Options to increase speed?

4.0L V6, Auto

 

I can't! I love that truck. It would be like leaving my wife just 'cause she's getting older. I just want to spice things up....

 

Famous last words...

 

Drop the suspension? Change the wheels? I would rather take her behind the barn and shoot her

 

This may not be the easiest solution and its definitely NOT for everyone, but if you really want to get moh powah...
There's two things you need to do.
RED PAINT....
BADGES...
prove me wrong

 

I have 33's, and one of my biggest complaints is it constantly drops out of OD on the hills.
It sounds like I need to regear then decide if I need to pursue anything else.
I don't know sh*t about differentials. I replaced a diff plus axles once, but that was a junkyard swap and I replaced it all as one piece. Didn't even take the cover off, LOL.

Is there a consensus on 4.88 vs 4.56 with a 4.0L V6 Auto?

While I'm here, I have to replace my carrier bearing about every 2 years, due to the lift. Tired of that, so I'm going to put in a one-piece custom shaft to fix that. Anything I need to know? Any decisions to make?

 

I am 4.0 Auto as well. I would not recommend higher than 4.56 gearing for 33s. Tom Woods makes a one piece or you could go to any driveshaft or fleet supply and get one made.

 

Tom woods no longer makes a 1 piece for Tacomas

 

Buy a second car.

Truck for truck things, car for getting your car jollies.

Its like owning a pair of sneakers and a pair of hiking boots. You spend so long trying to jog in boots- not only will you wear them out twice as fast, you grow to hate them. But if you don't lace up your boots unless you are actually kicking through a rock-strewn field, that's when you really appreciate what you have.

 

Driving a Tacoma with 6 8nch lift on 33's is more akin to jogging in cement shoes. A regear will allow you to make use of what power you have. Of course it's not gonna be a rocket but it might not be such a total dog.

 

Option 5: Move to a lower altitude.

 

In the mean time while you figure out the plan you can do yourself a favor, drop the tranny out of OD before it does it for you, it won't make much of a speed difference but you'll be doing the truck a big favor. In the mtns you've already lost between 10~15% of your HP due to the alt losses, add some more by running big tires. Perfect scenario for a supercharger but @ 220K adding a SC it would probably do the motor in, esp if you have your foot in it allot. Regearing it makes the most sense if the truck is otherwise worth it and it won't make it fast, it just won't work as hard. Dropping a big motor in sounds cool but now you get to deal with colorado's emissions, one taco owner in Durango with just a tune got caught out because the ecu didn't compare properly with the state's system, the tuner was able to correct it but imagine the potential issues if you dropped in a different engine with a different ecu?

 

Do you have another vehicle to drive, while you spend a year doing this yourself? https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/v8-swap-builds.788034/

These trucks were never designed to be fast, and they were never designed for full size truck tires... we are all making the truck slower with lift and tires

I had a lifted Ram with 35's, a long time ago. it was still fast with big ten ply tires. and it got better fuel mileage than the little taco. and it could haul waaaaaay more.

if you want a fast taco, that is still reliable, then LS motor is the way to go.

 

Only drive downhill.

 

OP post some pics of your truck. Be nice to see what we are talking about. Also question - do you actually off road/rock crawl with it or is it basically a mall crawler?

 

A 33 inch tires is about 6% larger than a 31 (30.6") tire. A little more rotating mass. A 4.1 or 4.3 could be fine too.

 

Um, auto transmissions are supposed to downshift on hills. That's how you get more torque to the wheels.

If that's your only complaint, I think this is a non-issue. Just put your foot down more if it's too slow.

Also, it might not be the case any more with your tires, but I feel like these trucks can just chug along at almost any grade in 4th gear (at highway speeds). It's a nice match to the engine output.

 

Gears..and a supercharger

 

From what I'm reading, the regear might be all I need to stop it dropping out of OD on every hill, so I'm going with that.

 

It's more than that. I struggle to keep up with traffic, even with OD off. It's like I'm on the verge of it dropping down to 3rd gear. From what I'm reading the regear ought to make a difference. Altitude is probably a factor too. I drive at 6500-9000 ft.