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Forgive Me If I Sound Mad ....

teking

Charter Member
Full Member
Joined
Apr 3, 2002
Messages
180
Location
Orlando Florida
... but I've had it with the piss poor performance of my AV. My AV could hardly back a trailer w/ 6yards of Cypress mulch up a SMALL incline in the woods in 4 wheel drive.

Some of you may remember my first complaint came after towing a trailer back from Oklahoma. Shifted too often on the highway.

I made a huge mistake purchasing the setup I have. small V8 without 4:10 gears.

... now my question. How hard is it to put 4:10 gears in my 4x4? What is involved? Any suggestion appreciated.

Should I just sell the thing and take my lumps?
 
I hope there isn't something wrong with your truck. I have pulled tree stumps out of the ground in 4LO without hardly a flinch. Now these weren't giant trees but big enough.
 
I wonder the same thing. From my hauiling photos, I have hauled HUGE amounts in the bed of my truck (over 1600lbs) and it still hauls pretty good a**.

I have towed my fathers 19' fiberglass boat at 75 with no issues and I also have the 3.73 gears.

Sorry to hear your experience is beginning to sour.

Jamie
 
I'm going to have to agree - I think you should talk to the dealer. I too have a 4X4 with 3.73 gears and I too have carried in excess of 3/4 ton in the bed. It's like it wasn't there (including being on the highway).

Even soaking wet the 6 cubic yards of bark mulch shouldn't have weighed more than two-tons - and in reverse you'd be in your lowest gear.

Something just doesn't sound right.

To get to the meat of your question - YES you can change out the 3.73 with the 4.10 but the parts are very expensive. If you're serious your best bet would probably be finding someone with a 4.10 that wants the 3.73 and doing a trade...
 
.... Hmm I have also been wondering if something is not "right" w/ my truck. It shifted WAY too often on the highway (although may be a function of the cruise control) when towing. I have also started to notice a delay when putting it into gear. Seems to wait before going into gear.

tranny ????
 
Teking, sound like that may be the culprit.

As much as I hate visiting even the best dealership, perhaps they need to diagnose it for you. I just hate the hassle oif visiting the dealership. I like chewing it with my sales guy and the parts/accessories guy but it always turns into an "ordeal."

Good luck - Jamie
 
teking said:
.... ?Hmm I have also been wondering if something is not "right" w/ my truck. ?It shifted WAY too often on the highway (although may be a function of the cruise control) when towing. ?I have also started to notice a delay when putting it into gear. ?Seems to wait before going into gear.

tranny ????


Egad!!

Sounds like the bug that's been whizzin' in MY cornflakes...

My 4L60E is also a DOG.. I just had the 2-3 upshift solenoid replaced - now the 1-2 upshift is a two to three second affair beginning with a freewheeling engine sound, and ending with a hard BUMP into second. Not Healthy! It threw four codes on me this weekend for the 2-3 solenoid.

Mine is fine going into R and D, from P... it's when I'm moving on the road that it just drives me crazy.

Some days my truck won't even hold itself at 65 in OD/lockup with no load... any hint of an incline and it slows down to 55 with the pedal half to the floor.

Fn' thing. :7: Can't wait to boot it to the curb.

:p
 
teking said:
Some of you may remember my first complaint came after towing a trailer back from Oklahoma. ?Shifted too often on the highway.

May I ask how heavy the trailer was??


... now my question. ?How hard is it to put 4:10 gears in my 4x4? ?What is involved? ?Any suggestion appreciated.

Should I just sell the thing and take my lumps?

From my understanding - it's going to cost from $1500 to $2000 to do a gear change on an IFS 4x4. Overall, I do think this is the cheaper way to go rather than trading up - unless you go all out and get the 2500.

If you check out this chart, you may even end up going taller than 4.10's... (if you ever want run bigger tires or whatever)

http://www.off-road.com/toyota/taco/tech/axle/gearchart.html

Another: http://www.superlift.com/gear.htm

One more helpfull site: http://www.dirtroad.com/grant.htm (look towards the bottom of the list)

 
More questions than answers......I would think that either the trailer would move or you would just spin all four tires. It sounds like neither happened. What did happen? Trans slipped and the revs went to redline? Gas pedal all the way down but revs only went to 2000?

I have noticed that the gas pedal has a spring on it and when I normally put my foot to the floor it doesn't fully open the gas. I need to lift my heel and push it farther with my toes. I am about to remove the spring. Anyone know if there is an adjustment that would allow full throttle with a higher gas pedal?
 
Chief said:
and in reverse you'd be in your lowest gear.

Chief, my notes tell me that the lowest gear is first gear with a ratio of 3.06:1 vs reverse at 2.29:1. Is this correct, or did I get the wrong information? I say this because the difference to the torque available at the wheels is not trivial (in reverse, you get about 2700 lb-ft where in first gear you get 3700 lb-ft) if you use the crawl ratio (low gear) the difference is even greater (10,000 vs 7500 lb-ft).

I have the same specs on my AV (1500 4X4, Z71, with a 3.73 gear ratio) and I find this truck pulls nicely. I moved my trailer (about 4000 lb) around the campground a couple of weeks ago, and I hardly noticed it. Barely had to step on the gas pedal to get things moving (forward or reverse)!

Just my two cents (Canadian $$$) so I don't know if this is worth much!!!
 
Tek, were the tires on the trailer possibly pushing into soft dirt rather than rolling over it? If the ground was soft pushing a trailer up an incline can suck up some power. If the ground was hard and your trailer only weighed a 1000#, you should probably take it in. How was it pulling before you put it in reverse?
 
Steelheadchaser said:
Tek, were the tires on the trailer possibly pushing into soft dirt rather than rolling over it? If the ground was soft pushing a trailer up an incline can suck up some power. If the ground was hard and your trailer only weighed a 1000#, you should probably take it in. How was it pulling before you put it in reverse?

Steelheadchaser,

Actually the trailer from OK was only about 1000 but the current incident it had 2 tons on it. And come to think of it, the trailer was in soft sand. Trailer did finally move but had to step on the gas hard to make it happen. Wheels never spun.

So is this normal for:

backing up a hill
in soft sand
with 2 tons on the trailer?

I swear my Durango (5.9 3:92) had more beef ... but then maybe not.

Tom
 
teking said:
Actually the trailer from OK was only about 1000 but the current incident it had 2 tons on it. ?And come to think of it, the trailer was in soft sand. ?Trailer did finally move but had to step on the gas ?hard to make it happen. ?Wheels never spun.

So is this normal for:

backing up a hill
in soft sand
with 2 tons on the trailer?

I swear my Durango (5.9 3:92) had more beef ... but then maybe not.

Tom
That sounds pretty typical. Your episode sounded similar to what I have experienced backing a smallish travel trailer into soft terrain during many a hunting season, and that was with a 4x4 p/u truck with a 5.7L and 4.10's.
 
All things considered, the Durango with a 5.9 and 3.93 probably did have more beef for the weight - thats why I have the 2500.
 
One thing to be aware of when backing a trailor; if it has brakes (surge or electric) it may think you are trying to stop and apply the trailor brakes. I unhook the electric brake on my travel trailor when wedging it into the RV access. I used to have trouble backing my tent trailor up hill. It had surge brakes.

NO MORE NEWBIE! ;D ;D ;D
 
If that Durango's power to weight ratio is even close to the Dakota sport I took for a drive its got a whole lotta snoose! The p/u was extremely potent (had revoked drivers license written all over it).

Also, congrats to you Gstreak!
 
Sorry G, I should have looked. I think you may need 50 now to lose the "newbie". :6:
 
Steelheadchaser said:
Sorry G, I should have looked. I think you may need 50 now to lose the "newbie". :6:

Nope just one more ... it changes at 26 ... like the deity rank kicks in at 501 ?;D

But of course, he has to go through the "Regular" initiation for it to be official.
 
goo929 said:
Nope just one more ... it changes at 26 ... like the deity rank kicks in at 501 ?;D

But of course, he has to go through the "Regular" initiation for it to be official.
Hey Goo, is the regular initiation as bad as before?
 
I'll start fasting at Midnight ;D
 
gandolphxx said:
You should be fasting for the "Deitification" rites >:D
Fasting? :eek: I thought we were supposed to be gorging! :9: Uh oh :D:
 
half-breed said:
I have noticed that the gas pedal has a spring on it and when I normally put my foot to the floor it doesn't fully open the gas. I need to lift my heel and push it farther with my toes. I am about to remove the spring. Anyone know if there is an adjustment that would allow full throttle with a higher gas pedal?

In my S10 here... the throttle cable ran 'through' the lever the gas pedal is attatched to. Pull off the panel on the underside of the dashboard - it should expose the pedal much better. If you push the top of the pedal's lever towards the firewall, it will expose a bit of slack in the cable, AND move the pedal up towards the drivers seat.

In that little section of slack, I looped a wire-tie in an O shape, slipped it over the cable, and pulled it tight enough to not slip over the cables little 'stopper' at the end. This kept the pedal about 3/8's an inch further out. It's a lot easier to do than it is to explain. You can add more wire ties to bring it even further out.

The pedal feels SO much more comfortable for me when I did this... and much more 'manly' too. :)

-marc
 
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