Colorado B.S. Thread

If you're keeping IFS and OK with 3400ish rpm at 75 I'd do the 4.88's. Only have to regear once and can run a 33 or 35 no problem.

 

Not sure if this is too offensive for TacomaWorld but it's one of my favorite sayings.

 

If I don't flunk out of my last semester of college this fall, I'll be regearing next spring. Think I've decided on 4.88s. No point to spend all that money and only go from 4.10 to 4.56.

 

I'm going 4.56 gears. I really don't have a need to change as I have a supercharger and it works good on the highway. The 200ish rpm change would be good for me though, I'm just a little low at 75 and could use the boost. I mainly only need/could use the gears when I'm running heavy (loaded with gear). Unloaded it feels great with 4.10s. If I didn't have a charger I would lean more towards 4.88s, higher altitude power loss could be counteracted with a little more rpm. I don't plan on going bigger then my 255s.

The final reason for going 4.56 gears, I could use one spare diff for the Tacoma and my 4runner. I already geared my 4runner to 4.56 so it makes sense. Also, big trips like Moab I could share a spare with Gramps or Nyco.

 

The supercharger is the game changer for sure. Not something I'll be doing on the 96 as I understand the ecu has troubles with it for that year unfortunately. But I feel were on the same page thinking the 4.88's would be the factor without the sc for trying to overcome high altitude and also when I have a load in it. Right now with 4.10 and empty bed it's a dog in 4th. 5th slows it down and won't even attempt to maintain speed.

Driving to Laramie for example, fairly mellow grade but it does increase in altitude a couple thousand feet. Speed limit is 65. In 4th I can maintain speed easily enough, has to be floored to maintain speed on the few grades there are. As far as passing that one guy doing 58 mph, it's a gamble without a passing lane. And 3rd is kind of maxed out at 65. So there is what I have going. I'd like to use 5th again as a cruising gear and 4th as a passing gear.

 

If you think about it this way, a 400 rpm change is about all you get when you change from 4th to 5th gear. So 4.88s will make your 5th gear feel like your current 4th gear. Your new 4th gear would be a little higher geared then your current 3rd gear so you might not have as much passing power.

I think the vehicle will still feel under powered. It is just the nature of our altitude. You might maintain speed better as you should match the power band better but it will not be a huge difference. Just try the best to bring it back to a stock tire feeling.

Just FYI, I put the charger on my current engine with 220k miles on the clock. It doesn't burn any traceable amounts of oil and runs great. If you think you have a good service history, it still is the best way to compensate for the altitude. The only way around it for you is to swap to a newer fuel management system, so that kinda makes it expensive. I have charged a few of the 97 and earlier Tacoma trucks. 3 drove really well, 1 we ended up pulling the charger off. I work with 2 guys that have chargers on early Tacoma trucks. The ecu on those are hit or miss I guess if they will handle a charger (I don't remember if we tried to swap the ecu on the one truck that didn't like the charger)

 

I agree with young Brett. If I were to regear, I'd throw 4.88s in. I'm on 285s and a 5 speed n/a just like u. I don't mind the gearing. Not bad at all. Although my clutch helps crawling alot. .. also makes it slower acceleration wise. But in my mind, Id rather crawl well then accelerate up i70....

Its gonna be a give or take though I feel.... if u want stock, go 4.56s but make sure u will not go up a size in tires any time soon

 

Never thought about that, definitely puts a different spin on things. But at the same time 4th, not being maxed out like 3rd at highway speed, should still be fairly robust for passing?

 

I would think you should have a little more rpm before red-line then before. Just going off my dusty cobweb filled memory, 3rd to 4th is about 1000 rpm gap?

Doesn't 3rd top out around 75 with 4.10s?

 

I haven't seen 75 in awhile, lol. I may have to hit the interstate and row through some gears to see exactly where i am.

 

Did some sweet canoe camping this weekend.
Skagway reservoir isn't that far and fishing was great, too!

 

Lives in WP? Last time I was all the way up at needles eye, there was fencing everywhere. Wasn't intending on descending down to rollinsville etc so I didn't check to see the route. I do know that it's doable however.

 

You can see the fencing in G Maps. But the road goes right around it. On the east side there appears to be nothing blocking it. I wonder if we went from the east side and came out on the west side we could claim ignorance if the west side has signs?

 

So I took a drive.
2nd gear tops out at 54mph at 5000rpm.
3rd gear hit 84mph at 4900rpm.

Cruising speeds
4th at 75 is 3200rpm
5th at 75 is 2700rpm

4th at 80 is 3500rpm
5th at 80 is 2950rpm

Cruising in 4th at 75 is fine, easy to maintain speed with minimal pedal movement.
Cruising in 5th at 75 is a little harder to maintain, lots of full throttle to keep up and won't hold steady speed without a lot of effort.

so if I read right that there is a 400 rpm increase from 4.10 to 4.88 then that should set me at 3100rpm at 75 in 5th. give or take. yes? no?

 

That's the thing about that kind of fencing - it's easy for people to bypass even when they shouldn't. I have vague recollections of it being signed, but it's been a while since I was up that side. There is an obvious USFS gate on the east side. I believe it's right here: https://www.google.com/maps/place/39°56'07.8"N+105°39'08.8"W/@39.935492,-105.652442,250m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0x0?hl=en and here's a picture of it from '09, taken from right around where Jenny Creek tops out (the big snow drift often cited is just off to the right, you can see a bit of the top of it in the image):


I strongly suspect the connection is officially closed, and only used by people who violate the closure and the FS for 'emergency access' and such. As Hoyal said, if you could get through there, there would be a lot more traffic though not as much as if the 2wd friendly route through the tunnel was open. Through traffic and the increase of traffic if a connection could be made is one of the big sticking points about getting the tunnel reopened.

 

I never did find my front plate after the first big water hole on Green Ridge ate it. I even went back the following weekend with a garden rake and dredged it - nothin'. Pretty amazing you found that.

 

Nice... a local @45acp we can all watch

 

Yeap you nailed it. That is the gate and in reviewing Gmaps again I see it now. We'll that sucks. I would rather see that opened up then the tunnel if traffic is a concern. That side route would be 4wd only vs 2wd on the rail route through the tunnel.

 

I have no idea if it's only 400 rpm difference. Seems like a miniscule difference? I'd think it'd be larger ..... but yes your math is correct.

Weird thing is... I can do 75 all day long in 5th? I cruised out to moab easily going 80 with gramps....

 

It does seem small. But it's just 7/10's of an extra turn on the driveshaft so maybe could be right. I think I mis-read Brian's post as he was saying a 400rpm difference between 4th and 5th, not in the actual r&p gearing.

It's downhill to Moab, how did you do coming back up?
I did better last night on the butt dyno coming back from Cheyenne as it's downhill back to Fort Collins.