Regear or supercharger?

Ok, you're hauling a load. Haha. I really wouldn't add a supercharger first. With any power adder you want the supporting mods first. Add more power to a trans that's already pushing an under geared drivetrain just adds more heat. And you already know heat is the enemy. On top of that actually reducing gas mileage with all the times you need to give it "a bit more juice".
All gear vendors you talk to actually suggest overhearing for larger tires and weight by 12-15%. Rehearing will not only reduce trans heat, it will make everything be in the nominal power and rpm range for your truck. Also getting "felt" horsepower back. Where you may never even want a supercharger.
With 4.56 and 31.8 or 32 inch tires you would be running 2370 rpms while coasting down the freeway at 70 mph. Doesn't seem to aggressive to me.
There's nothing but benefits with gearing. I went with gears and a proper tune. The tune fueled the motor for better power, put the shift points where they belong for tire size and gears, corrected speedometer and I still have factory gas mileage. I still see 20 mpg in the highway with cruise control on at 70.

 

@ItalynStylion, with ATRAC I don't plan on a locker up front but appreciate the feedback.

285s have only been on the truck about a month now. Not bad around town but it's a dog on the trails now and hunts gears a bit on the mountain passes (I guess going to 285 is like swapping in the 3rd Gen drivetrain ). I'm at 90k miles now and transmission fluid was last changed at 40k miles (I'll be doing it again in a few weeks).

I'll be well above 2370 rpm on the highway. When towing you run in 4 so there is no OD and my tires measure just over 33".

 

Correct. That would be in daily driving with overdrive. In towing, No, it would not be that low. it would be about 657 rpms over what it was from factory. If im remembering correctly.

 

+1 for regear first.

I've had a s/c since I first got the truck and with all of the weight and stuff on the truck now, I don't notice the s/c much at all. But when I got my gears re-done last year, it was a night and day difference. The truck feels better getting up to speed and doesn't feel as sluggish. I'd definitely recommend doing the regear first and it'll help out with your uses much more.

I like having the s/c but will say, if I were to do it again knowing my driving style (~70-75max on the freeway after regear + crawl more than fast off road stuff), I don't know if I would get the s/c. Its not bad or anything like that, but again based on my driving style off and on-road with as heavy of a truck, I can't say it has improved drivability by $4k+. I'd suggest spending money on upgraded brakes / bbk before a s/c.

 

Just curious here. How many miles do you have on your 2nd Gen? Should you be concerned about SC on a higher mileage engine? I've toyed with the idea in my head. I have 168K miles but have been a nazi on oil changes and ALL engine maintenance. Would an older engine last more than a couple of years with a SC???

 

@knayrb, I have 90k miles on my truck and have owned it since it had 16k miles. It was dealer serviced prior to me buying it so I know all the history and it is current on maintenance.

 

I'd see if you could find a set of gears from a 2nd gen 4cyl ( 2TR-FE Engine ) they are 4.10's ( edited for clarity, the 4x4, manual's are 4.10's, cant remember if the AT's are 4.10s as well )
hopefully you have a junkyard close by that has them and like others said, swap the Front diff and rear 3rd member in an afternoon. It just might help your towing issue.

you can check out the site http://www.grimmjeeper.com/gears.html to compare the different ratios with your transmission to see the changes.

 

Swapping a factory 3rd with 4.10s is not an option for the rear with the e-locker.

 

You can always go 4.30's toyota oem or yukon gear carries them. That may be the sweet spot you are looking for.

 

what tuner/tune did you use once you regeared?

Glad I found this cause even hauling my motorcycle over the past couple of months for some extensive cross country touring was driving me nuts. It was fine until any kind of wind hit the truck.

 

I almost made that mistake but ended up on 4.56 gears. With hind sight being 20/20....I'd still make the same decision.

4.30 sounds good in theory because it gets you VERY close to stock gearing. What it does NOT take into account is the extra mass you're turning and the extra mass you're hauling. 4.56 is a great place to be with a true 34" tire.

 

Do both if budget allows especially if you plan on keeping the truck. If you do just gearing go with 4.88s. If you do both then I would go with 4.56s to keep rpms down on the highway. I'm running 4.56 with S/C and turn at 2200 rpms on the highway at 70mph.

 

i think re-gearing should be first. you want to make sure you can use the power that you have before you add more.

 

What size tires are your running and is your truck an auto or manual transmission?

The plan is to do both. I'm just concerned that I'll get the gear ratio wrong and end up running above 3,000rpm on the highway when towing.

 

I'm running 35's so the 4.56s work perfectly

 

Is the truck AT or MT?

I'm on 33s with an AT so Im beginning to think the 4.56 might be a bit much.

 

It's Auto. Your factory gears I believe are 3.73s, the next step up would be the 4.10s which wont make much of a difference. ECGS recommended to me to go with 4.56 since I have the S/C with some armor. With heavy armor then 4.88 but that motor is gonna be turning rpms on the highway.

 

Yes, factory is 3.73 on my truck. There are 4.30s available...I think I'm going to install the blower and then see how things feel before regearing.

 

REGEAR! went to 4.56 before picking up the camper. I'm running 32s now, so up 1 inch from stock tire size. Just towed from Seattle area to Vegas via Utah and back across Nevada. Handled great. I ran a lot of it in 5th. Soon as I start getting the tq converter unlocking I shift to 4th and leave it. With your larger tires, 4.56 would be great, even for a DD.

 

And to add to what some others have already said, adding HP/TQ to your truck is only going to put more strain on your overworked tranny. With larger tires you are already doing the OPPOSITE of getting the gearing you need.