seanpistol's 01 Tundra

[rickashay]

I debate the same thing. According to this calculator, your ideal gear ratio with 35's is just under 4.56- so 4.56 will have just about the same power as the stock gears with stock size tires. I think i'd want a little extra grunt if I was using my truck for what you're planning, and go with 4.88s.

We have highways with 85mph speeds limits around here, so I was thinking that with 4.56s, I wouldn't lose as much top end and it'd make those stretches a little more comfortable. But for everything else, I'd want 4.88s with 35s.

That's my concern also. I have to drive a minimum of 1.5-2.5 hours to get to any of my "local" wheeling locations. I also primarily decided to build my Tundra so I can do more long distance wheeling trips like Utah, Colorado, California, Baja, and Alaska. The 4.56 would be better for fuel economy and highway speeds.

Imo the gear ratio bring you back to what stock would be but it doesn't take in to consideration of all the weight added from the upsize. So imo it wouldn't feel like stock or am I over thinking it.


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Here's the flip side.... the 4.88's would be nice for all the additional weight. Your right, the gear ratio corrects for your tire size but not all the extra beef being carried around in the truck. I will be driving my Tundra on 35's w/stock gears for a bit before I get my gears in. I will report with my findings and that will probably be what makes my decision. I'm not worried about the lower gears for crawling, as I plan to have a crawlbox in the next 2 years.

One point I will mention though is that I recently drove a fully built 97' LX450 with 4.88 gears and 35's. This truck was HEAVY with an RTT, beadlocks, and fully expo-ready. It was in my decision phase of selling my LX and I wanted to see what a re-gear would do for the powertrain. I must admit that I was somewhat disappointed. The truck rolled around the city way better with the 4.88's but was reving substantially higher on the highway and I felt I had to "try" harder to keep the truck rolling at 110 km/hr. With the stock 4.10's it was hard to climb to that speed but once there, it would kind of just roll along. A common misconception is that higher gearing gives you more grunt, but it absolutely does not. It simply changes the RPM or what speed your vehicle is in it's peak powerband. If I was DD'ing the truck and had to drive around the city, the lower gears would really help with getting the heavy beast rolling off the line, but if it's just a highway roller I dunno.... you live with slower acceleration for the long hours spent at highway speed or you live with high RPMs for the long hours at highways speeds while you have slightly better acceleration off the line.

My reasoning anyway... I'm leaning for the 4.56 if you couldn't already tell.

 

[Stone_Blue]

A common misconception is that higher gearing gives you more grunt, but it absolutely does not. It simply changes the RPM or what speed your vehicle is in it's peak powerband. If I was DD'ing the truck and had to drive around the city, the lower gears would really help with getting the heavy beast rolling off the line, but if it's just a highway roller I dunno.... you live with slower acceleration for the long hours spent at highway speed or you live with high RPMs for the long hours at highways speeds while you have slightly better acceleration off the line.

My reasoning anyway... I'm leaning for the 4.56 if you couldn't already tell.

Excellent points. I live in a rural area, so very little stop and go city driving. Also used to commute 110miles a day. I've always run 33's and for a very short time 35's. I'm not usually heavy on the skinny pedal, so if it takes longer to get up to speed, I'm fine with that. I've always valued fuel economy, and staying on the lower end of the RPMs during highway speeds, over trying to keep a snappy, quick off the line acceleration like stock gearing.

If you are looking for that extra oomph for offroading, thats fine, but how many really spend at least 51% of their driving time offroading, to make it worth while? Plus, Toyota has always seemed to have nice, low stock ratios in their Tcases. When you are offroading, more than likely, if you are needing the low axle gearing to get out thru something, you will be in 4Lo and the Tcase gearing will help there a lot.

So I've always kept stock, or one step up over stock gearing, with 33's or 35's. (I've only had 33's on 4.10's, and wouldnt go over 4.56, and I've only had 35s once, with 4.56's).

Another thing, people dont really consider, is yeah, you have 35 or 37's, nice ultra-low gearing, a back to stock RPM band, so you can use heavy skinny pedal to get you thru a tough spot, BUT, you have also WEAKENED your drivetrain. Lower gears means more teeth and less "meat", on the same size gears. Meaning if you try to power thru something, its also easier to blow gears.

So if I'm into serious offroading, I'll stick with closer to stock axle gearing, and rely on a dual Tcase, winch, or my friends to pull me thru if I cant make it just because i dont have those low axle gears to put me back into a stock RPM band. Seems like less down time and $$ repairing breakage.

 

[toyotech]

What crawl box option does the tundra have? Sorry I'm used to much older Toyota builds but anything newer than 97 and I'm lost as it's not as common lol


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[Stone_Blue]

Basically anything that will fit Tacos, 4Runners and FJs of the same vintage that use the same A340 tranny and IIRC, VF2A T case.
Marlin even has an adapter so you can run the old GEAR drive Tcases behind your Tundra A340.

I guess its just that not many Tundie owners go full out like the other model line up, so you dont see many dual-case, or gear case setups.

 

[rickashay]

Sorry Sean, we can gladly take this discussion to a new thread....

Excellent points. I live in a rural area, so very little stop and go city driving. Also used to commute 110miles a day. I've always run 33's and for a very short time 35's. I'm not usually heavy on the skinny pedal, so if it takes longer to get up to speed, I'm fine with that. I've always valued fuel economy, and staying on the lower end of the RPMs during highway speeds, over trying to keep a snappy, quick off the line acceleration like stock gearing.

If you are looking for that extra oomph for offroading, thats fine, but how many really spend at least 51% of their driving time offroading, to make it worth while? Plus, Toyota has always seemed to have nice, low stock ratios in their Tcases. When you are offroading, more than likely, if you are needing the low axle gearing to get out thru something, you will be in 4Lo and the Tcase gearing will help there a lot.

So I've always kept stock, or one step up over stock gearing, with 33's or 35's. (I've only had 33's on 4.10's, and wouldnt go over 4.56, and I've only had 35s once, with 4.56's).

Another thing, people dont really consider, is yeah, you have 35 or 37's, nice ultra-low gearing, a back to stock RPM band, so you can use heavy skinny pedal to get you thru a tough spot, BUT, you have also WEAKENED your drivetrain. Lower gears means more teeth and less "meat", on the same size gears. Meaning if you try to power thru something, its also easier to blow gears.

So if I'm into serious offroading, I'll stick with closer to stock axle gearing, and rely on a dual Tcase, winch, or my friends to pull me thru if I cant make it just because i dont have those low axle gears to put me back into a stock RPM band. Seems like less down time and $$ repairing breakage.

Great points and my reasoning for adding a Crawlbox instead of lower gearsets in the diffs.

What crawl box option does the tundra have? Sorry I'm used to much older Toyota builds but anything newer than 97 and I'm lost as it's not as common lol


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I'm thinking of going with the Marlin Crawlbox which can make you have essentially a 3 speed T-Case. I would do the regular 2.7xxx gears so you would have regular 2WD, then Regular 2.7xxx Low, then 2.7xxx X 2.7xxx by adding the crawlbox. You can opt for the 4.7xxx gearing in the Marlin case but apparently there is some risk behind that kind of reduction. I dont know/understand it enough but I will be researching it. Apparently if you want to have 4.7xxx gears in the T-Case your almost better off just getting a full 4-speed Atlas for the cost. Lots of options out there for the Gen 1 Tundra.

Basically anything that will fit Tacos, 4Runners and FJs of the same vintage that use the same A340 tranny and IIRC, VF2A T case.
Marlin even has an adapter so you can run the old GEAR drive Tcases behind your Tundra A340.

I guess its just that not many Tundie owners go full out like the other model line up, so you dont see many dual-case, or gear case setups.

True this. I know a couple of the SAS'd 1st Gen Tundra guys have run Marlin Crawlboxes or the Inchworm equivalent.

 

[seanpistol]

Keep it coming!

 

[toyotech]

Cool thanks. I have a 88runner automatic so it has an a340h and my tundra has an a340f. Haven't needed any crawl box for my runner and it sees mainly rocks. My tundra won't be for the rocks and mainly for long travels and towing my rzr


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[seanpistol]

Got brand new shoes today, can't believe how quiet these are on the road and how well they balanced compared to the other two sets of tires I've had. Snow is where I play the most, so Duratracs were an easy choice.

I ordered an ARB RD129 locker from Cruiser Outfitters to put on my stock 3.91 third. Need to find time to pick it up this week, and find time next week to pull the third, again, and have the locker set up. Then I can really test out these tires in a couple feet of fresh snow...



After I put the spacers on to get rid of the frame rub, I started rubbing on the pinch weld- bad. I never had before. I trimmed it as aggressively as I could. That extra bolt needs to go-

 

[Derek24]

Looks good! Keep trimming that pinch weld I see there's a little more to go. A grinder works well to get it all flush. I had and have the same problem when I put my spacers on my tundra and now my sequoia. I took them off my sequoia because I'd rather rub frame then my fender. You will love the locker!

 

[utroda]

I run 285/75/16 with wheel spacers, on my 00' tundra and i don't come close to the pinch weld, but i rub on the plastic part of the front bumper. I find this weird.

 

[Derek24]

Yep it's very weird. It varies between MTs and ATs.

 

[seanpistol]

Looks good! Keep trimming that pinch weld I see there's a little more to go. A grinder works well to get it all flush. I had and have the same problem when I put my spacers on my tundra and now my sequoia. I took them off my sequoia because I'd rather rub frame then my fender. You will love the locker!

I thought I had a later photo, but I definitely ground it down to absolutely nothing. How come I haven't seen any photos of the sequoia?

I run 285/75/16 with wheel spacers, on my 00' tundra and i don't come close to the pinch weld, but i rub on the plastic part of the front bumper. I find this weird.

I removed most of the lower plastic valence on my bumper.

 

[utroda]

I might have to try that.

 

[Stone_Blue]

I run 285/75/16 with wheel spacers, on my 00' tundra and i don't come close to the pinch weld, but i rub on the plastic part of the front bumper. I find this weird.

A lot probably depends on type, amount of lift, and then alignment, most specifically caster, probably has a lot to do with it...I imagine MORE caster will put the wheel more toward the bumper.

How does your truck drive?...Does it seem snappy, or squirrelly when trying to keep it straight?

Have you had an alignment, and would you happen to have the numbers sheet for it?

 

[seanpistol]

Gotta make a comment after logging some miles on the new tires at 80 mph. I have never had a set of tires balance this well. I have zero steering wheel shimmy, which was pretty bad with my Hankooks, and better with the Nittos, but it's completely non-existant with the Duratracs. I know I have a good alignment, and my truck is finally not pulling in any direction whatsoever. Also, can't believe how quiet these tires are- it's nice. Feels like I have a new vehicle. Can't wait to get into the snow and off the pavement with these to test them there.