The 4.88 mega thread!!

cool. I have one local shop getting me bid on polished 4.88s and install plus bid on lift and install . Plus have another place bidding lift and install

 

Nitro makes 5.29s and Marlin is running them. Marlin also makes a duel transfer case for Tacomas..

 

4.88 and average 22.5 mpg CITY, better HWY if you keep it under 65 mhp

 

so what is the deal on REM polishing? Local shop is telling me to not even bother it is a waste of time and money and only really has applications in Racing not for what we do. They will complete the breaking process for me and get the proper heat cycles going through it so that the truck is ready for me to go.

 

Whether it’s needed or not is a matter of opinion. Many people on here don’t do the REM polishing and don’t experience any issues as long as they are broke in properly.

I chose to get them REM polished for the reasons stated in the first post of this thread. I did no break in period, which was worth every penny.

 

thanks, I'll go without as the breaking is no different then what we do with our trucks when new and the shop will handle it for me so when i pick it up I am ready to drive it as normal. All included in the price and no additional cost. They do this for all their customers so that they know the truck runs properly with the new gears, and it is broken in properly so they do not get people coming back complaining about the gears.

 

They gonna drive it for 500 miles?

 

I got mine rem and I drove mine for 1,000 miles. After that drained the fluid and not 1 shaving was on the magnet. I did it for the piece of mind. It also stated that the gears will last longer. For 200.00 it was piece of mind. Good luck and enjoy the new gears.

 

^ +1 for what he said. Definitely worth the extra cost.

Anyone know what they do with the factory gears? No break in period for them, or changing the fluid.

 

That’s what I was thinking lol.

Hodakaguy

 

Just finished my break in on the 4.88 and wayyyy better. I can actually have reasonable RPMs cruising around town. Lost some top end on highway, but this is a truck...not a race car. Paired with OVTune I’m quite content.

 

Not sure on the distance, he mentioned 2-300 kms. To get the heat cycles into it and the initial break in done. Then they will dump the diff fluid check it and refill. then I am free to go and to take it easy on the way home, drop the oil again at 1000kms check for shavings and done. Taking it easy will not be an issue, I am bringing home a new pup with me on a 12 hour drive, so I will be stopping every hour for rest and pee breaks as it is.

I shoudl say he willl run it through the initial few hundred km’s and hand it off after they check it. Breakin was the wrong term.

 

If someone was willing to do the break-in I would do it over REM. REM is definitely more a racing application and most of us do it simply to avoid the breakin. The problem I have is I have to get me gears done 50 miles away so without REM I would have to stop every 15 minutes for a 20 min dif cooldown. It would take 2-3 hours to get home, no thanks. Not only that I barely put 500 miles on my truck a month so it would take a very long time for me to actually get the breakin done properly.

That said a lot of what people are buying are really race only, REM, Viton seals, Uniballs are really race application only but people buy it..

 

Well regearing is done with NItro 4.88 gears in the taco. Didn’t get the REM polishing as we had time to break them in before me going on my long drive back. They did find a few issues with my diff and it was only a matter of time before it probably grenaded from the monkeys whom touched it before.

Issues that were found:
-BOlts holding the 3rd member on were installed incorrectly, washers were by the nuts not on the head of the bolt.
-bolts holding on the ring gear were not tightened properly (basically hand tight, some were loose and coming out)
-Carrier bearings which were replaced when I had the locker installed were pooched due to the monkeys not preloading the piñon bearing

After having the gears installed and Enrico taking it for the initial break in periods while I was with him and listening to his stories, which had me cracking up laughing, my initial impressions are why in the hell does Toyota not install these gears fro factory, huge difference in the truck.

What I noticed from him driving it and me afterwards:

-Barely have to touch the throttle now and the truck will move, feels a lot more responsive
-no more hunting for gears (although the test will be tomorrow when I go over the MTN ranges) and start doing steep climbs,
-RPM’s seem to be where they shoudl be for a v6 (2300-2400 for 100kph(60mph)), this will change slight when I put larger tyres on here in the coming month

Overall I am thoroughly impressed. If anyone is looking for details on where I had this done, the shop was Enrico’s Differentials here in Mission BC. Enrico is a wiz at differentials and is a hoot to talk with. That being said he also comes highly recommended from ARB’s tech department (let just say the previous shop whom did work on my truck and is a dealer of their gear royally screwed over my truck and ARB is going out of there way to help me out). Anyways, amazing experience working with Enrico, pricing is out of the world as well. My cost all in with all new bearings/etc was 2500 CDN, not USD, and he had it done in less then 2 days. If we didn’t have to replace the bearings and the bolts on the ring gears, the cost would have been 2000CDN. For our American friends that is about 1400USD’s. Anyone looking to get their gears done in the Washington, BC, Alberta, Idaho, areas, I would strongly suggest taking a roadie to BC to have this done at Enrico’s.

Steve

 

I just had my re gear performed by Carlos at Premier West in Riverside, CA. I'll not add all the performance tips because mine align with what others said previously. I highly recommend the modification and if you are in Southern California, Premier West and Carlos.
Happy trails!
David

 

Anyone running 4.88 with stock tire size (or slightly bigger)? If so what’s the rpms at 65/70mph? Thanks for any info.

 

What about breaking in the front diff. They gonna drive it xxx miles in 4WD?

 

Following!

 

So I wanted to get my 4.88 gears from ECGS via their 3rd memeber swap program. I love how they warranty the entire assembly. Only thing was that I wanted REM polished gears to avoid heat cycles break In as my installer isn’t close to me and I don’t have time to do heat cycles on my long drive home. They told me that they no longer offer REM polishing because gears need the heat cycle from break in and all their 3rd members they were building with REM polishing were noisy, and they won’t warranty them cause of that. Is REM polishing something I need to avoid? I didn’t know that and if it’s true I guess I’ll have to find a way to do the break in cycle. Anyone with REM polished gears chime in on how noisy their trucks are?

 

ECGS knows their shit but I’ve never heard of that.