The 5.29 Mega Thread!!

I called ECGS and told them my truck is mostly stock with no real weight added or will b added and my tire size of 265/75/16 on stock wheels and I drive 95% on the road. They said I would probably b fine with 488’s but recommended 529’s... go figure as I guess it’s different depending on who answers the phone.

 

loving my 5.29’s for my daily driver, tow vehicle, and off road crawler. Best investment and mod to my truck this far. 4.88 wouldn’t have been enough for what I do.

 

What kind of mileage do you guys have on your gears?

 

Anyone on 5.71 with automatic? Lol might be time for megathread.

 

I am getting what seems to be a rotating vibration when putting my truck in reverse, and sometimes at idling at stops after 5.29 regear. Torque converter? Anyone have this problem?

 

I have 1,000 miles after the break-in on my 5.29 gears, AT with 285/70/17s. After driving on the freeway this weekend, noticed what feels like a slight imbalance "hum" at around 60 mph which is I think around 2k rpm. Anyone else have this?

Also, I could be imagining it but at random times it seems there is some driveline vibration, but not sure. Any help would be appreciated, thanks.

 

I have the same setup with nitro gears and about 2,500 miles after the break-in and get the hum at 70 mph and above when I'm barely on the throttle. Basically when the gears aren't being driven forward or having engine braking engaging the other side of the gears it seems like. I also notice the hum at slow speeds maybe 5-15 mph. Seems to be a common thing for many people on here. My break in was not ideal as I had to drive from Denver to Durango over mountain passes. I took it slow and did cool downs every 50 miles.

I'm running the Lucas Oil 85w-140 and was short a quart so filled the remaining amount with full synthetic

$29 75w-90 Synthetic Gear Lube - 1 Quart (Pack of 2)

75w-90 oil. I was told to always run the 85w-140, so I'm wondering if it's because of the quart of more viscous oil. But also wondering if going with a lighter oil would help? Sorry don't really have an answer for you but I do have similar issues.

 

Yeah I am aware the "hum" is normal with new gears, but what I hear at the times I specified is an unbalanced oscillation or hum, so I was curious if something is out of alignment.

I'm running 85W-140 oil after the break in. For recommended oils I would check with NitroGear or ECGS, but just from personal experience working in the commercial airplane industry, I wouldn't recommend mixing lubricants. Might want to change your diff oil when you get the chance.

 

Hmm I'm not an expert but maybe try giving the shop who did your gears a call about it?

Appreciated the advise. Just curious why it's not a good idea to mix lubricants?

Thank you!

 

Just got my 5.29s on today. I’m running 315 MTs and nothing else weight wise.

Maybe it’s just me, but I expected a different feel. It goes right on through 1-4 and I end up in 4th or 5th on the street having to give it a bit of throttle. I feel like this is giving me WORSE mpg than I had prior to gears, granted it’s not hunting at all anymore. I can see how this will help on the freeway and especially towing (my reason for getting them) but I guess I just forgot the Tacoma is a turd with or without big tires lol.

 

Mixing lubricants (at least in my line of work with commercial airplanes) can degrade the performance of the lubricant mixture when compared to the original, unmixed lubricants, which could lead to premature part failure. I don't know how that translates to differentials, but it could be similar.

 

Give it some time, and look into OVtune as well it helped a lot for me and felt like it really helps the truck take advantage of the gears more. it does shift through the gears in town faster, but this actually has helped my in town mpg a ton. i'm in 6th gear at 35mph putting around at 22+ mpg on flat city driving once i get it up to that gear if i baby it. I'm not averaging that at all more like 15mpg city 17 highway and i'm on ST Maxx 285's and about 300lb of extra weight.

 

did you do any other mods other than gears recently? if not i would double check or have the shop double check drive shaft torque and re torque/check all front end bolts that were loosened as well as cv shafts for play make sure they're all the way engaged in the front diff. just things i'm trying to think of that would've been touched during install.

 

I had the ECGS bushing installed when the gears were installed, no other mods besides that.

I’ll drive around a bit more and see if I can pinpoint what I am hearing more. I have noticed a very slight seep by the passenger drive shaft/cv shaft area, do not know if this could be causing

 

5.29s aren’t softer, it’s the same material and there is no empirical evidence that substantiates the difference in strength. The pinion head size is negligible between the two.

 

Does anyone know what size socket is required to remove the ADD when pulling the front diff apart. It’s an E torx bolt. I’m guessing e12 or e14 but just want to confirm. I’m pulling the diffs out tomorrow evening.

 

I just installed 5.29's over the weekend and noticed the same. I just re-flashed to the OvTune 5.29 + 33's specific tune with a 285/75/17 tire + 400lbs of extra crap on the truck and noticed that the RMPS are higher prior to shifting....much better IMO

 

Ordering my 5.29s soon. Both Revolution and Nitro don’t have complete kits due to shortage of bearings. Not a big deal I can wait.

Question though, I’ve seen conflicting information regarding Nitro and Revolution. Most Comments here for Revolution saying they don’t have any whining noises. From my research these gears come from the same manufacturer. Sounds like if you get whining noises it was due to a bad install. Opinions?

 

Does anybody know a good and trustworthy shop to do a 5.29 regear in the Bay Area California? Preferably a place that is pocket friendly