Regear VS tune

Gears are mechanical, tune is electronic. I went with the gears first because of the foundation they provide (4:88 w/ locker). If you'd like a lower gear ratio for crawling, then you'd get the gears. The tune doesn't change the crawl ratio, but it is a quick fix compared to dropping your differentials. ECGS LINK

 

I've got both and if I had it to do over I'd 100% get the gears first and then reevaluate how the truck feels to you. If you've got an auto trans go 5.29 unless all your miles are highway and then maybe reconsider for 4.88. Either way mpgs will suffer

 

New Pro stickers available.

 

My 35x10.5s and an Ov tune do just fine on the street and on the trail.

 

See previous post

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/m-w-nexus.752391/

 

But gears and a blower make it so much more fun.

 

I would figure out what Rpm and speed you want to be at and decide from there. I went an unconventional route since my truck has a blower and I didn't need the additional mechanical advantage that the 5.29's provide. I opted for 4.56's, I haven't towed with them yet but for my normal driving it has been great. With 285/75r16's at 32psi I am right at 2k rpms in 6th at 70 which is the normal highway cruising speed. Truck has plenty of power there and no wonky back and forth shifting from 5-6-5-4-5-6 like it did before the blower.

 

How much?

 

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Just $5/each or 3 for $10. Shipping included.

 

Personally, I think that's terrible advice. A tune is great, but it only does so much. Unless you are tuning it yourself (which from my understanding reduces the cost drastically), then fine, but paying someone else to tune twice when you should have gone with gears that help 10x more than a tune is not wise. A tune only makes it FEEL like you lightened the load, it doesn't mechanically change anything. It just remaps. Gears are always a best bet first hand when lifting and putting bigger tires/adding more weight. Always. The only reason people avoid doing gearing is cost and the work. If you can swing it, do gearing, every time. Hell, it's pretty clear that gearing is even a good option on these trucks stock - but yes, at stock sizes it's probably better to give the tune a shot since you have not created any added stress on mechanical components.

Gears first. Tune second.

 

I’ve run the tune and it’s evolution since 2017 (OG 1.03) and I’ve run gears since 2018. When my truck was on a stock tune with 4.88 gears it did not drive well at all and still shifted too much all the time. OPs 285’s will most definitely need gears to have the torque, but tuning does add hp and torque and some dudes like it with their 285’s…So why not try that first?

You can’t change shifting with gears like you can with the tune and the tune also now incorporates gearing and tire size…so…why wouldn’t you know how your truck performs with the tune saving $$$ with your stock gear setup, then if it truly isn’t up to standards, drop the cash for gears…? Now saying that, gears helps a lot with towing. I tow 4K lbs regularly and it makes a big difference cruising down the freeway. (Bigger tires than 32’s would not be fun though with 4.88’s)

the tunes these days are quite impressive and do change many characteristics of the driving experience.

Gears and tune is the ultimate combo, but not everyone can afford gears, and getting the lousy stock transmission shifting fix and a noticeable more amount of power made me happier without the gears for a while. That was back then…Now you can get tunes that are highly refined with all the custom options for your trucks specs and it is more worthwhile than you think for a lot less $$$ than gears. Not saying gears aren’t awesome, because I do like my gears, but tuning changes the experience for the daily. Paired together it’s mint

seems practical to me…

this is tuned (Nexus tune) with 32’s (255/75/17) & 4.88’s cruising

 

Yea... agreed both are a good combo... Still doesn't change the difference between what a tune does and what gears do.

 

The tune definitely makes the truck ride a lot better, but the gears are the biggest factor. Just gears is much better than just tune. Both are the absolute best.

 

Here’s what I tell people all the time…

Tune is like tits, Gears are like ass… both are great and enhance different driving aspects.

Combined they’re a match made in heaven

 

I think the tune and the gears both address the same issue differently. As it is the engine and transmission shifting logic work against each other. The engine is rev happy and only makes power up high in the rpms range and the transmission is tuned for economy and tries to keep the rpm's as low as possible. By altering the software you are able to better match the engine and transmission so they are working together instead of against each other. Re-gearing the differentials doesn't fix the crappy shifting but it does raise your rpms. For the low cost of a tune I would do it before doing gears.

 

Not really. The shifting happens because of the gearing of the truck. If you tune it or even super charge it the same gearing issue exists. Once you gear it to something better the ratios all change. Thats when you realize that even tho you regeared the truck still lacks power. Theres a lot less erratic shifting, but you still need fourth to get enough power to pass. Thats when the tune or SC helps more.