3k RPM on highway?

I've not been able to find much on this topic;
My Tacoma has 4.10 gears with the r150f transmission on 32" M/T's. When on the highway I just feel like I'm taxing the poor little 3.4. It runs around 2500 rpms at 65ish mph, and about 3000 rpm at interstate speed/75-80 mph in 5th gear.
When running interstate speeds for hours on end, is this terrible for the motor or no?
I also wonder is it better to floor it going up hills in 4th or 5th, or downshift and use 3500rpm to maintain speed?

 

With 32s, you’re going faster than indicated, but yeah these trucks aren’t really built to go 80mph on the highway.

 

I'm assuming with the r150f you've got the 3.4

Not sure exactly what their torque curve is for you but my 2.7 doesn't hit peak power output until about 3600rpms so I'm sure you're fine.

Running at 3k for hours on end will do no damage to your engine... unless it's out of coolant or oil

 

Yeah that's an adjusted speed. I guess its just not interested in traveling at that speed. I just wonder if i should be the annoying guy in the slow lane or just get to my destination at a normal speed... lol

 

It won’t hurt it to run at 3000rpm, but I personally just roll 65mph and cry a little

 

Ok, thanks! It definitely stays cool, even though I'm running air-cooled often enough because of a sticky thermostat

 

Lulz


May want to get your coolant checked for hydrocarbons. I had a 3.0 in a 94 toyota pickup that could only stay cool if I ran it without the thermostat. And I had to run it without a tstat because of a bad head gasket

 

I'd expect to see white smoke or something as a sign right? The engine barely has 110k

 

It's better to go up hills in a lower gear/higher RPM. As long as you're not revving it up to the limiter you're not going to hurt anything. I regularly run up highway grades in 4th at ~75mph, with the supercharger you have to really. Doing it in 5th is a great way to lean out the AFRs which can really damage an engine.

With an auto trans a good way to overheat it is to use higher gears while climbing grades

 

Yea that's usually good indicator... what color is your coolant?

 

Coolant is green

 

And I'm going to assume when you got the truck it had green in it as well?

So green coolant can cause corrosion due to a process called electrolysis and will corrode parts more readily inside of an engine compared to the stock pink coolant Toyota uses.. and the fact that you have such few miles is an indicator that it sat unused for an extended time.. your water pump might be underperforming due to corrosion. This is a very extreme example, but it is something that can happen when the green stuff sits too long..

Green coolant should be replaced every 3years regardless of miles put on the vehicle. The pink toyota stuff is better and can sit for 5 years

Have you done a timing belt since you've owned it? If it was my truck I would change the water pump and timing belt

 

Hopefully all the red that Toyota put in originally was properly flushed out before green was added too

 

Omg that’s me too. 60 ish.. I just wave as people flip me off. Lol, I have an errant washer nozzle which is an amazing deterrent to tailgaters....

 

Turns out... I’m that asshole. Embrace the suck

 

I have a 3.4 5MT and a 3.4 auto both with 4.10 gears.

Those rpms/speed sound about right.

And FYI: with 32 in tires your speedo is pretty dead accurate. 31s and equivalents have the speedo running higher than the speed you’re actually going.

 

You are a bad man!

 

I’m on 4:10s with a 2.7 and she does the job. Of course it ain’t no 0-60 fast but I can maintain speed pretty easily, and even go over the speed limit only time it’s questionable is when I’m going up steep grades

 

Really? Mine's "sweet spot" is around 78mph. And it can go a lot faster as I'm sure tons of 1st-gen 3.4 guys will concur. But just under 80mph it really comes into its own. Can climb any grade from that point, and maintain speed without having to downshift from high OD.
Not built for it? I disagree.

 

The first time I went up a steep grade I was so scared you couldn’t have hammered a finishing nail into my ass.