The 4.88 mega thread!!

Makes more sense. If I cruise at 40mph in 6th gear on flat road with ovt 2.0 and 5.29’s I can get 20+ mpg I found that to be my sweet spot.

 

I’m quite interested in this thread. I was thinking that I’d definitely have to go with 5.29 with my 33s and more armor coming. Well I spoke to Nitro directly and they said with 33s I should definitely go with 4.88 even with armor. They said the only time they’d recommend 5.29 on 33s would be if it was loaded like crazy with camper, gear, and armor. This is contrary to what I find here on the forums where everyone goes straight to 5.29s. I also watch TAV’s videos often and noticed on their Tacoma builds that they’re always doing 4.88s with 35s. I wondered why with someone so experienced in some serious Tacoma builds why wouldn’t they do 5.29s. So I called them to ask why. They explained to me that aside from what is popular with the Tacoma community, that 4.88s are the perfect gear for a 35 on the 3rd gen. They said if they had a customer come in with a 3rd gen and 33s that they’d recommend 4.56s to them. These are guys that have done some seriously extensive Tacoma builds and would say they appear to know what they’re doing. They said they’d only go to a 5.29 on a 3rd gen if 37s were to be used and in their experience 5.29 is too much gear even for 35s. So I hear these things from people who have experience with building Tacoma’s and it goes contrary to what you find here on the forums. It certainly creates a lot of confusion as to what to go with. Even me who has an appointment for gears this week keep flip flopping because I don’t know what is best for my truck. I wish I could experience a truck with similar mods with both gear sets.

 

I see the same thing play out. Does anyone offer a 4.56 for the 3rd gen yet? I wish they did.

 

Just got my 4.88s installed. Can someone give me the best way to break them in. Please and thank you.

 

What brand gears did you use? Go to their website for very specific break in instructions.

 

Got a few hundred miles of break in with the 4.88s. I’m on 33s and not loaded down really that much. Honestly I can feel more gear when starting from a stop. It certainly has not transformed the truck. Makes it a little better but not substantially better for me. My revs are higher on the freeway and I’m on my first tank and even with going very easy on the truck it’s looking like I’m going to get worse MPG. Not sure how people get better MPG, especially on the freeway. My foot is in it the same amount as before but the revs are higher and this means getting worse MPG. Yes, the truck is shifting less on the freeway but again didn’t transform the driving experience. I suppose time will tell after break in and I can use more pedal and take it off-road.

 

Hello duvinclunk, you mentioned the truck didnt really seem"transformed" ......after having put more miles/time in with the 4.88's...would you say you could go back to 3.91(stock) and not notice much difference ,,, maybe wish you had went 5.29 or have you found the 4.88 more adequate and or satisfactory as time has gone by?

 

I feel the exact same way, I'm currently on 265/75 16's with a front and rear steel bumpers, engine and tranny skids and sliders. I'm not planning on going with anything bigger than 33's in the future, but may pull a small trailer. I want to do it right the first time, but feel very torn as to how to go.

 

My experience on 4.88's. There are times when going through the mountains or stiff head winds, I wished I had gotten 5.29's. The transmission (NOT as bad as stock) still continues to constantly down/up shift. 4.88's have helped a lot but not a fix all. I have recently purchased vftune kit/tune packs hoping to help a little more. I believe the only difference between the 4.88's or 5.29's is 5.29's is about 300/400 higher rpms. I installed 4.88's on my ORLB because I do a lot of highway driving.

My setup: TRD ORLB, 4x4, automatic, 2 in lift, 265 70 17 tires, side steps, topper, and front ARB front bumper.

 

My thoughts are very similar to N5J_Taco above.

I just got my fluids changed and then left on a trip so I haven’t gotten to drive it much with that changed. It certainly has helped with power delivery and the truck is less labored to get moving. Has it “transformed” the truck like others have suggested? No. As mentioned above, the truck still hunts on the freeway for me but it doesn’t go all the way down to 4th in doing so. It’s a switch between 5th and 6th. It is less labored to keep speed but still the truck is lacking here. I went 4.88 since my truck sees mostly freeway driving. I was worried that the extra RPMs on the freeway would result in worse gas mileage...which it has. I have several tanks now with the new gears and my overall gas mileage has gotten worse. Around town it may be a little better of fuel but on the freeway it is worse. I can’t image what people with 33s are getting with 5.29s. Now I’m doing around 70mph mostly. Do I wish I went 5.29? It certainly would be nice on power delivery but I couldn’t do a few hundred more RPM on the freeway, my fuel consumption would be disappointing. Do I wish I stayed with stock gears? That’s a harder question. I enjoy the better power delivery and feel the truck is less labored but I really miss the MPG I was getting. In short, I wouldn’t go back now that I know and now that I’ve spent the money but I was hoping for this transformative experience that everyone spoke of...which didn’t happen for me.

 

I have been 4.88 in my MT almost a year to the day now. I am still in the transformative stage! Did not impact my MPG much - to the point that I can't easily notice an impact for sure. So glad I did it. Once in awhile I think it would have been cool to go 5.29 just to be playful in the loose or rough junk.

Did complete lube swap a couple weeks back. No drama except the buggered up drain plug on the front hole.

Tranny shifts like a dream with the factory fill MT FLUID out.

Drove the very wet pavement to work in 4Hi this AM also zero drama there. Switched in and out of 4Hi purposely and no hesitation whatsoever.

Need to exercise the lockers again soon.

 

Just got back from a trip to Utah with a packed truck. 4 guys and a bed full of camping equipment. This included drives up and down the Ike Gauntlet and Vail Pass. 4.88 is the best thing I have done to the truck and I had them for 1.5 years. Wish I had done it sooner. Even with 33-inch tires, the truck had no problem hanging out in the fast lane even going up the passes but I do run the OVtune. I find 5th is great on the highway when pushing up hills, I will still use 4th when needed on the big grades, as 5th and 6th are still over-drive gears. I don't tow or have a ton of weight so don't need 5.29 and also wanted to keep RPM a bit lower when doing 80-90 in Utah. If I had a heavy truck or anything over 33-inch tires, towed a lot, or spent very little time at high speed on the highway, I would probably go ahead and do 5.29. I wanted to keep the RPM in 6th a bit closer to 2K when doing 70+. Once you start going over 2K RPM. mpg drops if you care about that.

 

Duvinclunk,, and to others as well thank you for the response...I was reading I believe it was somewhere in the OV tune thread that the gears along with the tune was very much improved shift and fuel eco......also some without the OVtune said they disconnected the battery for about 10 min and the computer would relearn new algorithms and have improved shift/fuel eco with new gearing....again this is just stuff I have read and not from personal experience as I am still trying to decide 4.88 or 5.29 and plan to stay with stock size tires....anyway its food for thought.

 

Yes, I thin the OVTune could help. That’s my next purchase.

 

Just installed 4.88s and finished my 500 mile break in period. I’m stock tires and OVtuned. Truck drives great, shifting can still get a little wonky from time to time Lol but that maybe that I went from driving like a grandma during breakin, to now driving back normally. During break in I thought I could have even gone up to 5.29s. But now on the freeway at 75mph, no chance I’d want to be stock tires at that speed with 5.29s

 

Rdgnchg, Awesome!...so after 4.88's, tune, and break in complete, would you say it is worthy of a WOW!......or..it should have been like this from the factory,,,..or just meh...and what rpm are you turning at 75/freeway?....sorry for all the questions just tryin to get all the input I can.

 

to be honest I still haven’t floored it, so the Wow factor has not been experienced, not to say that it won’t though. Initial driving impressions is that it is much more fun and peppy to drive. The sluggishness of getting up and going is dramatically improved. Another benefit, and this may just be for me, I have a borla cat back installed with resonator. When the engine would hang around 1500-1700 rpm prior to the regear, the exhaust was a little loud and drone-ish for my liking. I kept the exhaust knowing that I got a little better mpgs and slightly better performance. After the regear, the volume to my exhaust has come down quite a bit. I think it has to do with the rpms being a couple hundred revolutions higher. Definitely helps on the drone frequency. That alone is worth it in my book for the regear - better exhaust tone. But low end torque has definitely improved. Give me a week or so to really get on it and I’ll report back.

the wow factor may not come in until the Mag SC goes in once carb approved

 

Forgot to add - in town MPG have gone up considerably. I was at 16-17 in town driving before regear. I’m now at 19-20 in town after regear.

highway I used to be at 25-26mpg before regear, now I’m at 24mpg or so after regear.

Exhaust, OV tune, airflow accelerator all cumulatively have helped my mpg. I seem to get better than most on here. Again stock tires, and no added weight

 

This is from memory, will confirm next time on highway
65mph I’m around 2000 rpm
70mph around 2200
75mph around 2400
80mph was 2500+, but if I needed to pass someone I can easily do at that powerband

 

Rdgnchg, thank you for the input and look forward to hearing your thoughts of full throttle trial.