So you wanna put big tires on your 2.7 powered truck

That’s pretty much what I have to do to make it up some of the hills on the hwy. There’s hill a couple hrs west that I frequently have to climb. Speed limit is 70mph, I climb it in 2nd gear floored losing speed while 18-wheelers are passing me. It’s horrible and embarrassing to be honest.

 

huh? You’re totally missing what I meant bud but okay lol.

what I’m saying is 4th with stock gearing is similar rpm to 4.88 in 5th at a given mph. In layman’s terms - saying you can barely hold 70 with some wind is a big exaggeration.

I own the same 2.7 dude, fucker is slow, but it isn’t THAT bad. And I own a heavier 3rd gen 4x4.

 

it’s gotta be that. I just think it’s funny when I read those comments because if I didn’t own one and was reading those posts, I’d think it was worse than a semi truck merging lol. Not even close.

BUT I’m also not dumb enough to stay sub 3000rpm and bog the 2.7. She’s built to rev a bit and takes it fine. I have a strange feeling the guys complaining drive it like a torquey V8 and keep it under 3k for whatever ridiculous reason. If I did that, I’d pull my fucking hair out driving this thing - the powerband isn’t really hitting hard until 2800-2900rpm and you’ll feel the surge.

I Shift at 3.5k in most cases.

 

Dude. I wish I was exaggerating. I love my truck either way. But at times it’s barely drivable.

 

Maybe I just drive like a grandpa. Some of those hills still crush it even when trying to hit the rev limiter.

 

Yea probably the 600lbs of armor on a DCSB. Plus a aluminum cap. I probably have an 800lb gain over a regular cab.

 

It’s definitely the auto trans holding you back. My truck is a 5 speed with 2.7, 4.88’s and I had 255/85’s, now 285/75’s in a heavier tire and I can stay in 5th and run 70-75 all day long. A few hills I have to drop to forth but it’s minimal compared to when I had stock gearing. Feels like driving a stock truck again and my truck weighs roughly 5600 pounds loaded for a trip. I think a stock 2.7 access cab 4x4 is like 41-4200 if I remember correctly

 

Yea. I think so too. In the next year or so I plan to manual swap it.

 

Booooo auto yay 5spd

 

Yea. It was a mistake, but it’s nothing that can’t be fixed.

 

It's only money lol

 

Yup. I don’t think they made a DCSB 2.7L with 4WD or a 5spd. So either way I would have had to spend more money to get both. A DCSB v6 with 4WD was like $31k at the time. I paid $20k for my truck and have less than $2k to add 4wd (and got an FJ t-case update). Probably another $1500 for the manual swap. I think I still made out and I have something one of a kind that I really like.

 

That would be a cool and unique setup for sure.

 

37s are the new 35s just sayin.

 

Why not it's all about gears. I've got buddies running 37s on their first and second gen pickups. Although the Tacoma is a lot heavier than an 80's Yota, it can be done with the right gear set. My goal is 37s and dual cases

 

So I'm planning to do a manual swap in the near future. I came across a pretty good deal on a R156 transmission (the 5-speed from the 3rd gen). I'm pretty sure it bolts up no problem. Anyone want to give options on using the R156 vs the R155?

R155 - 2nd gen
1st - 3.95
2nd - 2.06
3rd - 1.44
4th - 1.00
5th - 0.81

R156 - 3rd gen
1st - 4.31
2nd - 2.33
3rd - 1.44
4th - 1.00
5th - 0.79

1st and 2nd gear are lower on the R156, but 5th is a touch taller. I haven't driven a 2.7L 5-speed on 33's or 35's so I'm hoping someone can chime in and offer an opinion.

 

That sounds good actually. Usually 1st and second are where you're doing the most of your work so to speak, so the lower the better imo. 5th gear becomes mute because you can regear the diffs to compensate and honestly with 35s 5th is mostly Highway anyways. The r156 should be direct bolt on, it wouldn't make any sense to change the block or the bell housing after this many years

 

Yea, that's kinda what I was thinking. I already have 4.88's, but I could always go to 5.29's if 5th felt under geared. I doubt it will since it's only a 2% difference between 0.79 and 0.81. I might pull the trigger since I found a 2017 R156 with 13k miles for $650. All the R155's I'm finding have more miles and cost more $$$.

 

Git er done.. no one's really using the 156 so probably why it's cheap. The 155 has a great rep so it makes it expensive for that price it's worth it

 

Aren't they pretty much the same trans? The ratios are slightly different and the R156 has a triple cone syncho on 1st gear (smoother shift I assume?), but I think they are essentially the same. I'd expect the same durability, no?