The 5.29 Mega Thread!!

Revolution 5.29's finally came in. Been waiting on the rears for 6 mos! Have an appt. with Stellarbuilt in Sacramento in September to do the re-gear and ECGS. Any pointers about the gears? Things I should ask about? And someone please correct me if in wrong, but the break in is: Drive 50 miles, let cool for 15 min., repeat - for the first 500 miles? Love my lift, 34's and KDMax Pro tune, but man she is a dog on oem gears!

 

Based on what I found, I drove short distances for the first 50 miles, usually less than 10 miles at a time. Then driving easy for the next 450

 

ECGS says to let the diffs cool every 50 miles for three heat cycles.

I live about 3 hours from their shop so my drive home was as follows:

I drove 15 miles and let cool for 45 mins
Drove 50 miles and let cool for 45 mins
Drove 50 miles and let cool for 45 mins
Drove 50 miles and let cool for an hour and some change.

Definitely makes the drive home slow. You also need to constantly vary your speed.

 

Been looking at both 4.88 and 5.29 threads but I think I need someone to just tell me what to get.

I have 2021 Tacoma TRD 4x4
- 285/70/17
- Prinsu Roof Rack
- RRW Rock Sliders
- TRD Skid Plate

I do not plan on running a larger tire than a 34 (285/75/17) due to the fact that I don’t want to cut into the truck to make 35s fit. This is my daily where I travel 50 miles a day doing 70-80 on the interstate. I don’t want it to rev too high since I’m on the highway a good bit. The prinsu rack does create some drag but not much. Just want it be more drivable and dailyable without it becoming annoying.

 

There are 300 pages between the two threads to help you decide. Make a choice

 

YMMV but I've got a shell, RCI skids, running 33's (going to go to 34s), sliders, etc. The 5.29s are great for making the car more drivable at lower speeds, climbing grades but not great on the highway for long distances. MPG is definitely going to take a hit but you can always adjust your speed down to not have it hurt as much.

Averaged 14mpg driving from San Diego to Montana and back. We had 3x 200lb guys plus the shell packed to the top so we were very heavy. 70 seemed to be the sweet spot to not absolutely kill the MPG. Doing the 80mph speed limit through Utah and Idaho crushed the MPG.

If you're driving that much on the highway daily the 5.29 may not be your best option.

 

Send it get the 5.29s

 

Get it tuned first then decide whether you want to regear. Tuning did far more for the drivability and power than going to 5.29s did. When I’m off-road, I love the 5.29. When I’m on road, I’m on the fence. I’ve had KDMax tune and am currently on OTT, both are great.

 

Is it really that much of a difference? I'm running the thick stuff and my truck is a fat ass and I'm still getting decent mpg's. Could it really get that much better?

 

Funny that you ask... I added RXT springs in the rear, which lifted it 1.5 inches from my initial test, and the MPG are back down to 16-17mpg again. So yeah I am a bit confused, which is why I wanted to test the MPGs before my install. However I did get an increase in MPG after switching back to 80W-90, before the spring install. So yeah... not really sure how much of a difference the gear oil makes. I am going to test switching back to 93 from 87 octane to see if anything changes, I am on the OTT 7.0 tune.

 

What happens if you don’t follow the break in period to the T?

 

It could all be in my head at this point, but I felt a little more of a drag with the heavier oil…but who knows what the hell is going on. I will say that I got the crazy ass hummm to go away, I had when I went with the thinner oil cause F’ it.
I did the break in properly and I wanted to see/feel a difference. My truck is so weighted down, that I am just stoked I can roll 75mph and not be screaming rpms. A larger tire size with the 5.29s helped ease the rpms a tad, went I went up from 33s, but it wasn’t bad at all with the 33s. Felt like I was running 2200-2250 at 70?

 

Depends. Worst case is you burn your bearing n gears up

 

Yup then the shop finds your post on this forum and cancels the warranty lol.

On another note I did my 500 mile with 400ish in 4 hi on the break in and the shop changed both diffs so now it’s time to hit the trails on Sunday.

 

Did you buy your truck new?

 

Yes

 

Did you do a break in period for the gears?

 

Nope, and it lasted 90k+

 

cyro

 

Following the break in period right now with the 5.29’s but I did not do any break in period when getting the truck new.