The gearing isnt too bad day to day. It would be less noticeable in an auto than a manual as 1st bloody gear is geared too high to start with then the larger diameter makes it worse. Once your moving you dont notice it and at highway speeds the lower revs saves you fuel. I consistently get 9L per 100kms out of my D4D.
Off the line it is harder to get moving from the dead stop, it sort of dies for a second then once it moves and the turbo kicks in its off and with my steinbauer and humex exhaust i havnt had another diesel get near me, even my mates 4.2 patrol with almost 10k worth of turbo, exhaust, and engine mods cant catch me off the line or a rolling start. Pisses him off too lol
How ever load it up with camping gear or put he boat on the back and you really notice the difference. It takes alot more to get moving and add a incline to it and well.... good luck. Even pulling a 4.2m tinny up a boat ramp needs low range so you dont ride the clutch way to much to get it moving and the same goes for stoping and starting on inclines out bush with a load.
I really want to run nitro 4.1 diffs in mine to make it right again, but the stuffing arround with the prado diff housing and center puts me off, I could do 90% of it myself in the shed but i just cant see the point of that much stuffing arround. I have have to settle for the 3.9's that will fit. But i know as soon as i do someone will make the 4.1's for our size front diffs. So if you want to tow alot, re gearing is a must !!
The width is the main issue, i have a -12 offset which is very wide, my tyres are also 305's or 12.5inches and required the trimming of the body mount (see my build) but guys are running the same wheel as me with the -12 offset but with 265 wide tyres with very minimal or no trimming. I dont have any trouble with it wandering on the road as some may think i would with 305's.
However when the tread gets low they will aquaplane and as the tyre gets old and hard there is traction issues. Its the same concept as a dozer track. Say my truck weighs 2t with stock tyres it has say 40 square inches of rubber contacting the road in total so that 2t t is devided by 40 which is 50kg per sq inch pressure on the road. Now add 33's at 12.5 inches wide and now you may have 100sq inches of rubber contacting the road, divide the 2t by that and you only have 20kg of pressure on the road per sq inch. Thats less than half, thats why you dont sink in the sand and how heavy dozers, excavators and tanks dont sink.
But with that reduced pressure on the road it breaks traction much easier, throw in slippery conditions like rain and you get the picture.
But for off roaders like us the extra ground clearance makes it all worth while, and they look shit hot too !!!
Hope that helps
