96 4x4 2.7

Man it's too bad he's a creep, the old Cosby show used to get a laugh outta me.

 

My mind is still blown that youre getting 21mpg. Manual?

 

Yeah it's a manual, I'm actually kinda surprised as well. Ever since the top end was rebuilt and the front end components replaced it has behaved itself in the mileage dept. I have 3.58 axle gears and that helps on the highway, but those will be replaced with 4.30s come spring so I imagine the MPG will drop accordingly then.

 

I never even checked my gearset. Is there more then one possible configuration for the 2.7L automatics?

Off course, a rebuilt head will improve things a bit if you have several 100k miles on it. I know my cylinder 3 is about 20psi lower than the others. Not enough for me to want to tear into it.

 

Yeah there are a few possibilities. I'm pretty sure we had 3.58s, 4.10s, 4.30s (very limited run in Tacos), and 4.56s.

 

Yeah I've got the 4.56's just check you axle code

 

keep in mind the 265 really means nothing when you post for most people's interpretation of "tire size"

265 is only the width. 33" tires would be 285/75-16 or 255/85-16 (etc). 32" would be 265/75-16 or 265/70-17 (etc), 31" 265/70-16 or 31x10.5(standard on most 4wd 98+)

it does seem weird that you would have 4.56s in '96, most <98's came with 225/75-15 so the lower ratio was used (3.58 etc)

I usually get around 16mpg avg. best I got was 21 doing 75mph on flat roads with cruise set.

Also have you calculated the difference for the larger tires? using the tire calculator you can gain 3-8% and it may shift the numbers slightly.

 

Yeah my speedos off by around 6% and it does have 4.56's (b04A) axle code. Also feels like 4.56 not just basing off numbers

 

I've got a 96 - 2.7L 4x4 just like the OP (but on 31x10.5 Duratracs for now and mine is a regular cab) and after changing my whole exhaust system out (o2's, Cat, and all) I've been getting 21mph average. Which is about 2mpg better then before.

Also, mine is a manual and I drive her very easily. I have a Husqvarna enduro I do all my speeding and offroading on.

 

My '96 2.7 4x4 with 31x10.5s and 180k miles on it gets 20mpg on summer gas driving in the mountains with a hi-rise cap and a big steel rack on there. I get 18.5 to 19 on winter gas.

 

Yeah even when I used to have 31's I never got more than 17. Shoot right now in the cold I'm getting 14-15

 

Mine also came stock with the 31x10.50's. Wasn't there like an "off road" option or something along those lines back then that got you the 31's instead of the slightly smaller ones? I feel like my grandmother (original owner) said something about that

 

not sure really. I know the TRD option officially started with the '98 but there were some older outfitted with the e-locker so maybe this was the case?

however the A/T 2.7 didn't get the locker, but the M/T could from my knowledge

 

Yea, i was referring to the stock size 265/75R15. Which looking at the size calculator is pretty much the same size as 31x10.5, but with street tread.

I wish I had an e-locker. Im not sure why.

 

What kind of driving do you do? If it's all around town then your doing fine. Espesially on winter blend gas. My 2.7 single cab 4x4 got that on stock tires. The 33's arn't helping either. Get a ultra gauge and you can monitor your mpg and adjust your driving habits to yield better mpg

 

Yeah I'll have to try that thanks

 

Ive been getting 16-18 MPG for years and years on my 2.7. Putting in a new catalytic converter to pass smog 2 years ago did nothing, putting in a new O2 sensor over 5 years ago did nothing, cleaning the clean MAF has done nothing. When it was new I got a consistent 20-22 and the best was 24 with Mexican gas.
She's got ~184,000 miles on her so I chalk it up to being old. I'm going to be selling it in a couple months to off set the cost of a new Taco, so I'm not too concerned about the "low" MPG. And even if I was not going to be selling her, why spend a couple $100 bucks replacing exhaust and intake parts to maybe get a couple more MPGs? That couple $100 could buy a lot of fuel to to recoup any possible 10-20% increase in MPG, even when buying in California.
But, I am looking forward to getting 18-20 plus the additional power that comes with a V6.

 

Mine has the 4.30 rear, also stock tire size is actually 225/75R15. So going up to 265s negates that somewhat.

 

default stock is 225/75-15. pretty sure every truck has that sticker somewhere. but the one higher on the driver side shows 265/70-16 for me so when they came with ~31"s like that (4wd/PR) there should be the second sticker/decal.

31x10.5 were used but the 265/75-15 were the exact same tire size.

 

My sticker says 31x10.50-R15 on my 96, pretty sure mine is the "offroad package" too with the rear locker, tachometer, bucket seats, and center console.

Where do you check your axel code? I am curious now... I love the way mine is geared currently and am a little worried about when I go to 33's.