If your engine and tranny sound like they're going to come apart at 3100 - 3400 rpm, then you have a more serious problem than gearing. the redline for the 22r is 5500. I'm running 36's and 5.29's (yes, still slightly over-tired), and 70 on the interstate is right at 3500 rpm (and the last 1/3 of the throttle travel gains absolutely nothing), and that is about the middle of the HP curve of the stock engine. If you gear too high, the rolling resistance and wind resistance increases faster than the HP of the engine, and you get a lower top speed, at full throttle (guzzling gas the whole way). I ran a 350 mile trip (before the 36's) on 33's with the 5.29's, ran 75 - 80 mph the whole way, at 3500 - 4000 rpm, and had throttle left (and averaged around 23 mpg). Before that, I was running the 33's with 4.10's, and couldn't even get to 70. God forbid a slight increase in grade, I'd have to downshift to 3rd, just to maintain 50.
On a 4cyl, it is detrimental to keep your rpm's down, because it makes the engine work harder, while making less power. Conversely, a v-8 creates more power at a lower rpm range, and also uses more power to rotate the mass of the crank assembly, therefore cruising at a lower rpm is beneficial to the efficiency of the engine. If you keep your cruising speed at the peak of the HP curve (or as close to that as you can), you will have the best throttle response and efficiency your engine can deliver.
