Brand Spankin New 2015 - What Performance Increase with 4:88 Gearing? Whose done it?

This is what I've been looking into when 35's come my way. Do I need a larger clamshell for the front diff and 4.88? Swapping out the rear looks cake but confused on the front?? Think this truck will slowly become my trail rig so I want more power than mileage.

OP - There's a crap ton of handy local guys that would be glad to help/mod day time. I'll help too so I can do mine down the road LOL.

 

Got my truck back today. First impression? Bloody bad ass. I'm so happy with the 4:88 !!! Truck totally came back alive! Only got 1200 mi on her so still breakin in but hot dam the gearing was a great choice!

I drove a new stock TRD off-road with the TRD exhaust today as well to see if I'd want it. I hated it. It sounded lame for one, and two didn't notice a power increase except at the top end. Low end felt draggin and starved for power.

So happy I re-geared tho. Thx for all the input!

 

As someone who has worked in a shop (Management) a good shop will charge upwards of $90-$125/ hr and pay their mechanical tech $30-50 hr flat rate.

I worked at a shop in the bay area here in California, that had two journeyman level, mechanical techs that made $70-$80 hr flat rate.

This was over a decade ago, so tech wages have likely gone up, as a result of inflation these days.

 

Man that sounds great the gears worked out for you. Just curious, why didn't you look into the TRD Supercharger? While having more leverage is nice, seems like forced induction would have possibly given you the pull and extra power you wanted. BTW, your truck looks absolutely amazing.

 

I looked into the Supercharger but I'm scared off by the price at the moment. The shop I trust says out the door supercharger would be 5-6K. I'm out on that right now. I agree though, I've read and heard the supercharges just wake these trucks up.

Glad you like my truck. I do get A LOT of lookers and questions. I love driving it, ESPECIALLY now with the 4:88's!

 

It's all the mods. Ripped out fabric and replaced with high quality leather interior. Scrapped the chrome bumper and purchased a sport bumper to replace so would paint match. Lots more into it.

 

Let's see some pictures man, sounds sweet!

 

I'd def go with the 4.56 ratio. The newer tacomas come stock in a 3.90 (i think) and 4.10 for the 1st gens. had 4.10 stock in first gen and bumped up two sizes to 4.88 for my 35s and it was perfect. If you go up three sizes from your 3.90 ratio, 4.88s will be too much. 4.56 is the way to go for that 4.0

 

Couple of questions here for someone who also wants to learn some more about regearing:

1. What kind of MPG increase would you expect with the 4:46 gearing?

2. What would 4:88 gearing do to your gas mileage?

3. Since the stock gears are 3:90 (among the last posts on page 2) wouldn't the 4:56 gears be less sluggish than the 3:90 (imagine tire size has some bearing on that)?

Really do like the truck and have about the same in my truck but that includes dual battery setup, Tepui tent, Wynter fridge and all my other camping gear.

 

1. 4:46 gearing isn't available. 4.56 is, however, and with 35" tires mileage would be about the same as stock, maybe 1mpg less.

2. I get 14.7 mpg, but I drive hard. Like bounce off the rev limiter every time I drive hard. Stock I got about 15-16 mpg

3. Stock gearing is 3.73, unless you have a 4 cylinder, then it's 4.10. On stock size tires deeper gearing really helps with acceleration. The increased tire diameter kind of negates those gains. My truck with 37's and 4.88's is exactly the same as stock 3.73's with stock size tires. Speedo is even accurate.

 

Thanks for the answers I did mean 4.56.

 

Can I run a lower gear in the rear without changing the front or within a certain % of front or do they need to be equal?

 

You should regear both ends. They can be off a little, like 4.90 rear 4.88 front, but the gear ratio selections available for our diffs are too wide to do that. For instance if you swapped in a ford 9" rear there are a multitude of ratio's available in very small increments.

 

Guess I learned something else. I never realized that if you regear the rear you would also have to do the front. Also guess this is specific to 4WD vehicles.

 

It only applies to 4wd rigs. If you didn't regear the front the drivetrain would bind up when in 4wd. If the front end was moving faster than the rear (front 3.73 rear 4.56) then the rear tires would drag, providing no traction and making the truck nearly undriveable on pavement. It would do some awesome cookies until something broke though.

 

Sub'd…I think i need to do gears.