So I have been driving my '96 limited 4runner for awhile (learned to drive and everything with it). I love it, does everything I could ask of it. Except clean itself lol.

I just have some newbie questions about it.

1. When is the proper times to have Overdrive on and Off when driving? I think I know..but I want to be assured.

2. Any general tips to save gas besides going the speed limit?

3. Getting dual-exhaust what would all that improve? And what would you guys suggest?

4. I accidently threw it into reverse going about 15-10mph (yeah yeah..i know).

What things should I check for? Vibrations in the shifter? It going out of gear? It's been two days and nothing that noticable has popped up. So what are the small things to check.


5. New speakers. I have no idea what to look at. What is good, and what can fit in the doors, I don't want too physically see the speakers. I still like the interior. I hope that makes sense.

Thank you so much for having these forums : ) and if there is any other general stuff I should look into to make my 4runner that much cooler tell me. It's pretty stock besides the fog lights and tires lol.

1. When is the proper times to have Overdrive on and Off when driving? I think I know..but I want to be assured.

if you are driving lots of hills and you are constantly having to hit the gas to get the car to down-shift into a lower gear to help you up the hill, then you turn it on, there are other situations too like if you are going down a steep hill at highway speed use overdrive to save your brakes

2. Any general tips to save gas besides going the speed limit?

make sure you have a clean air filter, fuel filter, and plugs... i think removing the elbow improves gas mileage, i know it improves horsepower by like 5 hp or something, but probly increases gas mileage by like 5%


3. Getting dual-exhaust what would all that improve? And what would you guys suggest?

i would love to have the same question answered

4. I accidently threw it into reverse going about 15-10mph (yeah yeah..i know). should not be a problem if no symptoms are showing now, i've done it too ;)


5. New speakers. I have no idea what to look at. What is good, and what can fit in the doors, I don't want too physically see the speakers. I still like the interior. I hope that makes sense.

as for the audio i have done quite a bit myself, i have mb quart 6.5 premiums in the front, stock speakers in rear, 2 ID12's alpine mrp-f240 for the 4 speakers, an alpine mrp-m650 for the subs, and a pioneer premier DEH-P880PRS for the head unit!!

its a great set-up, the new mb quarts are a little harsh.. a little too bright for my liking, i might go with something more like focal or dynaudio or something in the future! i had to make my own spacer to get the 6.5s to fit in the front as the mb quarts were too deep, they hit the window behind it.

hope this helps

on the audio question you can fit a 6.5 in speaker in front and a 5.25 in the rear doors, im running kenwood components up front and pioneers in the rear

Thanks for the replys and the specifics on audio kregg.

Ok so maybe I didn't really know what Overdrive was used for. I just turned it on in the situations like you said...but I also do whenever I am going over 40mph like highway or freeway. I thought that it saved gas that way...?

If your going 40 and your not shifting back and forth it is best to leave the overdrive on. If your smooth and steady you will get better mieage with your overdrive on. I turn it off for hills, both up and down and for towing. With the ovedrive on the transmission tends to heat up more and when you tow the temperature can get too hot. It is a good tough transmission and it normally does O.K. with the overdrive on, but in certian situations turn it off to cool the tranny down.

I notice you didn't mention the ECT button. That button changes the shift points in the transmission. To get the best mileage leave the overdrive on and the ECT button off. When I tow I put the ECT button on and the overdrive off, as I can use the extra power and I don't worry about mileage.

I was just talking with my father about it.

Overdrive really is just for fuel economy and used for highway or freeway over 40mph or over...

Oh yeah I know all about ECT : ) going up a hill with that on and 2nd gear...hoo boy towing is awsome.

Dual exhaust will add the same performance as a single upgrade will but it will be canceled out by the extra weight of the piping and muffler but it looks cool but if you also plan on taking your truck off road then definetly avoid a 2nd pipe.

I actually get better MPGs with the ECT on which nets another 20+ miles a tank but I drive agressive so I think I benefit from the ECT with my driving style since on hills the tranny doesn't try to upshift when it'll just downshift right away.

Overdrive should just be left on in everyday driving situations to help twith fuel economy and should only beused when you actually need the extra umph when say,towing and such.

Gunblade, for where we live (King/Snohomish), it's just convenient to keep overdrive engaged as there aren't a lot of hills that we take at speed to get into those higher gears. Even with all the steep hills downtown, you never really get out of 2nd gear so overdrive isn't an issue.

Only time I switch it off is when I head over the pass (which is also when I hit the ECT button).

As for audio equipment, I broke down and headed to Car Toys across from Seattle Center. I picked up JLs all around and was able to keep my stock grills. Looks exactly the same as the way it came from the factory, but it sounds 100 times better.

for the dual exshaust its looks good sounds good and adds extra horse power but its if you do a dual exshust its gunna have to be a custom set up since they do not make a direct bolt on kit for the 4runner

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dual exhaust wont add horsepower... its coming back from the cat.. so it has more air to flow and less pressure which results in power loss. same idea if you get bigger diameter piping..

if you want the look go for it.. however its not gonna help.. it might even decrease your power.

hey with the dual exshuast i actually felt an increase in power with it over the stock set up and really makes it sound nicer