Regearing a 6MT. Is it worth it?

Here is my truck as it sits:

• Manual Transmission TRD Off-road
• 255/85/16 Geolandars
• Steel Skids, Sliders, Steel rear bumper (approx 350Lbs)
• possible a front bumper and winch sometime next year

I am trying to decide if regearing is really worth the cost for me. It seems like a lot of people just echo chamber adding any kind of weight or doing any kind of wheeling requires 5.29 but I'm just not sure. I am no expert but I would like some opinions on the situation and if I am missing anything. I am interested in gears because I want a slower crawl speed off-road and because I have added a decent amount of weight to my truck and plan to add more.

Below are gear calculations based on the manual trans. The stats on the left side are for 4.88 gears, the stats on the right are for the stock 4.30s (after doing the calculations 5.29 seems like they are only good for 35 inch tires and up and even then they seem like too much for anyone running anything smaller than a 37. I am planning on keeping 33's.



First up is RPMs at highway cruise. Around 75mph there is only a 300 rpm difference. This doesn't seem like too big of a deal but anything over 80 and you will be spinning close to 3k. But is the extra power really worth all the money if you could just downshift manually when needed? And then shift back up to a lower rpm for better mileage



Next is the crawl speed. This is where I feel like I see the most amount of people just repeating what they read or hear on YouTube. There is barely a difference between the crawl speed of 4.88s vs the crawl speed stock. I do not see how regearing could provide any benefit off-road besides generating more torque, but there is no shortage of torque once in Low range so I don't see the purpose of them for adding to the off-road capability of the truck.

So am I missing anything? it seems like the only thing the regear really will do is help with starting from a stop because of the extra bit of torque, but couldn't a heavier flywheel do the same thing for a whole lot cheaper? I'm not sure and I'm no expert, these are just my thoughts thrown up onto paper.

What do you think?

If you have any insight please swing it my way

 

Whether it’s worth it or not is a personal decision. However, nothing can change the fact that your tires are heavier, 2.5” larger than stock, and they physically altered the final gearing. 4.88 and 33’s is basically back to stock. 80 mph cruises at around 2800 from the factory. That’s not a bad thing, and the 4.88 regear just puts you right back to there…4.88 is not a very drastic regear and neither are 33’s so they balance out. If you are happy with how it runs currently then maybe don’t bother, but regearing is not exactly a bandwagon placebo effect mod like people make it out to be. Some act like regears are trendy and the “cool” thing to do but in a lot of cases it is the proper thing to do.

personally I didn’t like the way stock drove so I’m gearing to 4.88 on stock tires. I’ll be revving 2750 at 70, 2950 at 75, and 3150 rpm at 80. If I had any desire for 33’s, I’d run 5.29 which would be about the same as 4.88 on the stock tires.

a heavy flywheel can help with torque starting out from a stop but that’s really more for momentum offroad. It’s not going to really make the road gearing that much better to live with, and it will also make the rev hang that people hate worse because the engine will have more momentum.

I would not want 33’s and the rpm numbers they would produce, but that’s just me. I don’t mind a bit of rpm for extra power. Yes, you can just downshift, but at least myself, I already downshift quite a bit. Being on larger tires will just make that worse/more often and the taller tires make the gears you downshift to worse also, so whereas I may be able to squeeze by by downshifting to 5th most of the time, on 33’s I’d probably need 4th a decent amount.

as for crawl range it’s subtle differences. Typically one regear ratio of difference on the trail doesn’t make that much difference. If you’re in really tough stuff like steep rock crawling, then yeah you’ll feel it more. But in those types of cases usually those folks need to consider something more like a doubler box or similar because axle gearing isn’t going to change enough to help THAT much.

 

I don't think it's worth the regear. I have had 255/85/16s on my 6MT for 3 years now and I think the stock gearing is just fine. Move up to 35s and it might be worth the consideration for MPGs. But with 33s it's like you said - you can just shift when you need to. If anything, it makes it more fun because you have to shift a little more often than stock. Shifting is the appeal of the 6MT.

 

Have you gotten it tuned? I run the Coyoza tune, but I believe the KDmax is considered superior at this point. Have you done the accumulator delete?

Tuning will run you $300-400ish depending on tune I think and the accumulator delete is about $10 and 45mins. If you regear to 5.29s I think you'll need to get a tune done or else your truck will hit the governor at about 90mph (at least this was how it works in the A/Ts).

I have front skid, sliders, and about 200lbs on the roof rack and running 285/75/17 trail grapplers and find the truck to drive pretty well on stock gears. Gotta downshift a bit more on hills than befores the 34s, but its not bad IMO. I mean, it was never a racecar lol.

 

That's true for the automatic, not true for the manual. I think you'll be fine sticking with 4.3. You have much less to gain than the auto crowd but your cost will be the same.

 

This, and both Sibi and East Coast Gear don’t recommend re-gearing MT as well.