4.88’s and 32’s - honest opinions from a shitposter

Yeah. I‘ve seen it bro. Thanks...
Still a decision to be made

 

Too much talk of over-gearing. That's more of a thing for old four speeds. With all these overdrive gears you can still highway drive just fine.

33s and 5.29 is fantastic combo. I came from a 400lb-ft of torque f150 so the Taco felt very sluggish before the regear.

I ran 33s on the full size truck too, so it's easy to show where the Taco should be buy getting the gear ratios, the engine torque, and then getting lb-ft of torque per pound of the vehicle

F150 5.0 first gear 4.69 * 3.31 = 15.5 torque 400 = 6200 / 5200 = 1.19
Taco AT first gear 3.60 * 3.91 = 14 torque 265 = 3710 / 4500 = .82
Taco with 5.29s 3.60 * 5.29 = 19 torque 265 = 5000 / 4500 = 1.11

As you can see 5.29s get the performance you'd expect from a truck, almost exactly the same as a stock F150

 

it’s easy for me, I’m a fat pig on 33s, full armor, canopy, decked system, RTT, sliders. I’m 5.29s all day, which also gives me the ability to go up to 35s.

if you’re staying stock or 33s, maybe skids and sliders, you could get away with 4.88. Ymmv

 

Agreed fully. the only combo I can see overgearing in the entire platform is a stock manual on 5.29's, simply because it turns into about 2900 at 70. Not bad, just overkill. Basically the same as riding 5th gear forever in stock form. Honestly the gas mileage is not terrible in 5th though so it would live just fine like that.

I have never once regeared a vehicle and found any part of it annoying. I put 4.10 and then 4.88's in my 4.0L Jeep 5 speed with 31's, man it is awesome. Also put 4.56s in a stock manual Frontier, that was a blast. Also drove 4.56's on a stock automatic Frontier which was a bit much on the highway (3200 @ 70) but was really enjoyable to drive.

 

You should have heard the whine in this thing. All stock too.

3/4 ton, 4 speed w/granny, floor starter, 4:56, nylon tires, split rims, all steel, rubber 'carpet', wood bed floor. Luxuries included heat and an AM radio, wing vents, floor vents.

Horrid MPG, totally impractical on the highway.

But it was a truck. And did truck stuff of towing and hauling heavy stuff.

 

Is the gear whine a 3rd Gen issue? I'm running 4.88 with 33" tires and I don't have a whine "that I notice" on my 2nd gen, then I again I'm not sure I would even hear it with the Leaf springs squeaking, front lift always popping the the sound of the Mud tires slapping the road!

 

5.29's on 285/75/16's "33's" and I love it. Very happy I did not choose 4.88's.

 

Very good write up!
For what it is worth, When I regeared my truck "a 2nd Gen" and I went back and forth between 4.56 and 4.88, I finally settled on the 4.88s because I saw 35s in my future. When I discuss the gear choice with the gentleman that performed my re gear "mind you he does this for a living" He just looked at me and said that there was such little difference between the two sizes that I wasn't even going to notice it

 

Third gens tend to whine even with stock gears in some cases. A friend of mine has a stock 2G sport that whines like an SOB with factory gears, so it is a mixed bag out there. Not 3G specific necessarily.

Toyota did do a TSB to address gear whine on 3G trucks that whine from the factory. They put in sound deadening behind the rear seats and something else I can’t recall.

 

Just got my 4.88 Nitros installed. Running 265/70 17 bfg ko2s. 65 mph at 2500 rpm now. Can actually reverse my boat uphill easily in 2wd and not smell burning clutch. Can also start in 2nd on flats/ slight downhill. No change in mpg but this is the big island and there are no freeways and I rarely go over 60 mph.

Thanks to the guys at Top Notch Automotive and Jimmy's Radiator in Hilo!

 

Yeah. I have an auto, but the improvement in reversing was a surprise to me as well. Even the autos have way too tall a gear for reverse.

 

Personally I love the nitro 4.88’s. I may be in the lucky minority that isn’t experiencing whine, or it may be because I’ve done a lot of work deadening sound in my truck… it’s kinda an obsession at this point. I also have a KD Max tune the helps with shift points massively. IMO, the combo of the tune, and regear on 33’s is absolutely perfect. I regularly get around 17.5 mpg right now also and I’m told that the newest version of the tune will improve fuel efficiency slightly. The down shifts may be slightly harsher but it’s really nit picking on my vehicle. I’m a sports car guy so harsher downshifts are very normal to me. Really awesome write up! I love the unbiased opinion.

 

If I had an automatic stock V6, regearing to 4.88 would be priority #1 for me. I think 4.88 would be perfect for a stock automatic V6, but I can see where someone might think otherwise. My 2000 manual Tacoma had 29" tires and a 4.3 ratio. It was geared perfectly to me, just wish it had a 6th gear added right on top of the existing gears. It's 5 gears were not too dissimilar to the first 5 gears on the 6 speed auto in the 3rd gens with 30.5" tires and 4.88 gears. Then again, the 3rd gen weighs 1000 lbs more but the 3.5 V6 engine also has 80% more horsepower and 50% more torque.

 

thank you.

 

This is the most comprehensive and accurate assessment of what going to 4.88 on 32s is like. You crushed it and thanks.

The whine he mentions is real. It’s not crazy but if you are going from say 50 and let off the throttle as you approach a light it’s there. It doesn’t dominate the cab but because you know about the possibility of a whine we are on the lookout for it. I’m not sure that the average passenger would realize or think about the sound.

One thing I did do was get an OTT tune and I am please with it. Concerning the OTT tune. I had the KDMax tune leading up to my gear change and during the first 100 or so miles after the change so I can only talk about the gear change from this point of view.

The KDMax tune was punchy, always wanting to pop off the start. It was better than stock but not great. After the gears and to test the gear hunting of the truck after installing 4.88s I drove over the CA 73, which is a hilly toll road in Southern California and if you haven’t driven this road, just know you will gear hunt trying to maintain 75/80.

With KDMax there was definitely gear hunting but less than prior to a gear change. It was notable enough that you wouldn’t want this tune with 4.88, but to be fair that tune probably had an option for 4.88s. With the OTT tune I still have a bit of gear hunting but I am able to go over the hill at 70 with significantly less gear hunting than before.

By and large I am pleased with the regear. I can go from 0 to 45 with far less throttle input and acceleration is much smoother. I also have full steel skid plates and steel sliders and 32s. I would 100% do it again. I haven’t taken it Offroad yet but it was my primary reason for the gears. Before the tune the truck seriously lacked power up inclines and to maintain any sort of torque going up an incline I was going faster than I wanted to. I hope that this regear lets me crawl up a hill with out the excess speed that can lead to damage.

Last point, 80mph prior to the regear the rpm’s sat at 2k. Same speed, after regear, rpm’s now sit at 2.5k. For me, this is insignificant