The 4.88 mega thread!!

4.88’s in loving it so far. Babying it now for a smooth break in. What a difference. Super stoked on this mod especially since I’ll have this rig till the wheels fall off.

 

I'm considering this exact setup. How'd it go?? Did you also have your truck tuned?

 

You're gonna love the Truetrac. I've had mine for about 9 months. It's seen about 70 miles of dirt and it has made my 2wd truck a lot more capable. Also in the rain I feel more planted around turns.

 

Just put a down payment at the shop for 4.88 gears and install.

 

Haven't gotten anything installed yet. Waiting for some parts.

Plan is to have the re-gear & true-trac installed before making any decisions about a tune.

That being said... the truck will most likely get tuned.

 

Can the ADD tube be removed from the front diffential while in the truck? Or do I have to pull the whole clamshell as an assembly to be able to get at all the bolts? Installed my built diff a few weeks ago and have noticed a small leak between the tube and diff. Guess I must have been to light on the RTV. Or maybe it was too cold ( low 20's) when I applied it. Can't find any application specs on the Toyota brand orange transaxle RTV.

 

I dropped mine off Saturday for 4.88's & a Dobinson's MRR lift. Can't wait to get it back!

 

Id pull the whole thing.

 

Got my truck back with 4.88 gears installed. pretty happy with the result so far in limited driving

 

How did it go?

 

I got out on the highway for the first time with gears. It acts like a normal vehicle now. I can accelerate up a slight incline without the trans shifting down violently. Cruising around 65-80 depending on the traffic I got 19.6 mpg on my 140 mile run. It changed the truck. I can say I would be over geared with 5.29 based on my weight and wheel set up currently. Toyota really dropped the ball on this aspect of the truck. It should have came from the factory with a similar gear ratio.

 

We had bad icy weather, so no progress. Prob be next weekend maybe….

 

Agreed but I wish I could have, like, 4.50s. A little lower rpm at 75mph would be nice.

 

Get bigger tires!

 

I've run everything from 255/85r16s to 285s to 265s and 275s. It doesn't make that much of a difference. Maybe 100 rpms.

Edit: Confirmed, it's just 100 rpm difference between a 32 and 33. And that means even less between a 32.2 (275) and 32.8 (285). If the math is as easy as I think it is, that's just 60 rpm difference.

 

Just got my truck back from ECGS with 4.88 Yukon gears, and then got an OTT retune with light throttle response. Truck is still on stock 265/70r16s and no lift or extra weight othern than the bed cap. It has a little gear whine between 55-60 mph, but nothing annoying just sounds like tires noise.
Still in the break in period for another 400 miles and keeping the speeds under 65 for now.
MPG took a little hit on the highway, but is easily justified with how the truck drives now. I used to average between 21-22 on my daily drive, but now Im sitting at 20 (again- still breaking in gears and only have 100 miles on the clock so far). What I will say is that I probably wont cruise at 80mph too often (not that I did much before anyways). I used to be at 2000RPM doing 80mph. Now, Im at 2000RPM doing 65mph. Not a big deal for me- if Im on the highway, Im normally towing a trailer and keep it at 70mph or below anyways.
In and around town driving is not even comparable. Stock gears, even with the tune still left me with dead areas in the RPM where I'd lose speed at the slightest incline or wasnt able to accelerate without the need for the transmission to downshift (it was embarrassing for me). Now, my MPG in town has seemed to go up a bit as Im not having to lean into the pedal as hard to drive normal. It is night and day difference.
Some people buy a car and drive it for what it is and are happy with it. I came from driving an ecodiesel jeep and was spoiled with ridiculous torque and an 8spd transmission. Gears and a tune were a MUST for me and am completely happy with it. For those on the fence about gears, yeah- you might get a little whine from them at certain speeds and highway speed/mpg may be affected a little (again- Im still on stock tires). But the benefits to me, far outweigh the negatives- best upgrade youll never see. Price is the biggest factor as they arent very cheap, but think of it this way- if it were an option from the factory at the same cost, how many people have rolled it up into their financing?
Can't wait to see how the taco tows the SXS once the break in period is over (about 4000lbs including trailer).

 

i can see where you're coming from but compared to being under geared ill take a little extra rpm and the advantages of it vs the disadvantages.

 

I was going to try 285/75r16's but I think I will go with 255/85r16's. Just hate the bigger tire selection.

 

and the cost. the big skinnies are pricy