The 5.29 Mega Thread!!

I am also having some buyer’s remorse for getting 5.29’s . I also worry about gears breaking, as it’s happened once already and no warranty was provided by Nitro….I’ve got KM3 35’s and mileage is about 13mpg…35’s look mean and aggressive and that’s awesome, but there are trade offs…On flat highway I can cruise 70 at approx 2100 rpm.
I live at 1000 ft elevation so driving uphill every day I cruise 70 at 34-3600 rpm’s… I also use a pedal commander with gives you different levels of acceleration response and less acceleration lag. It’s a pretty good mod IMO.. Prior to the gears I was running 305/70/17’s … Just not sure the gears were worth it in my case…

 

I'm close to pulling the trigger on 5.29s and 35s and it sounds like a tune is pretty much required to make the re-gear worthwhile. Does a tune also remove (or raise) the top speed governor?

 

I go back and forth on this every day. The 35s look mean, but I'm getting 13 mpg around town and maybe 15 highway. What's weird is, I took 2 trips from colorado springs to denver when I had the factory gears and 35s and I averaged 20 mpg on both trips. For some reason my MPG's went way down after switching to 5.29s. Truck does feel better though. Also find the smiles per gallon thing kinda dumb, because I'm sure as hell not smiling when I can't even go 300 miles on a tank of gas. Filled up yesterday and the truck said 265 miles to empty. That's a full tank.

 

Tunes aren’t required. The forum just likes them.

 

Most tunes will change the top speed and gear ratio values in the ECU. Tunes will not fix your speedometer though, you’ll need a hypertech calibrator for that part.

 

I've got a hypertech calibrator coming this week. Will report back on how well that works.

 

I got the Hypertech when I installed 285s. Works great (gotta have a PC though, the configuration app won't work on a Mac).

 

Posting an Amazon link so it will show up in the products discussed section if others need it later.
Hypertech 730123 Speedometer Calibrator

$148 Hypertech 730123 Speedometer Calibrator

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01CAORWOU/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_E83WBYAX1G5ZQRHRCG1Z?_encoding=UTF8

 

Question about the 500miles break in gear fluid change... I'm just wondering what color fluid is suppose to be coming out? Just finish my break in and just change the fluid and it came out slightly grey and metallic shine.. slight metal particles on the drain magnetic... Is this right or should I be worried?? Front and rear fluid looks the same...

 

Here is what mine looked like in comparison too new and a close up of the drain plug so you see what mine looked like.

 

Normal

 

This. What break-in and changing is all about.

 

thanks for the help... i was going crazy thinking about it the pass few days.. but im gonna do a 1k fluid change for peace of mind...

 

I planned on a 2k change to re check also and compare the colors again.

 

Quick update. My tuner and I got the Tune dialed in to where my truck runs the best with the new gears. (As far as shifting and acceleration). Towed my 22’ Travel Trailer over Fathers Day weekend and…Boy, I sure was expecting a lot more from 5.29’s. In fact, climbing Mounatin Passes it didn’t feel better than stock. On the flats with a headwind it was a constant lug in 4th or Rev in 3rd. Might just be done trying to make this truck work for what we do with it. At this point I’m pretty bummed I spent the money and time on gears. Glad to hear it made a difference for others.

 

How much does your trailer weight? I’ve got a 16 footer that weighs 3400 dry and right at 4K loaded. I skipped gears and went right to a Magnuson. Have pulled out trailer a couple times with the blower and without and made a pretty substantial difference.

 

A lot depend on your driving style. The truck isn’t really designed for towing though it can in small doses. Towing and in mountain passes should be in 4th anyway and I would expect downshifts to 3rd. You aren’t going to run 6th under load at speeds.

 

Dry weight is 3495#. Loaded it varies from 4000#-4500#.

 

Any update to how you are likeing your 4.88s with the weight you are running? Hows your mpgs and truck feel?

 

Definitely much smoother than stock gears. I can't compare to 5.29's since I've never driven on those. I've got about 1000 miles on it since regear to 4.88s. It is much better getting up to speed, feels like a lot of the weight I have added is gone. Gets up to about 73 mph nice and smooth before it will consider what gear to be in at all. I am taking it on a long road trip here from Denver to Michigan and back, leaving next week. That will be the test as we log some long miles on the interstate. I expect it will do great as we head down hill and remain close to sea level for the rest of the trip!