2.7L 4x4, 31" Tires with 3.58 Gears?

Recently bought a '98 2.7L 4x4 Tacoma that has 235/75/R15 tires on it from the previous owner. Initially I thought those were slightly larger than the stock set (door card indicates it came with 225s), but have since realized that the speedometer is indicating the opposite. Speedo shows 70 when I'm actually going ~66, which is exactly what you'd expect running 235 tires on a truck set up with 265s. Meaning it probably did come with 265s from the factory.

Here's where the conundrum comes in. I'd love to just take that at face value and buy 265/75/15s when I replace these tires, but my truck has a 3.58 rear end. I imagine that's why the previous owner sized down in the first place, that's a really long ratio for the 3RZ. Although it helps that it is a 5-speed.

So my question is, is there anyone out there running 31" tires on a 2.7L 4x4 Tacoma with the 3.58 (B02A) rear end? How is that setup? I don't need that much power, but it's already pretty anemic up in the mountains with 235s and a ~200 lb shell on the bed. Would I be crazy going back to 265s?

 

I can't speak for driving with 3.58, but I can say that 4.10 open 8.4" diffs are reasonably easy to find. If you're sufficiently motivated you could find a set and swap them into your truck for well under $500 in parts. Probably more like $200-$300 if you're lucky and/or patient. The labor is approachable for DIY with a basic automotive tool set.

The pairing of gear ratios to engines/transmissions isn't exact, but there are some common combos.

4.10 gears came in most 3.4 and some earlier 2.7 Tacomas.
4.30 gears came in later 2.7 Tacomas with manual transmissions (these would be ideal for 31" tires if you can find them)
4.56 gears came in later 2.7 Tacomas with automatic transmissions

 

Yes,

You go with what the manufacturer recommends. DON’T go bigger tires.

 

I have the 2.7l with 3.58 gears on 31" tires, 4x4. The truck is slow, but I drive like a grandma so it's fine. Going up long hills is kinda a slog. I find myself going into 4low on stuff I shouldn't need to offroad. I'm looking for parts to swap out the gearing to something else.

 

Makes sense, do you have much weight in the back most of the time?

I don't think I'm going to be re-gearing any time soon, just a lot of other things I want to focus on first. I'm not building a rock crawler or anything, so for the foreseeable future I'd just stick with 235s rather than re-gear to make 265s more viable if 265s would be awful as-is. But it sounds like it's manageable.

 

No, It's empty unless I'm going camping, then it's just general camping equipment and a beer cooler, so it doesn't really ever have much weight in it. The gearing is totally manageable. An upside to taller gearing is the MPG can improve in some situations; I can sometimes get 26mpg.

Once, I had it full of 2x4s and concrete mix. I felt that, but so would any other vehicle. I only had to go 15 miles or so, but it wasn't bad.