LUVTruck.com

I have a 1978 luv and it tops out at 85
I have a parts 76 and the speedometer goes to 100
is the gearing in the rearend different than mine

what gearing can i get to where i could hear myself think at 70-80 miles per hour

please help

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Arquing with me is like running in the special olympics, even if you win your still retarded.

do you have a stock rear end?

3.23 or 3.42 gears
but I'd do an overdrive trans and keep the stock gears instead.

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1978 LUV Truck 2WD
450 "Small Block" Chevy
3.70 Ford 9
28x10 Goodyears

Sorry thats assuming you have a V8 conversion. I believe an Isuzu 5spd manual would bolt up but I dont know jack about the stock drivetrain... somebody that knows jump in here.

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1978 LUV Truck 2WD
450 "Small Block" Chevy
3.70 Ford 9
28x10 Goodyears

does the 78 use the same rear end as the s-10? I was thinking 3.23s but I dont know much stock LUVs or whats availble for the stock rear end

My 78 with the 283 and stock rear at 60mph was turning 4200, with 26" tall tires that works out to about 4.56 gears,i thinkthis is close but somebody out there will have the correct numbers for you. Now with 4.11s and 31" tires its at babout 3000.

I got 308's in mine. I say it does comfortable at 70. I know when I pass the quatermile I am still in second gear.

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it has a 3 speed auto with the stock rearend i want to up the gearing for more speed for better mileage and less noise what would be a good rearend to swap with or what size gears do i need please help

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Arquing with me is like running in the special olympics, even if you win your still retarded.

I would swap in a S-10 rear with 3.23s

I think I'm afraid to go over 65 in a stock luv. The truck is not heavy enough to hold the road well at that speed. It feels too light to me.
( This, coming from a guy who pulls 250,000lbs down the road at 55-60mph.)

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OK, I'm over it. Where's the beer?

LOL the thoughts of going fast in a LUV kind of scare me a little too. Since I have had mine I havent had a chance to work out all the bugs yet but I have had it up to about 100 one time and that little voice in my head said better slow down.

swap in a 5-speed, thats should help. Also your rear end may have 4.56 gears, what you could also do is swap in some 4.10's that will help alot. the thing with your stock tranny is that it's geared low, and the rear end is geared high, it's because the stock motor has almost no power, to make up for that Isuzu geared things differently.

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'80 Luv 4x4, 3" BL, 1.5" SL, 32/36, 2.25" exhaust...and fuzzy dice.
'95 Toyota 4Runner Limited 5-Speed.

just make sure suspension components and steering box are in good shape. 100mph is a piece of cake. course taking forever to get to 100 with a 1.8 may give you more time to think about the disasters that could happen. But a V8 powered LUV gets there awful fast and then you're out of the throttle and decelerating before you know it. I've made so many passes in a LUV with stock suspension that compared to an early Nova suspension, I have all the confidence in the world in the LUV. I make drag strip passes with my thumb at the bottom of the steering wheel after a while cuz its so damn true and predictable.

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1978 LUV Truck 2WD
450 "Small Block" Chevy
3.70 Ford 9
28x10 Goodyears

BTW theres nothing wrong about listening to that voice.

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1978 LUV Truck 2WD
450 "Small Block" Chevy
3.70 Ford 9
28x10 Goodyears

According to the service manuals, this is what I know. In a 78 or a 76, it should have come with 4.10 gears (auto or manual trans), but someone could have swapped in a rear from one of the early year luvs that came with 4.56 gears. 79 and 80 2WD trucks should have 3.73 gears, and you can find 3.42 gears in 81-82 2WD trucks with a manual trans. Your speedo will read incorrectly if you change gears without changing the speedo gear in the trans. I don't believe you can put the one from a manual trans into an auto though.


The difference in the speedo top speed was because of a change in laws around 1978 where they wanted 85MPH as the highest marked speed shown. I forget when they decided to change things back, sometime in the mid-early 80s. It has nothing to do with the capabilities of the rig.