The 5.29 Mega Thread!!

I went with revolution gears and they have been great. Had them installed locally at a gear shop (Northern California) and i’d do it again the same way. No need to fiddle around with possibly dropping the front diff on your head. Don’t ask me how i know.

 

It's a big shop doing the work. The owner of the shop is a close friend. He's never done gearing before but it's something he wants to add so he's buying the tooling. If we can't finish it on a Saturday, he'll give me a car. If we get completely stuck, there are at least 3 gear shops within a 15min drive.

 

The 5.29 with 6spd manual is equivalent (roughly) to moving 6th final drive ratio down to 5th with 5.29's, correct? I'm wanting to fit 35's eventually, running 235/85-16's currently, and have a long highway drive this weekend, so I can stay out of 6th to see what an impact this may have on highway mpg/engine rpm. Even with a fuel economy impact on 33's, I think it's still going to be worthwhile, I live in PA and have tons of long, winding, steep hills to drive normally here.

 

If you're friend hasn't done gears before, you are going to have a long day. You most likely aren't getting your truck back on Saturday.
I don't think the ring and pinion is quite as Critical as the quality of the remaining parts in a regear "kit." All gear sets are pretty decent but sometimes they cheap out on the remaining parts.
I would research what the manufacturer of the bearings, seals, shims, etc of each brand is (Revolution, Nitro, Yukon). Some people substitute genuine toyota seals

 

Yeah, when I regeared to 5.29 (stock size tires before and after), it put 6th to be slightly lower than the stock 5th. 3000 rpm at 70 (5.29 6th) vs 2900 at 70 (4.30 5th)

 

I do a lot of towing with my truck. What is the full break-in procedure when factoring in towing? After the first 2 or 3 initial slow drives with rests, do I then repeat the slow drives with a trailer or to I wait until after the 500 miles?

 

id personally wait until after the 500 miles then change fluids and tow from there in short bursts, like 10-20 miles repeating that a few times. This is actually what Revolution Gear recommends.

https://revolutiongear.com/blog/ring-and-pinion-break-in-procedure/

 

Thats what I was looking for. thank you

 

Do gears change the mph on a 2018?

 

Are you asking if you will need to recalibrate the speedo after? If so, no.

 

Post 10k after 5.29 regear slight seepage from what looks to be from pinion seal took it back to installers couple of weeks ago, they say it’s normal to have seepage, but finding that hard to believe since the 2 year warranty is about to expire.. it’s hard to see in photo but it’s by no means a lot, but seems problematic. Also don’t know if it’s related but I get a low hum drone noise from 70-75mph only on throttle, but think it’s related to this issue. any advice would be appreciated

 

Clean it off with some brake cleaner and see how long it takes to come back. A dripping leak might be worrisome, but a little seepage like that over 10k miles doesn't seem like a serious issue. And no, a little seepage isn't going to cause a drone. Mine makes more noise at those higher speeds as well, it's just a characteristic of this truck. Some make more noise, some make less.

 

Mine doesn’t have gears yet and looks like this from factory. As long as there’s no dripping, IMO it’s not worth the hassle. Warranty or not.

 

Thank y’all that gives me peace of mind

 

Update on the gear whine at 70mph after taking it back to the shop that originally regeared they said everything was fine and was just tire noise.. took it to another trusted mechanic and he showed me this video this cannot be good I’m going to drain fluid to see if I can find metal shavings anyone have any insight?
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=l_4opTUI83g

 

That is NOT normal. Especially under no load. They need to refund you or redo with a new ring and pinion. I went through the same debacle with an F150 that i had re-geared and a locker install. The shop setup the rear poorly it made noise and clunked. they redid it under warranty from Yukon for their ring and pinion and the shop covered the labor. After getting re-done, it was binding in reverse, and made worse sounding noises than before. I took it back to them. They "repaired" it again and wanted me to pay for the third repair (on top of the original $3,000) I put less than 500 miles on it in months and had to buy a second vehicle to get to work during this. I went had to "take" my truck back at night with a truck and a car hauler. I ate the loss and paid another shop $1000 to setup a new ring and pinion. Truck is sold, axles swapped to another truck and still going strong 8yrs later.
Don't settle with them.

 

Yeah for sure I just drained the fluid luckily doesn’t seem to have metal chunks just your average sludge but yes you are right paying all that money for it to do this is definitely unacceptable thanks for your input I’ll have to take it back to them hopefully they don’t just say it’s tire noise again

 

They are refusing to admit that this is not normal and insists this is completely okay to hear.. many other sources tell me otherwise but he insists.. might have to take it to another shop so they can asses then I can maybe have proof of faulty install or defective gears. Very frustrating he is also saying nitro is no longer in business and will not warranty which kinda makes sense on why he is saying this is normal.

 

If you can bring me the diff loose, I can do a health check on it.