Need opinions: 4.56's or 4.88's

So I lifted my truck a week and a half ago and put 35's on it. I will be using my tax return to get my truck regeared to get my MPG's and power back. (Went from 18mpg to 12mpg around town. Only put one full tank in the truck since I lifted it and I think I drove it a bit hard so my average mpg may be higher)

I was quoted $1900 to do the regear. I'm not sure what brand of ring and pinions Randy's uses. I'm not a fan of other people working on my vehicles but gearing is something I don't want to fuck with and would feel more comfortable with having a warranty to back it. I also did the math on money I will save doing the regear regarding gas. If I get back the full 6mpg and if gas is about $3.80 a gallon my saved gas will pay for the regear in a year and a half. Sounds worth it to me, if my math is correct.

I've done a lot of reading on gears on this site and can't really decide if I should get 4.56's or 4.88's. The only good named diff shop around my area is Randy's Ring and Pinion that I know of. The guy I talked to today told me most people with Taco's around here that regear with 35's get 4.88's.

So basically I have a few questions:
Does anyone know a better diff shop in the Seattle area? I'm willing to drive 100 miles for the best shop with the best warranty.
If you were in my situation what gear ratio would you choose and why?
Is $1900 a reasonable price to do the regear (Parts and labor)?

 

with 35's I would definately go with 4.88's you will get your torque back and mpg's although your top end vs rpm's wont be the greatest. If you were going with 33's then I would go with 4.56's (perfect gears-wish the trucks came through with these)

 

Talk to All.on.black. He's in Auburn as well and runs 4.56's in his truck with 35's.
I'd do the 4.56's, 4.88 is overkill. IMO. Check this little tool out: http://www.grimmjeeper.com/gears.html

 

bump

 

4.88s!

im doing 4.88s with 33s, but i have a 4 cylinder lol

 

I was thinking of doing 4.88's with 33's, and I have a V6 manual transmission.

On another note, anyone have good places to buy gears and install kits online? I'll be doing the setup and stuff myself, just wanna buy the parts cheap.

 

Everybody recommends ECGS. I would also recommend the 4.88 with the 35's.

 

x2, this is what i have, 35" with 4.88s and love it

 

i can get you guys gears for pretty cheap, just let me know over pm.

 

also 1900 seems pretty steep, i paid 500 for mine, install and gears but im a prerunner, i probably wouldnt pay more than 1500 since i assume your a 4WD. is the front axel harder than the rear?

 

Are you getting the 18MPG that the OP is expecting will pay back on the cost of regear?

 

oops didnt read the whole thing. if you want mpg dont gear it, its either power or mpg. once you gear it you will gain alot of top end power but your rpms will stay higher, on the freeway at 70mph im at like 2800 rpms. a tacoma with 35s and stock gears is at like 1800 rpms. ive driven my buddies without the gears and it kinda sucks since there is not that much power but he gets good mileage. i have enough power to smoke my tires but im getting about 13mpg, maybe with the 4.56s the rpms wont be as high though right guys?

 

I run 35s/4.56s.

ECGS.

 

That's the apparently not so obvious results of larger tires. You are correct.

Big tires actually lower the highway rpm and potentially improve mpg. The wider footprint and higher rolling resistance of the bigger tires work against that. But the odometer error makes the bigger tires "appear" to kill the mpg, but not really, it just understates the miles traveled.

Regearing can do the opposite and over state the miles traveled, but the actual gas used is still higher.

I'm sure there are those that lifted and put on 35s and regeared to 4.88 and think they are getting 18 mpg while gassing up frequently because they are actually getting 13 mpg because of odometer error.

 

very true, without recalibrating the odometer you wont really know what mileage your getting, also your speedo will be off, with my speedometer showing 65 im actually doing 70-71 and its gets more inaccurate as i go faster

 

Im running 4.56 with 33's...tested them on 35's and did damn fine with my 4 banger so you know IMO OP with the V6, stick with 4.56

 

bump for more opinions

 

since the v6 has 3.73 stock, you would be near stock with 4.10s and 33s and 4.88s for 35s

ecgs has a 5 year warranty on his work. although with 35s i dont know if hed warranty it. 35s are probably at the limit of the driveline strength for a second gen

 

4.56 even would kind of suck.

Going from 2100 to 2600 rpms at 70mph, which is going to destroy your gas mileage.

I certainly wouldn't go higher than that. I'd probably do 4.10's

 

If you have a V6, 4.56 seems to be the right ratio-tire setup for 35's. 4.88's seems a little much and your mileage will suffer.