Properly driving a girly-80 ?? (1 Viewer)

[T Y L E R]

Ok , for the miniscule number of poser 80's in the crowd , I have to say something . . .

I just drove home from Toronto tonite ; a roughly 1000 mile trip . The hills on the North shore of Superior are nuts ! Steep , and endless . So here I am in my girly 80 , eating up asphault at 90 mph , and I had to ask myself ... what the hell is everyone bitching about ?? 35's do NOT necessarily destroy performance .

I could only conclude that the majority of guys that have gone the 35 route did so for reasons of functionality , and also began cladding their rigs in many pounds of armour at the same time . IOW's I would have had to pick up every hitch-hiking rugby player I saw today , in order to have come even close to the weight of some of the expedition/rock crawling 80's out there .

So yes , I run 35's , but no I haven't shot my performance all to rat sh!t . Here's how ...

• First , I kept my rig light . IE no second battery , no A/M bumpers etc
• Next , I installed a Truspeed recallibrator and went the GPS route
• Lastly I employ the few simple driving habits below

First , I always drive with the 'power' button engaged . The other thing I do is utilize the 'overdrive off' feature on hills ...

Which leads me to ask .. is this a good habit ?--> Because I was faced with hours of hills today , I decided to automatically kick off the OD when I got started on a good grade . It seems like a good idea because it sends the rpms up to around 3k and hills get powered thru at 80 mph . I've never enjoyed driving my 80 more ... what a blast !

*holding breath* Just tell me I'm not asking for trouble using this practise ... always driving in the 'power' mode , and then turning OD off on the uphills . Because I gotta say that if it's not doing harm , then running a near stock 80 on 35's is a riot ! Hell , your biggest dilema will be arguing with your wife over which fabric to make the rear curtains out of ! :dunno:

Tyler

 

[Beowulf]

Tyler,

What was your average MPG over that 1000 mile trip? :G

There's your answer on using the PWR and turning off OD. I'm guessing it was in the 12-14 MPG range, maybe worse?

You won't "hurt" your truck using PWR and no OD. I suppose some could argue that you're running at a higher RPM thus causing higher engine wear. I would say that's a pretty weak argument though.

Another factor some of us have to deal with is the altitude. Christo, Robbie, Dan, David, -H-, me, and several others are at 5-6,000 ft. Adding 35" tyres is like changing to a 2.70 gear ratio from a 4.1 (just a guess, didn't do the calculation.) Yes, the additional weight doesn't help.

Hey, you have the baddest looking poser truck I've ever seen. :G

-B-

 

[Chris_Geiger]

Using a Density Altitude Calculator is easy to see the affect of altitude on performance. Going from sea level to 5000 ft, results in aprox 15% loss in power. Air density decreases at a rate of 3% for each 1,000 ft. of elevation above sea level.

 

[Beowulf]

Chris,
That's for normally aspirated vehicles, right? Mine doesn't have the S/C and we are at 6,000 feet so our stock trucks are down by 18% from you lucky guys at sea level.
-B-

 

[Chris_Geiger]

Yes this is for non turbo/SC motors. I super charger can make a truck running at 6000' feal like it's a non SC truck running at sea level.

 

[T Y L E R]

*L* Thanx B

In regards to mileage , umm , I kinda forgot to get a receipt from one of my stops , so it will be a few days until I look thru the ones I have , relate that to a map , and come up with some value :-[

As far as the gas bills go , I got my 80 at a time when a Volkswagon frenzie was happening where I work . Something like 5 people purchased VW's in a short period .... my response , 'I'll take MASS over GAS anyday !' . So on this trip I was pleased with my performance , and let economy slide .. with a smile .

I never thought of air density though , great reminder ... I think I'm at 630 ' ASL . *trying to remember what I'd set my altimeter to yrs ago*

Tyler

 

[Chris_Geiger]

Hope I am not the only one that feals the need to set the alt before backing out of the drivway. 29.92 ought to do it today. It's hard to get right after all, the local traffic station just does not seem to get the standard atis format I am looking for!

 

[T Y L E R]

Hey Chris , I think I may have asked you about an FJ40 about 4 yrs ago . I think I messaged you in ICQ , asking whether 10K CDN was too much for a 40 I was looking to buy . You said to save my money and buy an older model Toy truck and build that up instead . Well , I kinda had my heart set on that 40 so I flew out to Alberta to see it , and what a pc of ---- . I kept my cash , and partied for a few days and then flew back .

Glad I backed out then , but kept looking and finally settled on my 80 .

I'm pretty sure it was you . That is if you own / owned a white? 4Runner that you built up ... seem to remember seeing pics of you at Pismo? as well , no ?

Tyler ( A little more open to sound advice nowadays *G* , unless we're talkin Junk and his darn SS's : )

 

[landtank]

I never saw a huge drop in performance when I went to 35s but I'm only about 10Ft above sea level and installed the TrueSpeed soon after. But now with the 4.88s this thing feels about 1000 lbs lighter and no need to shut OD off. All too often on these forums a blanket statement will be repeated enough that it becomes the rule and people get talked out of changes that might work out just fine for them and make their ownership experience that more enjoyable for them. Nice post Tyler.

Rick

 

[Strider]

Tyler,
are you on stock springs or upgrades?

-B-
you say his gas mileage might have been 12-14 as if that's low! I get about 13-14 around town, on the highway, up hills or with a 50mph tailwind! :ugh:

I don't really care though... I'm with Tyler, I bought the cruiser with my eyes wide open. I came out of a 'mature' BMW that only got 18mpg, but it had punch and other very attractive driving features. The cruiser is the same way... punch and lots of attractive driving features [although a completely different set of features than the Bimmer]

Matt

 

[Chris_Geiger]

Hey Chris , I think I may have asked you about an FJ40 about 4 yrs ago . I think I messaged you in ICQ , asking whether 10K CDN was too much for a 40 I was looking to buy . You said to save my money and buy an older model Toy truck and build that up instead . Well , I kinda had my heart set on that 40 so I flew out to Alberta to see it , and what a pc of ---- . I kept my cash , and partied for a few days and then flew back .

Glad I backed out then , but kept looking and finally settled on my 80 .  

I'm pretty sure it was you . That is if you own / owned a white? 4Runner that you built up ... seem to remember seeing pics of you at Pismo? as well , no ?

Yep that was me. Personally I think most 40's I have seen for sale are way over priced. I paid $1800 for a clean good running 40 10 years ago, but 10K seems like a lot. Yes that was my 4Runner and I still get to Pismo once in a while!

 

[Chris_Geiger]

I never saw a huge drop in performance when I went to 35s but I'm only about 10Ft above sea level and installed the TrueSpeed soon after. But now with the 4.88s this thing feels about 1000 lbs lighter and no need to shut OD off. All too often on these forums a blanket statement will be repeated enough that it becomes the rule and people get talked out of changes that might work out just fine for them and make their ownership experience that more enjoyable for them. Nice post Tyler.

Rick

I am still thinking about what gears to install in my 80 for my 35's. Are you happy with the 4.88 or do you wish you had used the 4.56's?

 

[landtank]

I'll admit I was real nervous about going with the 4.88s. Alot of money and if they are too low I'd hate driving the truck on the highway. Not the case at all. Highway cruising is just fine even up to 85mph. Off the line and pulling up the hills is a breeze. The truck drives so much nicer than stock as the final ratio is slightly lower than that of stock. I'm totally satisfied and never considered going to 4.56s. I would strongly suggest the TrueSpeed calibrator to correct the speedo and tranny shift points as part of the change.

Rick

 

[cruiserdan]

An interesting footnote:

4.88's and 35 inchers are quite close to 4.10 and 235 tires.
Which BTW was the "stock" combination for 91-92 models. 31 x10.50's and flares were an option(with no gearing correction, just a different speedo gear) .

Another pointless factoid......

 

[Hltoppr]

Dan, I've never seen a 91-92 80 with the 235/steel wheel combo. Were the alloys/31"s a dealer installed option, or just something the factory always threw on?

-H-

 

[cruiserdan]

-H-
It was a factory option. The vast majority ordered by TMS USA were brought in with it. The small tire/non flare vehicles, although "standard", are quite rare. You may have seen one and not even noticed it as the flares change the look of the vehicle so significantly.
They look like a whole different animal.

&nbspan

 

[landtank]

Well Dan the question has to be asked. Would the speedo gear from that early 80 fit the later models. This would offer a cheaper solution to the TrueSpeed.

Rick

 

[cruiserdan]

Rick,
Yes and no, the ones with small tires have an 11 tooth DRIVE gear vs a 12 tooth. So you would have to pull down the transfer case and install a drive gear as well as a different driven gear. Nothing's easy......

 

[ParadiseCruiser]

Dan -

I thought the "speedo gear" was 31-tooth, or 32 tooth... and simply slips into the tranny. We are not speaking of the same gadget here, are we?!
Is it that the speedo drive gear is an entirely different animal than the odo drive gear?

R -

 

[cruiserdan]

Ron,
The speedo drive setup consists of two gears, the nylon one we are all familar with, known as the "driven gear" and a metal gear on the transfer output shaft, known as the "drive gear"

In the case of the FZJ80 the drive gear is 12 teeth and the driven is 32 teeth = a ratio of 2.67 to 1
In the case of the FJ80 with 31 x10.50 the drive gear is also 12 teeth and the driven gear is 33 teeth = 2.75 to 1
In the case of the FJ80 with 235 tires the drive gear is 11 teeth and the driven gear is 33 teeth = 3.00 to 1
In order to get the required 3.00 to 1 ratio with a 12 tooth drive gear it would require a 36 tooth driven gear which in this case does not exist.

Regards......Dan