The 5.29 Mega Thread!!

What if it’s my daily and during my commute I’m not going to be running the weight? Do you think the 5.29s will be awkward at high speeds?

 

See RPM chart below, t's your call. If you go faster than 70 a lot you may want to reconsider. You're still only going about 2200-2300 RPM. Like someone said before, I have heard many people regret 4.88, but no one regretting 5.29.

 

@Jasonstacoma

 

I am torn between 4.88 and 5.29 gears because I drive A LOT on the highway at 70+ and cruising at 2300+ RPM would be awful. However, my truck will be extremely heavy (at least 6500 lbs GVW) when I'm done kitting it out and, even tho I'll never exceed 33" tires, the weight has me leaning toward 5.29s.

 

5.29s for you

 

All the above chat is with AT. Please be specific.

PLENTY of people with 4.88 MT and very happy. 5.29 on the highway 70+ and MT would be NUTS.

 

that’s heck of a deal, unfortunately I’m in North Carolina.

 

Dang, for once I’m glad I’m not on the East Coast anymore.

 

I'm curious why you, and many others are so concerned about running at 2300 rpms? Is this dangerous or something?

My previous car was a Hyundai Veloster, and it would run at 2500 rpms going 70-75 down the highway as it has a really small 4 cylinder motor that pumps out just a hair over 100HP. That car would get 38mpg easy too. Never had any issues and it's currently sitting at around 110k miles.

Is this more of a fuel economy thing you're worried about?

 

Thank you for this. This is great info. I actually will be going about 80 for most of my commute and since I expect to mostly travel unloaded I am now considering 4.88s more seriously. But I am cognizant of what you're saying that many people regret 4.88. If I'm kitted out I can no longer reasonably be concerned about MPG and these engines are meant to run at higher RPMs (AFAIK), so maybe doing 5.29s at 80 on 33s with no extra weight (beyond full skids and sliders) isn't a huge deal.

 

To me with the cost and everything it’s just not worth it to put 4.88’s into my truck and then have to change them if I end up changing my mind on the build. Just having 33’s and a snugtop on my truck the drive is noticeably worse on stock gears. Adding skids to the mix aluminum or sliders would destroy any getup and go you may still have. In the long run it’s more of not wanting to have to do something twice and end up spending over 3k-4k for regearing.

 

For some perspective on RPM at speed, the stock 6-speed manual has 4.30 gears and runs ~2600 RPM at 80 with factory tires. The 5.29s in 6th with the automatic are almost identical as far as final overall drive ratio to a stock 6 speed in 6th gear.

 

And this is why I will probably go with 5.29. I didn't really believe it until I put it in the nitro gear calculator.

Like many others on here who are on the fence, I want to keep it to 33's but with armor and camping gear pretty much loaded all of the time. Famous last words I'm sure

*** Edit: Real question for the experts. Anything you would change from the Nitro gear install kit? Any easy OEM switch-outs?

Example, rear pinion seal 90311T0068, any others?

 

Ah yes, +2 on this question.

 

Hmm I'm not sure you need to, @thefatkid might have a good idea if anything should be swapped.

 

Not 5.29 related but an update for blitzkrieg3002...
Ordered my 3rd and clamshell with 4.56 and Harrops this afternoon from ECGS. Was told by Will that the CV bushing is not needed for the Harrop. I had planned on getting it but I trust them as this is what they do.

 

It's simple. Those extra 600+ revs will easily cost you 2 MPG on the highway. I'm sure a lot of guys on here don't care about fuel economy, but I most certainly do. It's not about protecting the engine, the 3.5 love to rev, so that's not the issue. For me, it's ALL about finding the best balance between all the things I want. Obviously, you can't have it all, which is why decisions like this are so important. You have to decide what is important to YOU and choose your mods accordingly.

 

never ever heard of a brake pulsation caused by axles. Always rotors or drums.

 

eh thats a bit misleading considering most people increase tire size with regearing and in doing so, lower their rpms; not to mention larger tires dont help with mpgs anyway. That being said I ran 5.29s on stock tires for about 6 months and I only lost 1mpg. The other factor is that many times this truck can't hold 6th gear consistently so people spend more time driving around in 5th than 6th or even high revving in 4th

 

I'm not planning to run large tires, so none of that applies here.