Tacoma DC 33” 4.56 or 4.88 automatic

Wait what? Your saying to go 4.56 but then 4.30 is perfect?

 

Yea if he has to choose between 4.56 or 4.88 I’d say go 4.56... clear enough for ya ?

 

I'm running 33" tires (285/75-R16) and 4.88 gearing, I wouldn't want anything higher than the 4.88's. At 70mph i'm turning just under 2100 RPM and 6th gear is actually usable on the highway now. Gear hunting is much improved and the dead spot in the throttle when taking off from a stop is gone. 4.88's are a perfect match for 33" tires

Hodakaguy

 

Another vote for 4.88s. Our '17 DCSB runs beautifully on 33s with this ratio.

 

I’ve got Yukon 4.88’s and 285/75r16 toyo M/T’s and love it.

 

Wish we could have found Yukons when we re-geared, but no one had them in stock. I know the Nitros have a good rep with Tacoma folks, but they don't have a real good name when it comes to Jeep parts, and I've always had Yukons in every vehicle we've ever re-geared.

 

so yukon is better then nitro? bout to do the regearing myself for my 17 TRD OR.

 

I don't know if Nitro is better but they definitely had some issues lately, messed up a group buy, sent wrong parts to people and this forum had a few complaints about the customer service.

That said even before all that if I had to choose between Nitro or Yukon, I would go Yukon since I have more experience with them.

 

Alright I don’t mean to thread jack, but I got some dick cepek 255/85/16 which is 32.8”.... would 4.88 be overkill?

 

32.5s with 4.88s were awesome for me so I think you'll be happy

 

Stock auto on 4.88 is still higher geared than an MT with stock 4.30's.

You'll love 4.88's. It's the easiest and cheapest torque multiplier you can get

 

4.88s

We've had quite a bit of experience with re-gearing body on frame Toyota 4x4s. First off, I believe differential re-gearing are primarily for road driving with more emphasis on highway cruise capabilities. For the automatic, it's all about creating enough power to not allow the torque convert to sit unlocked for long periods of time (building massive amounts of heat), but also not add too much engine load when at final drive. It's a balancing act. Then there are atmospherics, trucks respond very differently on flat Florida roads with low wind and lots of humidity (humidity increased power) versus climbing uphill against 40 mph Montana winter winds on the interstate.

So over the last 13 years of experience with the 2nd Gen and Prado 120 platforms, we've found that with the A750F, overdrive of .72:1 when on 33s, that 4.56 is the best overall ratio. That handles hills and wind, without unlocking the T/C, but calmly downshifts when engine load gets too great. MPG increased because the motor is not dealing with an ever shifting transmission, and the transmission stays cooler because of a locked T/C.

So now we are on the 3rd Gen Tacoma with final drive of .58:1, if we are matching from experience what works, 4.88s on a 3rd gen tacoma, is like 4.56s of 3nd gen tacomas/FJs/4th and 5th gen 4runners.

Now for an even better comparison.

While the components are obviously different, the ratios of the 3rd gen tacoma are incredibly close to the ratios of the 2008-2015 200 series land cruiser.

3Gen Taco / LC200
1st: 3.60 / 3.33
2nd: 2.09 / 1.960
3rd: 1.49 / 1.353
4th: 1.00 / 1.0
5th: .69 / .72
6th: .58 / .58
gear ratio: 3.90 / 3.90

I re-geared my LC200 to 4.88s with 33s. Before the 4.88s, the LC200 couldn't remain locked in 6th under regular western head wind, and forget about using 6th in western Colorado and fuel economy was at 11 mpg highway. The 4.88s brought back proper functionality of 6th gear, it stays locked on smaller hills, and unlocks or down shifts when appropriate and fuel economy when up to 13 mpg. I couldn't imagine having less than 4.88s though, and remember, i'm only talking about city and highway travel.

Now here's the thing to remember. 4.88s are perfect on a truck with 103 MORE hp and 136 MORE lb ft of torque! So knowing that the 3.5L is going to be working with much less available power, know that you'll be disappointed with the higher ratio'ed 4.56s. Get the 4.88s, you'll be happy in the end.

Final thoughts, gear ratio charts only account for tire diameter changes. That don't account for taller trucks the have much more aerodynamic drag, larger heavier tires with more drag, and accessories like aftermarket bumpers that kill aerodynamics. Aerodynamics are much more prevalent than ever before, and drivetrains are more turned to work with stock platforms than those of yesterday. Differential ratios need to account for the aerodynamic loss to get better MPG and power out of these modern Toyota's.

Rob

 

488s. I believe they changed the drive dramatically. If you plan to step up to 35s then it will be fine too.