33" vs 35" Tires Stock Gears FJ80 (1 Viewer)

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So.. I just got my truck, but doesn't the manual say to never use the lower gears for climbing and only for downhill decelerating?
What's an owner's manual? I scream up a hill at 4k rpm for miles and no issues. This occurs when outdoor temp are 95-100. Engine loves 4000 rpm. Throw the owners manual away .
 
IDK, my biggest problem is engine temp. Cooling system is healthy, recently replaced radiator & OEM fan clutch with 20k+ wt clutch fluid. My temp gauge has RT's mod installed which shows true temp and doesn't lie to you until it's too late like the stock gauge does, being center biased. I tow my mini on 33s and run on both 33s & 35s with stock gearing. I have a lot of armor and truck runs about 6400 lbs. Lot of passes here in rural Oregon and the 1FZ has plenty of power to keep speed up to 65 or more (not towing) running between torque peak (3200 rpm) and H.P. peak (4600 rpm) in 2nd & 3rd gears. Temp gauge goes to 3/4 and close to redline with any incline at all, the steeper and longer, the hotter she runs. 3 out of four seasons I put up with this. Winter when it's 20* or less, temp stays about 1/2 or less. She will run all day, all year, on trails and rock crawling at the lower rpms at 1/2 gauge or lower. I'd just caution those that are running the bigger diameter tires with the stock temp gauge & think everything's running super - get an after market temp gauge or do the RT temp gauge mod (search - it's in the 80s forum). You don't realize the true temp of your 1FZ engine and how close you are to overheating it. If it does pop in to the red - you are over heated - basically 0 warning. The 1FZ does not like to be overheated, being cast iron block and aluminum head. So, if you do, you'll likely be headed for HG problems and maybe worse. As was said in 2nd post of this thread, "For towing, highway grade climbing, DD, stock size is likely best." and/or (I would add) - get a temp gauge that doesn't lie to you. :cheers:
Edit: Here's the temp gauge mod, if you're interested:
93-97 Coolant Temperature Gauge Modification
 
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OFF topic, sorry, what paint is that on your wheels? Looks Great!
Thanks.
Sorry for jacking your thread

The clear coat was starting to flake off so i though them on the glass bead cabinet to clean them up abit the gave them two coats of spray paint.
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I noticed a big difference between wheel and tire setups regarding weight over diameter. For example, aluminum/stock wheels with 35" BFG KO's were fine climbing Cajon pass when I did it a few years ago loaded with camping gear.

However, this past year I did Cajon pass loaded down but I now have steel wheels and 35" Toyo MT's. Quite a big weight difference... and the truck was struggling. To the point that I ordered aluminum wheels for the time being before I can afford gears.

I think though if 95% of your driving will be NOT going up grades like Cajon pass, the 35's will be totally fine.
 
Thanks 80t0ylc I'm definitely going to do the temp gauge mod. I remember my last 1997 FJ80 overheated heading up the Cajon with 295 75 16 BFG ATs on it. Granted it was the middle of August, 105º and in traffic. Right now I'm leaning towards the 35" 315 75 16 Good Year Duratracs despite the possible over heating problems in the summer...
 
I run an Ultragauge and rarely exceed over 200-205 when climbing hills in 2nd gear.
 
craigslist 265's until you're ready to spend some real money :flipoff2:
 
Thanks 80t0ylc I'm definitely going to do the temp gauge mod. I remember my last 1997 FJ80 overheated heading up the Cajon with 295 75 16 BFG ATs on it. Granted it was the middle of August, 105º and in traffic. Right now I'm leaning towards the 35" 315 75 16 Good Year Duratracs despite the possible over heating problems in the summer...
Just remember, the temp gauge will read different after modification. It takes some getting used to. Installing the mod changed the way I drive it. For example, now I force the tranny to stay in the lower gears longer climbing hills trying to help keep the load on the engine as light as possible. Also, in the hottest part of summer, on a long pull when the needle is pushing redline, I'll pull over and run the engine at about 1500 rpm and let it cool down before proceding. You'll now be able to see how hard your engine is working. It can make your butt pucker at times. An armored 80 will run warmer than normal. My '94 weighs in around 6400 lbs, "empty" or before being loaded for traveling. It's like carrying around an extra ton all the time. I only use the "power button" when towing. I've found it's not normally enough, but when I'm towing and in city driving, your concentration is on traffic and it helps for that kind of driving. I used to watch other gauges before scanning the temp gauge. Now I almost always check it 1st, next is the fuel gauge...lol. :cheers:
 
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I bought my cruiser in SoCal and drove it all the way to Utah. If your immediate plans are 35s and a 3" lift I'd say go for it. The Cajon Pass wasn't that bad with 33s. I bought 285/75s right after I got it and wish I would have gone bigger, but a lift wasn't in the books until now. I bought it about a year and a half ago and put the 285s on within the first week while I was still in California. I've made a few trips back and forth from UT and Victorville CA since then and it hasn't been bad. I would have gone with 315s, but I didn't plan on lifting it at the time. I wish I would have now though.
 
I bought my cruiser in SoCal and drove it all the way to Utah. If your immediate plans are 35s and a 3" lift I'd say go for it. The Cajon Pass wasn't that bad with 33s. I bought 285/75s right after I got it and wish I would have gone bigger, but a lift wasn't in the books until now. I bought it about a year and a half ago and put the 285s on within the first week while I was still in California. I've made a few trips back and forth from UT and Victorville CA since then and it hasn't been bad. I would have gone with 315s, but I didn't plan on lifting it at the time. I wish I would have now though.


Same thing happened to me, bought 285 right away because I didn't want lift.....well that idea didn't last that long.
 
I'm on 305/75/16's and have no issues. There's no huge mountains here like there are out west, but we have some steep hills, and long grades. I keep my "pwr" button on all the time. It seems to get up to speed a lil quicker, and believe it or not, I actually get better mpg in "pwr" mode than normal. 15mpg in normal, 18 in "pwr"
 
I decided to go with the 315 75 16 Toyo open country MTs. So far I am very pleased. The power loss was not as much as anticipated and I don't expect it to be too slow on grade. With stock suspension it doesn't rub at all but I am definitely going to put a lift on before I do any wheeling. The Toyo's are a little noisy on the highway but quiet around town above 5mph. The noise on the highway and slight decrease in power is well worth the looks in my opinion. Around town my MPG was 13 with the stock tires. I'm averaging 11 MPG around town on the new 35s.

Before
275/70/16
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After
315/75/16 Toyo Open Country MT
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dont forget to adjust 11% i believe for tire size in your MPG calculations..... seems it should still do better than 11.

but regardless looks great! wise choice
 
315 on a stock rig looks great! Wow. Makes me want to lower my rear 2"
 
I'm runnin 365/75R16 BFG KO2's on stock gears. Around town it works fine. Up hills I have to downshift. Perfectly acceptable for my needs.

That being said, I do tow 5500lbs 3-4 times a years. I did that with the new tires a couple months back. Definitely noticed the lack of power, and more importantly, the lack of braking. To keep the tires out of the fenders with the tongue weight of the trailer, I added airbags. They worked beautifully, but without the rear sag, the LSPV could not do its thing and up the pressure to the rear brakes. I am giving strong consideration to pulling the ABS and LSPV as reports indicate a noticeable improvement in braking power. It is impossible to lock up the brakes on dry road with the larger tires.
 
35s fit a stock height 80 series with no tire rubbing? holy crap

I guess im ok to move up to 33s then...
 
35s fit a stock height 80 series with no tire rubbing? holy crap

I guess im ok to move up to 33s then...

That’s a load of synthetic pork meat assuming everything stock. Without doing some minor cutting at the running board plastic thing front fender, 315/75/16 k02 tires rubbed on turns. At a tall 2.5” ome lift (zero added weight). It even touched the front bumper corner but that can be adjusted via bolts. All this said, it just looks weird sans lift.

-my 16x10 steel pro comp wheels have got to be at least fifty plus pounds each. That’s probably double the weight of stock alloys or any aftermarket wheel 99 percent of which are made in China (or Thailand in the case of SCS wheels) just rebranded nicely on instagram.

-i wouldn’t go back to stock gears on 35s and this is with a street driven 80. While not undoable as others have mentioned, the 4.88s gets you some of the pep back but If you don’t know you’ll never know. I’ve already adjusted to the added mechanical power. Add a vending machine equivalent of bumper weight, I don’t want to imagine running stock gears on 35s.

-don't know what mpgs i'm getting on 4.88s now, but i keep fwy speeds <70mph, no desire to go faster than this and well aware of the non-linear effect of air resistance as speeds increase

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i'm really enjoying my setup and wouldn't change it for the world, but if i can source a clean TRD SC kit, i wouldn't mind a bit more OEM juice.
 
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looks good. no need for me to go that big, I am actually thinking about getting the OME stock height suspension system which provides about .75 inches lift. Hoping I will have to do slim to no trimming for that setup...
 

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