The 5.29 Mega Thread!!

Thank you for the heads up, I will measure it at a closer distance and then hit the same spot at the further distance where I don't have to get under the bed and check for any differences.

 

529

 

I was just looking at your build page. Was the rotor and pad upgrade worth it? Im hating my braking.

 

Yeah. It’s a common mistake. Common misconception is the laser measures the temp. We use those things all the time at my job, so you quickly learn that’s not the case.

 

I just did 4.88. I'm on stock tires with 200lbs extra and it feels perfect. I'm going 33's but I do a ton of highway. If I was going any bigger on tires I would go 5.29

 

Good to know. I think im going 5.29 then. I am probably going to have 800-1000 pounds total between the bumpers, sliders, skids, tent, bed rack, sound system. Plus camping gear.

 

It does stop good. I've installed all different brakes on different vehicles. So far I think the best for Tacoma is the EBC green stuff pads n rotors.

 

I just rechecked myself. Got 179* at point blank and 169* from the middle of the spare tire.

 

Called a local shop here in Denver and they warned me rem polished Nitro 5.29s can be loud compared to none rem polished ones. Anybody have any experience with that? I already have the rem polished gears sitting next to me from @SDHQ OFFROAD

 

I have REM polished Nitros from SDHQ, and they are as quite as a church mouse.

 

Nitro themselves just confirmed that the local shop is "absolutely wrong"

 

@H3llRid3r
My non REM polished nitro gears howl like crazy at 35-40mph and 65-75 mph. Shop in Castle Rock told me REM was a waste of money but wondering if that would have helped with noise. I've heard too many differing opinions on this subject. They claimed that the break in process would do the same as polishing and all the polish does is reduce the break in miles required, but still requires a break in.

I have a hard time believing this but it was easy to convince me at the time since I was saving money...

 

I don’t know one way or the other if the polishing affects the noise or not. I don’t imagine that in the long run it matters if you polished or not. Some people get noise and others don’t. Luckily, I don’t.

What I always chuckle about is that I’ve never broken in gears on any new vehicle, motorcycle or etc. I’ve ever owned. No dealer that sold them to me ever suggested a break in period. Nor when I took a vehicle for a test drive did the dealer tell me I had to pull over and let the gears cool down. Why is that? Are factory gears polished? I don’t know.

Some people point out that the owners manual suggest a break in period. It might. I’ve never looked. I don’t know anyone whose ever broken in gears on a new vehicle. Replace gears and now a break in is recommended. I have no answer to this.

I went the REM route because I could afford it.

 

I believe the standard break in period for new vehicles has more to do with the motor. The bike shop I got my motorcycles from said that it was to properly wear the cylinder walls.

 

2019 TRD OR - Looking for advice on what gears to Run 5:29 or 4:88? Mostly a daily driver but do a few big trips a year fully loaded stacked with surfboards and a RTT, Also do some road tripping open highway driving unloaded and would still like be able to cruise 80MPH + and not loose too much top end. I have a 3' lift w/ 285/75/16 KO2 , gas Mileage around 13 MPG unless I drive conservative. Feedback appreciated!

 

What are the downsides of regearing before upgrading to larger tires? I’m in a 2021 DCSB with sliders, full skids, bed rack, incoming roof rack, and few other weighty items on order (RTT/bumper/winch). My daily commute is short, and my intention is to do a lot of weekend beach camping/fishing (weeeeeighhht).
I live relatively close to ECGS, so I reached out to them about regear and front and rear locker install (seemed to be the most cost effective to do it all at once), and they told me they could get it done much earlier than I expected (much to my wallet’s chagrin). I kind of assumed it would be a while, and more of that heavy stuff would be on the truck by the time I did it, but if there’s no reason to wait I might move forward with it.

 

It'll be fine

 

I have similar thoughts ( in Raleigh myself). Will eventually end up on 33 or 34 tires but also tow a travel trailer so was thinking of gears before lift /tires. Talked to the guys at ecgs and they said 5.29 given the end goals but said top end will be limited with stock tires during the process. I heard that the kdmax tune can help with that setting but can not confirm as I have not reached out to them directly.

 

Happy to say I'm half way through the 500 mile break in with no issues so far. I will do a follow up for the front & rear after the break in period. Still editing the front install cause that one was rough.

Here is the rear diff install.

https://youtu.be/l7761dWsBtY

 

I was told by my differential shop that the reason OEM gears are quieter is because they are forged into shape, then cut under extreme pressure, as opposed to aftermarket, which are just cut from a metal ring on a CNC mill. OEM gears are denser metal as a result, and do not require the same break in. When you break in your Nitros, Yukon’s, etc, you are actually doing the process that Toyota or their vendor already did at the factory.

Certainly very few people would argue aftermarket gears are better, stronger, or quieter, than Toyota branded gears. Toyota gears have a very good reputation.