The 5.29 Mega Thread!!

Can someone help me out here... Got Nitro Gears 5.29 installed , 8 months later driving down regular hwy 40 mph, the gears blow... Mechanic says it the "side adjusters". I called Nitro Gears and they tell me it's a "common" problem with Tacomas "happens all the time" they won't warranty.. So Mechanic claims no responsibility says he installed correctly, and Nitro says "Not our Fault" meanwhile i'm out ANOTHER $2500 ... Am I getting hosed by these guys???

To say i'm pissed off is putting it mild...

 

What!!!! It’s common!!!! WTF Nitro. They sell a product that they know it has a good chance of failure.



sorry this is happened to you. I know nothing about gears so I can’t help. Good luck op. I hope it works out for you.

 

So I called Nitro Gears and told them I Googled Side Adjuster Fail and couldn't find a single instance of "Side Adjuster Failure" and The Nitro Rep Mick Freeman in a snarky attitude tells me oh and there's guy's on Tacoma World who install gears every day? I told him I wasn't going to be kind to Nitro Gears -- He hung up on me! AVOID NITRO GEARS, the product sucks, they are rude AF and they will weasel out of a warranty...

 

Wow... that's crazy man i'm sorry to hear about this. The shop that installed the gears doesn't offer any type of warranty? That was one of the reasons I went with ECGS.

 

The shop has generally been pretty good to me, don't want to slam them... but they are claiming it's a "freak" incident....

 

The shop I made an appointment at said they avoid nitro...

 

Now you know why, they treat their customers like Sh*t

 

Only time side adjusters would fail is if

1. Not properly threaded in.

2. Lock tabs not reinserted.

3. Bolt that holds lock tabs not loctited and come loose.

4. Not enough preload on the carrier.

5. Side adjusters not properly torqued.

All of these would be installation errors and not warrantied by Nitro. Sucks the Nitro rep was a rude little bitch though.

 

Thanks for your comments Chris...my mechanic says they use a micrometer for all the tolerances... my local shop is well respected and I’ve known these guys through 3 Tacomas...I had a chat with the owner today and he assured me the install was as done by their best mechanic and everything checked out. He also stated that mechanic errors usually show up with in weeks of the install, this has been 8 months... so IDK...anyway the shop said they feel bad this happened and was willing to not charge me the labor for the replacement, which will also upgrade me to an electronic locker with posi..., so I think that’s good on them.. Too bad for Nitro taking a FU attitude

 

35" BFG KM 3's, Fox 2.5 Coilovers, Deavers CMC No Lift kit....

 

That's awesome that they are willing to help you that way. Post some pics of that busted diff

 

I know it does not really help now....but https://eastcoastgearsupply.com has a fantastic reputation over here. I have a set of Yukon set of 5.29s being built. They basically build it and send you a plug and play set. It cost $3800 and shipping is free. THEN you send your cores back to them for about $100 and Get a core refund of $1900. They have a 5 year warranty I believe. The best part is they build and guarantee their own work. So it takes the looking for a shop local out of the equation. and it drops your install time down drastically.

 

Did you specifically ask for Yukon?

I used the same ECGS service, plus front locker. When I asked what brand gears, they said "our brand", but when I mentioned this to Nitro, they said ECGS then uses same gears as Nitro.

 

They said they prefer to use Yukon over Nitro. I wouldn't know the difference but since they are building it I figured I would let them do what they do best and stay out of the way.

 

That's what I did, and they've been great. Still not quite sure what brand gears I'm runnin

 

Anyone have seen this kit? YG TV6-529K

Yukon can offer a lifetime warranty on there gears and lockers for a little supplement.
With what I read from guys who got some probs with nitro, Yukon go first in my choice for 5.29

 

Been running Yukon 5.29’s for about 7,000 miles with no mechanical issues on and off road. But they do howl quite a bit.

 

I have the A/T w/o Locker so that's why I'm a little bit confused. If I understand I have the 8'' and the others have 8.75''. For the spline I think is 30 stock but Yukon is 29.

Example the TV6-488K comme with the yoke
And the TV6-488-29 doesn't look to come with.

I didn't see anyone referring to this kit so that's why I'm asking here.

 

No clue on that specific kit part number. Just giving my experience with the Yukon gears.

 

Anyone know the benefits from 4:88 to 5:29?
Thinking to regear to help with towing.