LUVTruck.com

Greetings all.

BACKGROUND:
From what I understand my 1981 4x4 diesel Pup has 4.10 gears (manual 4 speed). I love my tuck, but my comfortable cruising speed (defined by audible RPM's, MPG, overall shake rattle and roll) is between 55 and 60, closer to 55 mph. Also, I get between 26 and 30 mpg on B99 biodiesel. It seems that 2wd Pups do a lot better, but I think I'm fairly normal for a 4x4 with 258K miles.

I was out shopping for new treads the other day and the guy at Les Schwab looks over the truck and says, "Well, my book says it's suppose to have 15" rims...but you've got 14's and worn tires at that."

QUESTIONS:
So, will putting 15" wheels and the tallest tire I can fit help significantly with my highway travel (I'd like to cruise 60-65mph)? Or, am I stuck b/c of the super low gearing?

What wheels/tires are you all running on your Pups?
What fuel mileage are the rest of you 4x4'ers getting?

MANY THANKS,
Mark

My 79 4x4 came stock with 215/70/14s (25.8" tall). I don't know how tall you can go without cutting and lifting. I changed to 235/75/15s (28.8" tall), but I cut my front fenders. (There's plenty of room in the back.) I think others have done it with just cranking up the torsion bars.

This is a hair over 10% taller, which means you could go 10% faster at the same RPM. Of course, since nothing's free, it also means you'd have 10% slower acceleration.

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You went there in that?!?!

Thanks for the reply 1okey2go.



My 30 mile, mixed city/hwy, daily commute could live with that compromise- 5-10% increase in top speed at the same RPM's sounds good. I don't beat too many off the line anyway

Anyone else running 15's without cutting or chopping?

whith minimal work im running 215/75r15s on my gas powered truck. I just ran my T-bars up for about 1" of lift and trimmed the fenders a bit. The 81-82 trucks have a larger wheel opening so i bet if you just run your t-bars up you should be able to fit that tire. It measures out to 27.7" tall. And whith 4.10s at 60 im running 3,000rpms.

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1980 LUV 4x4, going under re-construction...