Did the Nitro 5.29 Gear Swap with 285’s, Now What? OV Tune?

Found this and it hit a lot of the points I am experiencing. Using cruise, 4th gear hangups, etc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hepBCoPiS44

 

I'm where you are with my 4.88's and 33's except I already bought the OVTune. I just haven't gotten it to work yet. One important thing to note is if you buy the tune you're going to have to wait a week after you receive it to get it working because you have to go through many steps of sending them info and they send it back the next day most of the time. So I still haven't figured out if that fixes my same issues with cruise control. I was hoping that I would have it before I went on a road trip, but nope. Some error where it doesn't recognize my email and I haven't had time to go back to OVTune yet, but their process is kinda annoying when you're used to how other tuners do things.

One tip, I learned that if you tap the gas when it's in 4th and it's in an area 5th/6th will work then it will downshift in cruise control.

So far this has been $800 in frustration. I'm sure I'll recommend it if I ever get it working based on other's reviews, but right now I can't.

 

I'm going to wait until I get back to do anything. Appreciate the information. If you would, please PM me your final results. I wish you the best and hope it all works out.

 

Seriously use cruise and S5. It's much, much better. That top OD is killer. Still not better than your foot, but better than D and Cruise.

 

I’ll give it a shot. Does yours auto shift to 4th when you move it over to “S”? If I’m in 5th or 6th, it will shift to 4th when I move it over to S mode.

 

I think you should think about it less. The internet has a way of bringing small problems to your attention. 3rd gen rides just fine. No need to get in your head about the gearing. No matter what this or any forum tells you that you should hate.

 

That truck looks sick. Live with it

 

Yes it auto shifts to 4th but if you immediately shift to 5th (tap forward once) or 6th (tap forward twice) it will instead go to chosen gear and bypass 4th altogether. And as others have said dont be afraid of the higher RPM's these engines have a short stroke and can run above 4k all day long.

 

The reason is 4th gear is a 1.0 gearing ratio. Also helps with towing. Keeps you out of the over drive gears

 

Yeah. Normal.

 

I'll elaborate some more here.

The s mode keeps you from dancing from 6 4 5.... then 5 6 4 by keeping you outta overdrive. The 3.5 loves high RPM. So in a hilly environment or towing it is recommended to stay outta overdrive. The ECT (electronically controlled transmission) holds gears longer and avoids getting into say 5th gear while going up a hill then dropping down to 4th harshly or even 3rd.

So if you're trans is shifting at say 3200 rpm it should hold it through the power band of the 3.5 longer to help avoid the dance.

Play around with it you're not gonna break anything on the road. Try some stuff out. Crack the owners manual (helped me alot to figure some stuff out on my truck, came from a 99 regular cab ranger being my newest vehicle before this tacoma)

In the end though the OV tune will help the mapping and shift points on larger tires and gearing. Try these free options and look at ov and see if it is a fit for ya. I haven't heard much negative from the tunes he has. I think this month is the full release of his tunes for aftermarket gearing with larger tires as well.

 

OVTUNE is amazing

 

So you set up a truck for crawling with a ton of extra weight lift and big tires and you want it to be a good freeway vehicle. You want a good all round truck keep it stock with one size bigger tires. I can hold 6th at 70-75 and get 20+ mpg and my truck gets me where I need to go but I don’t like taking my truck over big rocks and crazy Jeep trails.

 

This is America! We want it all!!!!

 

Or you just build it like you want to and try to optimize it the best you can to be the best it can in as many situations. How do you people not understand this?

You can hold 6th at 70-75. Is that in the mountains, or flat and sea level? Do you want a prize for having your truck like you want it and being able to be in 6th?

Thanks for contributing nothing to the thread! Oh yeah it's friday.

 

I’m not quite sure what we expect these days. The new autos shift a lot because they are programmed to do so to optimize economy.

I have an F150 as my work truck. Ford has a much smoother and more predictable power train, so I’m not saying the Taco 6-speed auto isn’t janky, however, the Ford displays the gear you are in and if you watch it, your head will spin.

It’s 1-3-4-6-4-5-6-8-7-9-5-6-4-9-10 on the way up some hills.

I think with Toyota, the sound deadening is so poor (like none!), that we are just more aware of what the tranny and engine are doing, so it becomes annoying. The F150 is much quieter, and other than a little turbo whistle, you are not really in touch with what the powertrain is doing. Having said that, every so often the 10-speed gets confused and you get a massive clunky downshift, then an upshift, where the massive slop in the Ford drivetrain winds up and releases with a frightening clunk. Only happens a couple times a month, so “good to go” according to my Ford dealer.

 

I installed sound deadener all throughout the cab and it's SO much better driving experience. You're right there's practically none from the factory, but now mine is about as quiet was my GF's GX 460. Worthwhile mod, but I'd pay someone to do it next time. You get what you pay for though. I knew I was buying a platform to build what I wanted in a truck, and I'm very happy with the taco as I build it up.

I think OP's issue, and mine is that while it's understandable to jump to 4th up a hill it just takes forever to finally upshift again back to 5th or 6th. I'm hoping OVTune alleviates that. If it doesn't it's still a good truck, and I'll just have to get a supercharger when it comes out to help out the shifting maybe.

 

I think it's just because that is what I'm used to. A 10 speed transmission that you don't even notice the gears changing. Even though it's bouncing around like crazy, the changes are minimal and you can't really tell as a driver. With the Tacoma being a 6 speed and having 5th-6th as OD gears, it has nowhere else to go but 4th and hit the high revs.

I'm still not used to having the truck sound like I'm trying to pass someone or accelerating to get on the interstate when in actuality, i'm just trying to maintain my highway speed. I'm just trying to maintain 70, hit a slight hill and it sounds like i'm trying to race someone. But, if this truck likes the high revs, and there is nothing wrong with that; I get it. And i'll just have to get used to it.

 

Yeah. It’s less than ideal. It wouldn’t be as annoying (which I agree it is) of you couldn’t hear it as much as you can in a Taco. Ford does much better with exhaust note and sound proofing. We all suffer for our Toyotas. I love my Tacoma, but recognize Toyota really cheaps out on lots of stuff like soundproofing, maybe to keep costs down.

 

Makes sense. I have the factory Pro exhaust which makes everything a little louder. Younger me would be like, "hell yeah!". Older me, "why is my truck angry all the damn time!"