The 4.88 mega thread!!

not at this, he did say that he will be offering this later on in like 6 months (so read that as next year).

 

Just finished the break in period and replaced with new Lucas non synthetic diff oil.
Also doing a camping trip at the moment and the truck performs awesome compared to stock!

 

Just got mine back. They were rem . I still did a 1000 mile break in. No towing, or offroading. Man its night and day. 6th gear is sooooo happy. I went from 12.1 to 17.3. Gonna change the oil to royal purple next weekend.

 

Hey guys I need some help, went to pick uit my truck after getting my 4.88’s installed. They were installed to factory specs on back lash and all that but the rear locker seems to be stuck in the locked position. Has this happened to everyone? I returned the truck to the shop immediately and they are going to look at it tomorrow but I would like to give them some ideas. Is it possible the magnet that locks and unlocks the diff simply slid into the locked position? Or anyone else have any ideas? Thanks for the help!

 

Hello,
I'm reading up on info & mods for my future 3rd gen Tacoma. It will be an Automatic SR5 4x4 3.5 V6 so I will have the 8" diffs. I plan to go with 265/70r17's & a 2" lift. I see that 4.88 gear swaps are pretty popular on these. I've read about 1/2 of this thread so far & I am curious to know if anyone has used East Coast Gear Supply's complete assembled 3rds. This seems like a good option. Plus, they offer a 5-year warranty. I "may" request to have a Detroit True Trac installed into the rear diff as well. I don't know if this generation Tacoma has the "Yellow wire mod" like the 4x4 2nd gens do.

I've never installed gears before but I did install a limited slip rear diff in my '08 Prerunner to replace my previous open diff. I may have to pay a shop for the front if I can't figure that out on my own.

Here are the links:

https://eastcoastgearsupply.com/i-23993418-2016-tacoma-auto-non-elocker-third.html

https://eastcoastgearsupply.com/i-23993417-2016-tacoma-8-reverse-ifs-clamshell.html

 

I can’t answer all your questions, but I do know that ECGS is a good option for the gears. Lots of good feedback on this forum about ECGS. I personally went with the 4.88’s from SDHQ in REM polish and had them done by a local 4x4 shop.

However, I’m not sure why you want to regear for 265/70’s. In my opinion that size tire doesn’t warrant the rehear. Others may have a differing opinion. I had 265/75’s and didn’t notice any issues over the stock set up. On my Cement Taco I have 285/75/17’s and did the regear, which was a perfect fit.

 

I drove a 2nd gen with 4.88’s and 265/75r16’s (not mine) and liked the performance of it but felt it revved too high at 70MPH. I figure with a 6-speed auto that won’t be an issue.

 

Roger, but I think you’ll find the same issue with a third gen.

I experienced no issues with the 3.90 gears and 265/75’s. The shift points weren’t great but the OV Tune would’ve taken care of that.

 

I did the ECGS swap out program and have nothing but positive feedback for it. If you’re mechanically inclined thensave yourself some good change and do it yourself. I did it by myself over 2 days so that I could still drive it. Did the rear first day, 2 hours. Disconnected front driveshaft and went work. Did the front the next day, 4 hours. You got 1 month to send your original gears back so you got plenty of time to get it done.

 

That's good to know. I plan to install the new tires first so I'll definitely drive it to see how it feels before re-gearing.

That's what I'm "hoping" to do. I did do the diff on my Prerunner myself so hopefully I can the do front diff as well. My plan is very similar to yours. Replace the rear diff 1st & then remove the front driveshaft & drive it to a shop that can do the front IF I can't do the front myself. If I can then definitely better for me. Did you take advantage of this & had them install the ECGS bushing as well? Seems like the best time to do that.

 

Yes I had them put the ECGS bushing in and since I already had installed the ECGS bushing in my stock diff that went back as a core they credited me for the bushing when they received the core.
The front diff really isn’t that hard if you just take your time. The hardest part for me was taking it out and putting it in and that is only because I did it by myself and that bitch is heavy when you’re laying on your back. If you get a helper for that part then it’s no problem. Install your lift at the same time since the front is coming apart anyway. I’ll second that you probably won’t need the gears with that tire but it’s entirely up to you. I felt that those gears were best with my 33s but 70mph is the fastest I drive and it was revving a tad too high at that speed. With 31s at 70 I’d think it’d be a little too much rev for me. Personally, if you’re going with 31s I’d skip the gears and get the OVtune instead. FAR more driveable with the tune, it’ll keep your sanity from the bipolar shifting of the Tacoma. If you go to bigger tires down the road then go with the gears. I’d still add the ECGS bushing with the lift though and like I said, if you get gears on the exchange program down the road they will credit you for that bushing so it’s not like you’d need to pay for the bushing again. I can’t say enough how pleased I am with the overal driveability improvement with the OVtune. That should be the first mod anyone does when searching for better driveability in a Tacoma.

 

@inksin
That is GREAT news. Definitely good advice there!

 

I want to go with the 4.88 but just need to buy them first.

Anyone in NC. that could help me with this or point me to a place that knows what they are doing.

 

ECGS is in Raleigh.

 

sweet thanks. I had no freaking idea. Guess I need to go to the city more and learn how to use google. ha

 

I kinda wish they had gears deeper than 4.88's I am on 33's and the pickup is still not nearly as good as my jeep on 37's and 5.38's. Maybe I'll look into a tranny tune next.

 

I thought someone was coming out with 5.29s? Isn’t the Marlin Crawler Tacoma running them?

 

how bad is the mpg? Id think with 4.88s and that set up you would get about 18 to 19 hyw and still get 16 to 17 city?

 

If you can keep it 65MPH and under you can get 18+ MPG's but get up above that it start a dramatic hit on fuel economy! But who cares about that ! Add the OVtune you will see a FUNTASTIC improvement in power and drive ability!!!!