4.88 or 5.29

I don't hear about too many broken 5.29 gear sets. With a locker up front the weak point is still the CVs and passenger side axle tube. On 33s I wouldn't worry about breaking anything in the rear either.

Deeper gears make crawling easier and more fun

 

I have 4.88's with 35's. I have a v6 with an auto trans and I'm happy with my setup. In my opinion, I would stay away from the lunchbox and save your money for a Eaton Truetrac. With the lunchbox, truck will sound like the diff is going to fall apart. You get a lot of chatter coming from the diff while turning corners and you"ll have better control on the street. I have the TrueTrac on my 06 Tundra and I love it.
If you have questions, Hit up the guys at https://www.nitro-gear.com/ or https://www.justdifferentials.com/. They're steer you into the right direction.

 

Eh doesn't sound too terrible. I do like going 80 on the freeway though. Also interested in hearing from others with similar setups to. Trying not to thread jack.

 

Not a thread jack at all. I was thinking the same thing. I was just driving 80-85 limit is 70 so no broken laws yet. leaning towards 5.29 since with stock gearing and 31s i was running around 33-3400 rpm at 80.

Eta: i think our 1st gens have a .83 5th gear, its on marlincrawlers website. Correct me if I'm wrong.

 

Good catch, 4cyl w59 is .85 and v6 150 is .83

I dont know where I got .81 from!

I heard driving in one gear lower on the freeway is about the difference you experience with a gear swap. A hit on mileage is ok to be able to go the speed limit up the mountain.

 

I've got Patagonia 33x11.5 ill probably be throwing in 5.29s.
I know bfg 31s are a full inch smaller than their stated size, milestars are actual 33s, and Heavy. It was a big jump going from basically a 30 to a 33.
Makes you wonder how many companies give you bogus sizes to save on rubber. Ill probably start a flame war with this one.

 

5.29 will be very low with a 3.4/5spd. differential gears aren't going to produce the low crawl speeds you desire. If you are looking for usable power, 4.88 will be more than enough (and then some extra). A lot of the og members in TTORA are run 4.56 at 33" tires with full armored rigs. 5.29 gears will lose highway/interstate driveability.

 

I have a SAS'd 2.7 with auto trans and my truck weighs in @ 4300 pounds. I have ARB lockers at each end w/ 5.29 gears on 285-75-16's. On the interstate/freeway, I'm turning 2,750 rpm's @ 70mph.
If I had a manual trans, 4.88's would be great for the 3RZ motor.
My truck is a daily driver so it sees highway speeds every day.
I will say that my 0-60 time on flat ground is close to 22-23 seconds.

Good luck with your decision OP.

 

You have a solid point about crawl speed. As far as 4.56s go I dont see them being worth it at all. I'm still leaning towards 5.29s I'm going to call some local shops for their input too.

 

OP,
Which transfer case do you have?
I have an Inch Worm Lefty with a 4.7 gear set and when in 4lo, I can get out and walk with the truck while it idles in gear.
I'm going to suggest 5.29's for you.
Once you start, you'll want bigger tires which going to 5.29's now, will save time and cash.
Look into Dakota Digital for speedo correction.

 

same.

 

I do still want to be able to drive out to Arizona, Big Bear, maybe Nevada, thats kind of the issue im arguing in my mind. 4.88 doesn't seem a big enough jump down. This doesn't HAVE to be my daily, I just love driving my truck instead of an 04 hyundai accent without AC, power windows, big tires, and radio.
I'm in San Diego there isn't anything in my county this rig can't do. But big bear and moab would be a nice challenge.
All in all I guess my question should be who drives 100-300 miles to get to a trail then back. How do you like either gear set?

 

We all drive our rigs out, then back home. It's a beautiful thing.
PM sent.

 

I’m having this very same thought back and forth on 4.56’s and 4.88’s with 33’s and not my daily driver but once a month or sometimes more I drive 4.5 hrs one way and with 4.56’s on my 3.4 5spd It’s 2750@ 70mph with 4.88’s it’s 2950@ 70mph not much but I‘ve noticed when these 3.4’s get over the 2750 rpm mark the MPG’s drop about 2 MPG. I’m leaning 4.88 because my friends say better to be over geared than under geared but don’t want to totally blow the highway part out and have a Eaton Tru Trac going in the rear end.

 

A lot of people run 4.88's even with 35's.

I'd go 4.88's. If you run 5.29's, that probably means you're running 37's+, at which point you should be solid axle anyway, so no real point in stuffing 5.29's in an IFS diff.

People run all sorts of power thru 5.29s though. I wouldn't be too worried about snapping gears with our little toyota motors.

 

I have 4.56 with 5 speed v6. I like it a lot. If you have a 4 cyl go 4.88s. If you want to crawl more then get a crawl box and add that to it. That way you get best of both worlds

 

So the general consensus is:

• if you like highway, go 4.88
• if you like big tires, go 5.29

I just lifted my 3RZ reg cab manual with 4.30s and went to 33s about 2 months ago... had 3 wheeling trips and a drive from Knoxville, TN to Harlan Ky. Then got a deal on 35x13.50r15 BFG Krawlers. I really don't care about highway speeds. I know this is not a racecar. I don't have sway bars anymore, and with JBA ucas and Radflo coilovers, the front likes to lean. As a result, I'm perfectly content to run lower speeds. I wheel with guys on 37s and 40s, and having the lower gear set can be extremely beneficial for the terrain that we run. I had always heard that 5.29s were weaker due to the thickness of the ring gear, and the amount of material on it just due to the number of teeth needed to get the ratio.

If I really don't care about trying to run 70+, are 5.29s the way to go?