The 5.29 Mega Thread!!

Could anyone describe the "feeling" you had experienced after regearing to 5.29s? For instance, what surprised you the most? From what I understand, the shifting should be improved in an AT Taco, and you are likely to feel more torque off the line, is there anything else that folks could comment on?

I have a 2020 AT with E rated 33s, skids, and often am carrying a RTT…I also have an OTT tune. Planning on actually going down to 32 C rated KO3's when the size I'm eyeing is available. I do live at 8000' feet and the truck is mostly fine, but the few things that bug me are it's ability to accelerate when on a steep grade, and how violent it shifts when I want to get on the gas hard. Really appreciate any anecdotal feedback/stories.

 

I don't know that I "felt more tq", it just drives so much better. Before I felt 6th gear was pretty much useless. Even on flat roads 6th gear struggled to maintain speed in some situations, but now I leave it in D all the time. If theres a really strong headwind I might drop to 5th, but it's not often.

- Far less gear hunting, almost non-existent actually. I see some gear hunting on hills when I have a full camping load, but I don't think that will ever completely go away as thats just the nature of how these trucks are programmed.
- I found it drives much better in the mountains. I still end up in 4th on anything steep, but it maintains speed far better. Even dragging my ~1800lb off-road camper with another 600lbs in the bed through the San Juans I was able to hold 50-60 in 4th no issues. When driving around without the trailer I was able to accelerate on grades when needed, nothing crazy, but it was able. Even on I70 at Eisenhower I was able to accelerate around slower traffic, whereas before the gears if I was caught behind traffic I was stuck there.
- I haven't noticed it being touchy on the trail outside the normal OTT touchy throttle issues that some folks have. I had that same issue before the gears, even on lite and mild flavors.
- Prior to the gears I had to tow my trailer in 4th everywhere, now I can tow in 5th without issue (flat areas). Temps stay good, no struggle to maintain speed (unless it's windy, thats a given).
- MPGs stayed the same, and improved in some conditions.

Don't expect it to become a torque monster. The best way I can describe it is it's just smoother, you can tell it's not trying so hard. IMO it feels like this is how the truck should have came from factory. When I bought this truck and after test drives I was anticipating lack of power with it being a mid sized truck with a V6, but it was far worse than I expected. Now it's where I would expect it to be. A re-gear literally saved the truck from being traded in.

 

I can't put it much better than this. Smoother, not trying so hard, shifts through the gears like you would expect it to and just feels right. I don't have a tune and now I don't feel like I need one. I haven't taken it to the big mountains, but the Ozarks can get pretty windy and steep. It's now a pleasure to drive.

It definitely accelerates better off the line. I have to pull out of my neighborhood into a 45 mph zone, and it used to bog down. Now it's quite a bit quicker and doesn't bog.

 

Right on, thanks fellas. I'm kind of in the same boat as you were @guaco.supreme as I have been toying with trading it in/selling it. I do love this truck and I hate the idea of spending $20-30k more for a newer truck, when my 3rd gen is paid off, but to keep putting money into it is the other side of the coin. It sounds like a tune would solve most of my frustrations, and if I did end up selling a regear wouldn't be a negative if sold privately to the right person.

@TenBeers, glad to hear about accelerating off the line. I live in an area where I need to pull out int 65mph zones regularly and while this truck will never be a rocket (I know that) I kind of hate having to wait for a big clearing to confidently get out into traffic.

I'm also due for my 60k mile service…so why not regear when I have to change my fluids anyways lol

 

Unrelated, but I was just down in Missouri for the Midwest Adventure Outfitters open house and those guys wheel around the Ozarks a lot. They talk a lot about the schoolhouse, Bubs cabin and spots all along the Piney, so now I want to come down and check them out, but man the Ozarks look rough lol.

 

There are the occasional trails that aren't really maintained that can get in bad shape, but most of the roads in the ONF are actually county roads and pretty well maintained. The National Forest roads with 4 numbers are usually fine, but offshoots that have 5 numbers or a letter on the end can get a bit sketchy. And, heavy rains can turn a road that was fine one day into a hazard the next. I'm actually heading out in about an hour to a spot off a creek that feeds into the Big Piney. I have yet to see the schoolhouse but have driven right past it and pretty much hit every road around it, lol.

 

Thanks for all the responses guys.

 

Does anyone notice while in the lower speed range with 5.29's it's sometimes feels like being out of gear with a manual tranny and all of a sudden it drops into gear? I have the KDMAX 10 Pro tune and now with them taking a curtain maybe a mistake. Thanks all!

 

I have this issue as well, but I had it before the 5.29s. If I'm slow rolling, sub 10ish mph with a closed throttle, when I apply throttle it's like theres a delay. I get nothing... nothing... nothing... then all of a sudden a slight bump in rpm and the torque convert locks and the truck lurches forward. I thought it might be the TC being slow to engage from an unlocked status, but you'd think the rpms would still do something when you press the gas, but mine don't. I had a custom OTT tune with a slower throttle tip in flashed when I did my gears, and it's better, but I still see it. I think it it weren't for the gears I might not notice it anymore. I'm guessing the gears are exaggerating it enough that the throttle changes aren't quite enough to compensate.

 

I was kind of thinking the same thing. The KDMAX PRO 10 was never worth what I paid for it and supposedly the tune was tailored to gears but..................... And now they are no more thanks to Yotawerks and KDMAX which left us all high and dry!

 

yotawerx will update you to their newest tune. most tuners will do for free. if not get direct heavily discounted. i switched from kdv10 to bh2.1 and its a much smoother tune with significantly better fuel mileage.

 

Edit: figured it out "Diffs are not shipped without a core or core charge" I think their UI could use some polish. This message is only shown on the 8" clamshell page for 3rd gen's, not on the rear page.

Hey all. I'm finally about to place an order for an assembled 3rd and clamshell from ECGS and because I'm not intelligent I was wondering if others smarter than me could help out.

I'm genuinely curious if I should choose add the "Core charge" when ordering the new diffs, it seems like I'd loose money? For example—and correct me here—when ordering the rear, if you add a "Core change", your paying an extra $500. ECGS ships the assembled rear, I swap my stock one with the re-geared diff, and then send the stock core back. They would then credit me the $500 core charge, minus return shipping. Whereas if I did not select "Core charge" they'd send me a diff and I could swap it out and keep my stock one…save $500.

I'm sure I'm missing something really obvious here…so correct my dumb ass.

 

Yeah...poor wording. Either you choose "no core" and send it in for no money back, or you pay the extra to keep your old diff. The wording is kind of backwards from how it should be.

 

Cool glad I wasn't just having a case of the Monday's. Wish I could offer my Product Designer skiLlz for the $500 haha

 

Was about to answer and saw your edit. It's a pretty standard practice that they probably assume people are familiar with.

 

Nah that's totally fair. I'm mechanically inclined, but have never worked on gears before so kind of in a new world of terminology and learning. Excited to give my dog a little extra oomph! Thanks y'all!

 

Update on my install: After the break-in oil change I started to see a drip from the front. All seals looked fine, and it appeared to be coming from the top of the diff. It dripped particularly bad after returning from a trip to the woods where I had to use 4WD, but then it stopped, and it didn't drip at all during break-in. I assumed it was from the breather, but I didn't want to mess with removing the skid plate again until I had some other stuff to do.

New skid plate arrived, so I took advantage of some nice weather last week to install that, do the lower shock bolt replacement, and check out the leak. Fluid level in the front diff was right where it is supposed to be, so whatever leaked out was extra.

Not sure how you can overfill a diff, but apparently you can. Maybe the tube from the pump was creating enough of a seal to hold the fluid back. I was probably too impatient to finish up after using that dang hand pump, and I should have let it sit with the fill plug out for a while. Lesson learned.

 

I’m currently on 4.88 nitro rear gears with mechanical LSD 37 inch tires and supercharger. It’s time for new gears . Thinking about going to 5.29 . Anyone with this set up? If so pros cons . Any recommendations or advice would help. Thanks

 

What year truck and what diff do you have? This thread is geared toward the 3rd gen Tacoma

 

^Yeah, this is what I was thinking. Maybe post in the 1st gen forum. I know some people there have done 5.29's, and they lose some top end, but are otherwise happy. There's apparently a mod you can do to swap 5th gear out. The one guy I am thinking of isn't running 37's though, that's pretty large. I would think 5.29's would be better. @turbodb