Brand Spankin New 2015 - What Performance Increase with 4:88 Gearing? Whose done it?

I'm no super brain about lifted trucks. I purchased my first brand spankin' new 2015 just 1 month ago. 4.0L V6, 35x12.5x20 Mickey Thompson Baja ATZ's. 6 inch ProComp suspension lift.

What realistic performance gains can I expect by spending the money going to 4:88 gears? Is that the best ratio for the truck? Who's done it and doesn't regret it? What should I expect to pay?

 

Here is a link to a calculator http://www.4lo.com/calc/geartire.php Based on the stock tires being about 31" with 3.73 gears and the new tires at 35" with the stock gears your effective gearing would be 3.31:1 or way tall! To get back to effective stock gears you would need 4.21:1 The calculator shows 3.83 for lower (yet tall gears) or 4.59 for more grunt gears. Looks like the gears available are 4.11, 4.56, or 4.88. Here is another good link... https://www.marlincrawler.com/differential/ring-pinion If it was mine I'd go with 4.11 if doing mainly street driving, or maybe 4.56's if you want a bit more grunt...the 4.88 and up (lower gears) would be more for lower crawl ratios vs stock gearing. Also, as you go up numerically the size of the pinion gets smaller which equates to a weaker gear set.

 

Not a second gen, but I regeared after doing a lift and larger tires and the difference was/is well worth the money! 4.88s for your setup would probably work excellently.

 

good luck fighting with the dealership when you have a problem

 

X2 on 4:88's with your 35's.
I'm running 4:56 with 33's and love the way it runs.

 

Replies are much appreciated.

So I have a 100,000 mi / 8yr warranty. My understanding is that if they can prove the gears at fault, I'd be uncovered. Is this correct or is the entire warranty void?

Does changing to 4:88 gears have tendency to cause problems or even do possible damage to the truck or motor in any way?

 

Thanks Rock Lobster. I do mostly road/highway driving. Occasional off roading to my fav fishing holes. I want the best bang/punch for driving road/highway. Is the 4:88 the wrong choice to get the results I want?

 

Faack I don't know shit about gears... Here trying to learn

 

This has me second guessing the 4:88. Truthfully, I don't really understand all these calculators 'n shiz. I do mostly road/highway driving. I fish about 6-7 times a year and the roads are somewhat narly during the monsoon (rainy) season here in AZ. Is the 4:88 the right choice to get the most out of the truck based on my average driving conditions?

 

if you let the dealership install the gears you should be ok, but if you, your friends or a different shop does the work, good luck. go to the dealership and ask the service department

 

It depends what you're looking for. The 4:88 gears will give you the most acceleration/pep, while 4:56 gears will be a bit more sluggish, but you'll have better highway MPG since the engine won't have to rev as high. Both will give you better acceleration than stock.

 

4.56 works better on 35s

4.88 works better for 37s

Yup,

4.56 is a better gear for 35s. Unless you want to go 37s. Then get 4.88s.

I ran both 4.56 and 4.88 on 35s. You're better off with 4.56, since it will also help a little with mpg.

 

For general all around and your bit of off-road the 4.56's would be a better choice than the 4.88's. 4.11's would put you back to about how the truck drove with stock gears / tires (just a very slight bit taller geared). 4.56's would be a tad lower geared than the truck was stock, but with the added weight and such of the larger tires it would work real well. I think the 4.88's would be lower geared than what you need from you discussion of what you plan to use the truck for. Split the difference and go with the 4.56's and it should work great all around with very few trade off's if any.

 

Ok, this has been very helpful. Planning to have the work done at Desert Rat in Mesa. They were recommending 4.88 and I'll run this discussion stuff by them.

 

She'll be in the shop tomorrow. Total cost is $2K to re-gear to 4:88.

In AZ, I drive up north freqently. Elevation changes go from 1200ft to 9000ft. Sometimes I'm pulling a trailer. I wanted the power of the 4:88 on the tall and frequent climbs up through the mountains. This is why I chose the 4:88 as opposed to the 4:56.

Any last minute words of advice?

 

You could save yourself at least $500 by doing it yourself and getting ECGS third member and front clamshell. They have an awesome warranty too. You could use that extra cheddar to get a real rear locker or go towards an ARB in the front. Disregard if you don't actually take your truck in the dirt. I have 4.88's with 37's, but 35's aren't that much different ratio wise. The extra grunt won't hurt if you tow. http://eastcoastgearsupply.com/c-1065072-assembled-3rds-clamshells-05-tacoma.html

 

your warranty will still apply.

if you have a transmission or gear issue....they will call you on it. But if something else goes wrong...like your engine or brake lines or some BS, it will still be covered.

There are laws out there to protect us from losing our warranty on all parts EXCEPT the part you modified.

 

I wish I had the fortitude to do this. I don't. After its done, I'll have close to $50K into this truck and I don't want to screw anything up. I admittedly have no idea what I'd be doing.

 

50k Tacoma? Yikes. Truck looks great, but damn, you could do a lot better for 50k than a lifted Tacoma on 20s.

 

Lefty loosie. Righty tighty. This is all you need to know. I would guess the mechanic swapping your gears gets paid $10 an hour. Let that sink in. It's pretty easy man. I bet you could order a pizza and buy a box of beer and get some local members to help you swap your diffs for free. I'm not judging, I have a nice shop and a metric shit ton of tools and I still pay other dudes to do some work, like regearing. Swapping thirds is pretty simple stuff though. I can swap a third in under 30 minutes, without air tools. It's super simple. If you pay other dudes to do your work...you will end up having a lot more than $50K in your truck. I have that much in mine, and it's got a full cage, a nice 9.5" race rear end with 'moly axles, and long travel suspension. The difference is I get dirty. Grease won't hurt you man.