared (4.88)the other weekend praying that would do it but sadly didn't increase as much as I needed. I top out at about 65 or so, it just ain't doing it. One of the only things I haven't done to it is thrown in a performance cam and valves. Has anyone done the camshaft upgrade?? If so what cam do you recommend and how much has it helped top speed? I really need to know if it is worth it or not? I am running 33's with around 5 inches of lift right now. So aside from engine swap up to a 6 or 8 what would you guys recommend. I really need some help here. Maybe swith engine to injected? Has anybody turned there 22R into a 22RE???? What would be involved in that and how hard would it be, also please give me a price estimate?? Thanks a lot-Sampson

 

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i think 33s and 5" of lift might be a problem for your truck. you only need about 2" of lift to run 33s on a '79-83 truck, the rest is just going to cause a lot of wind drag which will slow you down considerably.

how many miles on the motor? 4 speed or 5 speed? with my new engine, 4.37s and 31" tires, i can hit 70 in 5th gear without breaking a sweat -- and that's with a faulty fuel pump(can't mash the throttle or the engine runs out of gas from not enough flow). i think it might be time for a rebuild -- you shouldn't have much trouble since you've already eliminated the worst part about an '81 truck, it's 3.90 gears.

 

a cam might help... i dotn think tryong to convert from a carb to EFI will net really any extra power, well not as much as you seem to want..... the stock numbers for EFI and carb of the same vehicle is very close

 

yeah, if your truck is really that lacking in performance, just going to EFI isn't going to be a big boost.

 

kyle,

Hey man thanks for the info. The motor runs pretty damn strong, has 150 compression all the way around. It has about 60K on it since rebuild. I bought it from a friend of mine who rebuilt his truck and then sold his truck to someone who wanted to do a 350 swap and didn't need the engine. It is a 5 spd tranny that was also just rebuilt. I drove it to Seattle yesterday (bout 75-100 miles away) and going down the road it did great and kept up with traffic pretty good. Unfortunately my speedo went out and I haven't replaced it yet so I don't know the speed really just have to kind of guess. I kept up with traffic ok but I sure as hell wasn't leading the pack. Not much I can do about the lift. I think I am going to try the cam and if that doesn't do it then I might be looking to sell or trade it. Have you done a cam in yours??? THanks a lot for the posts-Sampson

 

A cam and headers should help. I am kind surprised that you cant go faster but you are also driving a 20+ year old truck amongst new to 10 year cars. The lift is a little high. I drive an 82 with 6"+ lift on 36"tslsx's 5.29's and it is jus a big brick going down the road. But I still get up to 60+/- (speed limit here is 45) with no real problem. Hills suck but that is ok. I just rebuilt my motor and it is a bored 30 over 22r with a stock 20r head and a 22r carb. It has some sweet torque but not real good top end. I hope to recam and bigger valves with port and polish 20r head from enginbuilder.

 

Yea, I think the lift and tires is your problem. Mine can cruse 85 with the 22re with 29" tires. Are you sure you are only doing 65 (your spedo should be reading slow)? Anyway, you might want to look into a header such as the one offered from LC engineering.

 

yeah climbing hills is easy work for the truck, almost never have to downshift unless the hill is like a mile long. I can't do too much about the lift but understand how that can be a poblem. Its not that I have a problem going like 60 or so but it is just that I want to be able to do more than that so when I am doing 65-70 or so I am not topped out. bike4miles I have already redone the exhaust on the truck (I have redone the exhaust, header, flowmaster 2.25 pipe.) thanks for the suggestion but I already did it. Has anyone done the cam upgrade and how much top end did you get. I am thinking about doing it and want a recommend cam and to know how much top end speed I am going to get out of it. Does anyone know???? Thanks a lot-Sampson

ps. Neil why did you go with a 20R head on a 22R engine block?

 

a 20r head on a 22r block yields more compression... its the same thing the chvy guys with 350 do with putting on 305 heads....

anyways... you might be able to try an air cleaner mod... this might help..... basically replace the regular air cleaner with a huge one, and take care of the intake size.... plays_with_toys i beleive is the member that brought me to that idea and he has a writeup somewhere.... a cam will help out, but honestly the 22r is not a high power monster... and you might thinks its topping out, are you sure? the redline on the 22r is actually quite high.... i routinely pass vehicles on the freeway and i speed, way over 80 in my truck.... and it has a 22r, modified exhuast, and intake but is otherwise stock... my truck is a 4x2, 4" suspension lift and 3" bodylift with 235/75/15" (about 29" tall) tires but has a 3.07 gear ratio and a 5 speed tranny

 

ahhh I had heard about that on the 350 thing, not about the 22R though. I am not sure that it was topping out to be honest but I am installing a tach I got a few days ago pretty soon and will be able to tell better then. I just didn't want to push it too hard and have be pop on me 100 miles away from home . If you could find me the link to plays_with_toys writeup that would be really sweet, but if not then I will try and find it on my own. Thanks man. I'm also throwing around the idea of dropping the size of my tires down to 31's think that would do much going down from 33's to 31's. Thanks-Sampson

 

31 are going to ge easer to turn but your truck is going to look funny with 5" lift and stock tires. i am going to get an http://www.engnbldr.com/toyota_performance.htm head and cam. he dose grate work and lots have recomended him. i say just keep driven the pis out of it untill you get a cam. it is also just a truck not a sports car

 

that head won't work on an early engine, but you can get your current head ported and install the same oversized valves