Regear with 32" tires - towing and commuting

Here's some good firsthand info for 5.29's.
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/the-5-29-mega-thread.557305/

Here's some good firsthand info for 4.88's.
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/the-4-88-mega-thread.511967/

It's not as drastic of a difference between the two as people think. You really cant go wrong with either.

 

Before my regear I had the 32" tires and a lift and could get about 19-20 mpg driving very conservatively to work but the trans would hunt with any wind or elevation change. Now with 4.88s and 33" tires, I can get about 17-19 mpg on my drive to work (again very conservatively) but the trans doesn't hunt at all and seems much less stressed from not having to ramp up to 3-4k rpm every time the trans upshifts.

 

If you can hold 65 mph uphill while towing, who cares what gear they are in? I never bought a truck for towing uphill in 4th gear...anyways the transmission is shifting to lower gears so you are gonna fix that by shifting to lower gears in the rear end. Tell me how that is solve the end result. It's not a diesel engine and it's not a straight 6 or v8. It will hold 5-6,000 rpm mile after mile and be happy. If you are having trouble holding 45mph, any gear, then lower gears in the rear may help.

 

From what I can tell, it would give me lower RPMs in 4th than stock in 3rd but still high enough to hold that gear - 3300 (4.88) vs nearly 4000. The jump from 4th to 3rd is rather large. If those were closer and 5th 1:1 then probably would be ideal, but that's not what we have. Plus it sounds like it helps with overall drive-ability as well. I do think 5.29 might be a bit too much so thinking more 4.88.

 

Never tow any thing heavy in 5th or 6th. But, I bet the truck would run better, all around, with the 4.88"s. Especially on the 32 inch tires and let me know how it does.

 

It does look like it makes the RPM jump from 4th to 3rd even worse though so if it ever needed to downshift it would really be revving or slow down. Stock I was able to leave it in S5 with the trailer I pulled on flats (I had a trans temp monitor) but it quickly would drop to 4th on any hill and 3rd if it was steeper.

 

The 1-2 mpg drop is probably more related to the 33’s vs the 32’s than the gearing anyways. Overall, minus extreme speed, gearing rarely drastically affects mpg. I went from 2450 to 3000 rpm at 70 on a manual with 5.29s and my mpg didn’t even really change. Afterwards I had numerous road trips logging 18.4 mpg. I never even logged a single 18.4mpg trip on stock gears. If I were to kick the speed up to 85-90 that would be a different story, but in general high speed gets poor mpg no matter what the gearing is.

 

OP did you end up regearing? I am in a similar boat. Just installed lift, leaf springs, 32" AT4W came about 3 weeks later.

Surprised by the lack of effect of the lift on the driveability and MPG. Almost no effect to be honest. Added the tires and felt like I was fighting the gas pedal, truck was much happier at 68-70 mph than 78-80. This was a familiar drive and not windy.

Curious on what you ended up doing, tried looking at your profile and honestly I don't know my way around the site well enough to find if you've posted an update elsewhere. TIA