What should I do with my gears?

[nogard]

I have a '92 Runner with stock gears, I believe 4.11's I have the 22-RE, and am running 31" tires.

I can tell it is bogged down. And on the highway I'm not in the powerband of the RPM range. It usually cruses at 70 MPH at 3200 RPM. It feels like it starts to make power at 3500 all the way to 4500 RPM.

So I would like to regear it. I believe 4.56's would bring me back to "stock" then my speedometer would be right. Should I do this. Or would I have more of a gain by putting in 4.88's. I would be reving higher on the highway, closer to the power band. And have more torque for when tow something, right? But then my speedometer would be off in the other direction, how would I fix this?

Where is the best place to get gears? Do I need to buy a seal kit? I've done many things to cars, and am my own mechanic. But is swapping gears something I should try on daily driver? They what do I do with my old stock gears?

 

[fourwd1]

First off: manual or auto? 31's from the factory or did you put them on?


4.56 would be correct for a manual/4 cyl/31" tire application.

4.88 if you ever plan on going to 33's, you only want to regear once, unless your rich. It's also a good time to add a locker, you'll save a lot of $ on the labor.

Gear installing should be left to trained pros. Special tools and a lot of skill and experience are needed.

Gears can be gotten from a number of vendors, or just let the shop installing them get them, other stuff is needed also.

 

[nogard]

It is a manual and has non stock 31"s.

I know 4.56's will bring me back to stock. What are the pro's or con's to going up to 4.88's?

 

[Klez]

4.88s will give you more torque and faster acceleration. They will also give you higher revs on the highway and be more prone to break (although not that likely).