The 5.29 Mega Thread!!

Hello friends. I have a 2022 Tacoma currently on narrow 33s. My hope would be to go to narrow 34s. I am debating between 4.88 and 5.29. I’m wondering what the top speeds you guys would see with those gears and a tune. I currently have an OTT tune, so I’m pretty sure they would help retune if I changed gears.

I currently do not have a heavy, bumper or winch or any of that stuff

 

With a tune neither of those ratios will limit top speed. They’ll just hit top speed at a higher engine and driveshaft rpm than they did before. I’d go 5.29.

 

Great choice with the 5.29s. Yeah seeing that the ratios are similar to a 6MT also helped with my decision. I have a bunch of weight on the truck, and especially now running 285/75r17s (34s), I am happy I went with 5.29s. I am also tuned on OTT as well.

 

I tow this about once a month. I have 5.29's and 33's but hoping to get the OTT tune this weekend. Camper is an E-Pro 20bhs.

 

Finally bumped up to 34s (285/75r17) and the 5.29s finally came into their own.

 

I'm torn between 4.88 and 5.29... Have an appointment late next week and "think" I want to go w/ 5.29 but don't know. Any advice is appreciated based on real world experiences given similar variables...

* Live in Denver, CO and head up to the mountains regularly in both winter and summer - at least 2x per month. Steep 6-7% grades. Truck STRUGGLES. Trying to maintain 70mph going up grades requires regular 3rd gear downshifts. Its painful.
* I do drive 75-80mph when on the freeway, but usually not faster than that.
* Current Specs: 2020 TRD OR // 275/70/17 BFG A/T (E Load so heavy) // 2" Lift // ARE Topper // Steel Sliders // OTT Tune (which I can get refreshed w/ the gearing upgrade)
* Potential Plans: Covert front bumper w/ light winch // May increase tire size to 285/70/17 A/T (but likely will not go larger than that).

Any thoughts or advice specifically from those who live at altitude and have a similar-ish setup?

 

529 since you plan for 33’s and have extra weight especially in a mountainous area.

 

5.29. It will still downshift to at least 4th but will have a lot more torque.

 

I can handle a downshift to 4th. Its just the downshift to 3rd that I want to eradicate.

Any idea on the RPM range in 4th gear from like 50 - 80 mph - assuming 33" tires? I'm mainly curious what limiting the trans to 4th gear would feel like after the regearing. That and compare that to my experience doing the same with stock AT gearing.

 

calculate

 

Is it the rpm you’re at or the principle of the gear you’re in that bothers you?

With stock gears and 275/70R17, the numbers are as follows:

50-80

3rd - 3154-5031
4th - 2110-3376

5.29 and 33’s:

50-80

3rd - 4169-6671
4th - 2798-4477
5th - 1931-3089

4th would be similar to your current 3rd gear but not quite as low.

 

Thank you this is very helpful!

When going up grades, I typically use the 4th gear limiter, which is pretty frequent. So have a lot of seat time in that situation. Unfortunately even limited to 4th, the truck still requires a 3rd gear downshift on steep grades in the mountains - even with the OTT tune. So basically I have a feeling for how the truck behaves in that situation with stock gearing - based on RPM. Want to compare based on my seat time... if that makes any sense.

 

Makes sense. I would expect that with an updated tune (to match the 5.29 for shift points and such), you’d probably spend the time you spend in 3rd now, in 4th with 5.29s, at slightly lower rpm, but still up there. That’s just the nature of the V6, it is a high revver and it just wants to be up there at any load.

 

Based on that it might actually make sense to go with 4.88s. I am fine with keeping it in 4th up the grades, but also dont want it to be screaming like it does now in 3rd... The 4.88s should be like 100-150 rpm lower (roughly)?

 

4.88 would bring those numbers to:

50-80

3rd - 3846-6154
4th - 2581-4130
5th - 1781-2850

bone stock would have been:

3rd - 3299-5278
4th - 2214-3543
5th - 1528-2444

The only concern I’d have with 4.88 is if 4th is enough of an improvement over stock to keep you from going to 3rd. Otherwise you’ll be in 3rd at even higher rpm than you are now. Depends on how much it needs 3rd currently I guess. I’m not sure how much better 4th would need to be to stay in it.

 

I'm willing to send you a tip for the full table if you have it!

To be honest the other variable that I can control is the expectation to maintain a certain speed up steep mountain highway grades (say... 70mph).

 

All I use is the grimmjeeper calculator. Your transmission is the Toyota AC60F. Stock ratio is 3.909. Don’t put in your nominal tire, put in about an inch smaller for real world. 33’s are usually 31.7”-32”.

 

I was playing with the calculator last night for a couple hours. 4.88 might be the better route for my situation (no bigger than 32.7" tires // Prefer to lock trans to 4th gear when driving up/down mountain grades which is pretty frequent). The rpm range at highway speeds in 4th with 4.88 and my tire size is more preferable to me in the mountains. I may also throw on a Magnusson Supercharger this year as well. Appreciate your help!

 

On 285s now with armor and this is where I am thinking too with the SC and OTT tune - been too time and money poor to get it all done - but this is helping me get my butt in GEAR - hahah - good luck and let us know how it goes.

 

Tearing down the yota to replace my nitro 5.29s after one year. Shop set backlash at .001 leaving no room for oil. Gears look like they have 100k miles at 10k of mixed driving. Gears whine and howl like a banshee especially on decel. I replaced the bearings and set the backlash to .008 but that did not good as the gears are wore in with a bad pattern and will have to be replaced. The Nitro shop in Cashmere, WA that did the install (same one featured on Tacoma Beast's youtube channel) is the shop that messed it up. They are closed for good so I am SOL and on my own to get the gears replaced at my cost. So pissed since summer is starting and mountains are calling.

As for performance and my take on 5.29s here are my thoughts. First they make 35s feel like stock tires. I went from WA down through western Utah into Nevada across the Pony Express, then up through Tahoe and back home to Oak Harbor, WA. Power was never an issue with the 5.29s. Passing a gas station is an issue. Could've been the piss poor setup from the aforementioned shop, but the best I could get on my trip was 14.5 MPG and yes that is adjusted for the tire size. I don't commute to work so this isn't a killer for me and I'd much rather have the power. That said I don't like running so high in the RPMs in states with high speed limits as I cruise from one off road spot to another. Actually thinking about stepping up to a long travel 6" lift and 39s to offset the 5.29s a bit more.


Honestly for the price I should've just done a third member swap through ECGS.