Just wanted to update ya all on how the truck drives after lowering the SAS lift a bit. Details here.

After several months of driving it, I'm loving it. The truck is no sports car by any means, especially without any sway bars, but it's far less scary going around corners than before. The ride is very nice and it actually feels like it handles much better on the highway. I seem to recall a little bit of wondering here and there before that is completely gone now. Tracks perfectly straight and is very easy to drive on the highway. Although I'm not exact sure how lowering the lift would affect that, unless it has to do with the steering alignment.

As for the minimal uptravel, that doesn't seem to be an issue off road. And after many miles of dirt road driving, I find that I rare bottom out, even going over potholes. The springs seem to just be perfect. Not too stiff, but even more importantly, not too soft. I'm sure if they were one ounce softer, it would be an entirely different story as far as regularly bottoming out. However, I do bottom out, when hitting extreme potholes at high speed and the one time it happened, I felt one hellava joilt. Although I think it would have still bottomed out with the original suspension. Definately won't be jumping the truck anytime soon. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

The next step will be going to 33" MTRs. I've already ordered them. Funny thing is, with the tread on my 35" MTRs being pretty worn, the total difference in hieght over what I have now will probably be less than 1". But my reasons for going to 33s are many fold. First of all, I'll still have my 35s as back up.

But with 33s, I'm expecting a little more power and fuel economy with my 5.29s, that I experienced years ago with that set up, and have missed ever since I went to 35s. Also, my 33" spare will be more effective, and that's pretty important if I'm hundreds of miles from the nearest tire store, much less town. I expect handling will improve a bit with the shorter sidewall and slight reduction in overall lift. And risk of breakage will be reduced with the lighter and smaller tires.

The truck is an expedition rig that sees many thousands of miles of long highway trips, with hundreds of miles of dirt roads and very little extreme off roading these days, so I'm sort of refitting the rig to better fit that role, while I decide whether to keep it or upgrade to a spendy Land Cruiser. Right now, I'm leaning towards the economical solution and just keeping truck for the forseeable future. Maybe do an EB rebuild on the motor this winter. Runs strong, but burns a bit of oil with about 220K miles on her.

I think you'll find with 33s that it's a mite revvy, but acceptable. Not sure your mileage will increase though (unless, say, you went with 33x10.50 ATs). Other than that, I'd expect you'll not notice much difference in offroading.

I *would* expect you'd notice a difference with the engine rebuild though!

I made the same decision. My dual-locker 81 on 35" tires with a supercharger left a lot to be desired in terms of economy. The cab itself was simply too small. Even with a large fuel tank, 14-15mpg isn't a good thing.

33" tires will get into 98% of the 2 track roads. With lockers and some decent flex most trails will be open.
35" and above tires get you into places where there are no roads and up rock faces... Basically places you shouldn't drive a vehicle anyway.

I bought a 88 4runner. Like you, I'll SAS it and ride on 33" tires. For efficiency, I'm rebuilding a 22RTE core, using an aftermarket ECU, and a t3/t4 turbo. I'd like to see 200hp and 20mpg on a reasonably priced rebuild that has good driving manners.

My only comment on your build would be that 5.29s and 33" may turn too much RPM for fuel economy... Let us know what you end up with, however...

I had 33s with my 5.29s for a while before I did the SAS back in '02 and I loved the combination. Economy was better than I have now and power in just about every single situation was SOOO much better. At all speeds except highway speeds, the higher rpms aren't going to hurt anything and will actually be much better.

Only at extreme highway speeds did I wonder a little bit about the rpms, like 75-80 mph. At normal highway speeds, which is what I travel at usually, my rpm will be between 150-200 rpm higher. So, 3000rpm instead of 2800rpm. Not something I'm too worried about as it was never a major problem before. But it will be much nicer being able to use 5th gear more on the highway and 4th on the hills instead of 3rd with the engine screaming for mercy. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

You're going to notice another benefit of 33" MT/Rs, too. They wear like freakin' iron.

I do not know why, but I had a set of 33s, a buddy has a set of 33s, my roommate had a set of 35s, and another friend had another set of 37s. Yes, all MT/Rs, back when they were fairly new.

For some reason, even though my 33s were on a locked-up toy that was daily driven and the other set were on a 85 blazer w/ a 350HP motor and a locker... and the 35s / 37s were on open-diff'd pavement show queens... the 33s still lasted about TWICE as long as the 35s.

Goodyear must use a different compound on the smaller tire, I guess. Who knows, but if in two years you decide to come back up into manly-tiresize-land, you'll still be selling them with 80% tread left, if not more.

<img src="/forums/images/graemlins/lol.gif" alt="" /> Well, I'll still have the 35s in the garage, mounted on wheels ready to go, should I feel the need to do any serious off roading some weekend....or if I do eventually buy a Land Cruiser and the truck gets relegated to glorified ATV status, like a few rigs I know.... <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

I'd like to hear more about your turbo rebuild, because I'm seriously thinking about going the 22RT-E route to replace my 22RE. The only difference being that I'd probably keep the motor fairly stock for simplicity and I have to meet local emissions standards, so I'm not sure if the T-E would put out more emissions than a standard RE and cause me to flunk my DEQ test.

Also, I'm having a hard time finding a motor. I wonder if EB has any laying around.....

But of the other engine swaps I was looking at...3.4 V-6 or 2.7 I-4, the turbo 22RTE looks to be the easiest and simpliest and I like easy and simple stuff.

Brian I would strongly recommend putting your time and effort into an FZJ80 before you do a motor swap. Toyota pickups are great little trucks but for what you do the 80 will be light years ahead.

you don't 'need' a stock rte to build yourself a reasonable turbo motor. you can buld a virtual replica from a 85-95 22re core. if you want to make a decent stock replica, you will need the rte injectors, computer, exhaust manifold, and pistons. you can use the stock re head and I would use an aftermarket EFI computer like Megasquirt (which would obicate the need to find an rte computer). use an aftermarket or junkyard garret turbo instead of the pricey to find and pricier to rebuilt CT-20. (I've had very good luck with a big T3 off of an 86 Mustang SVO)

You can ping me directly: dginther@gmail.com or ask questions in the forums.. I'm not on this forum that much. It's totally possible to build a *budget* turbo 22RE motor if you're willing to use Hypereutectic or cast piston.. The forged pistons are expensive at about $600/set.
Manifolds can be had (exhaust) for $250-$500 that fit a garrett turbo.
Budget turbo, $250 or less.
New turbo, $500-$1000.

The *key* to building a turbo motor that most ebay idiots selling their 22re turbo "kit" don't get is that the stock ECU is totally unsuitable for a turbo application. If you want to bandaid it, use a rising fuel pressure regulator, or hobbs switch (pressure switch) fired alternate injector.
The *right* way to do it is to use aftermarket EFI, which sounds scary, but megasquirt can almost drop into the existing ECU location... Cost $200 (build it yourself) - $400 (assembled).

Note, swaps should be considered, especially with later model toyotas as you can adapt the drivetrain.
2rz
3rz
4.3L chevy are all reasonable swaps. The first one is relatively inexpensive and provides about 170hp. My understanding is 5 wires are needed with the ECU on the 2rz.
They require more fabrication than a turbo, but are easier in other areas.

In regard to your emissions test, if you're not tested on a dyno - just idle and fast idle, emissions should be very near the same.


22re's are available everywhere.. check www.car-parts.com.
I wouldn't pay more than $250 for a well used 22re that is complete.

As noted above, you do *NOT* need a turbo block.. The only difference is pre-drilled oil and return passages. A 22RE can be setup the same way in less than an hour.