The 5.29 Mega Thread!!

Stories like this make me fear doing a re-gear in the first place.

 

Oh I would do the 5.29s again if I was starting from scratch. There are some things I've crawled out of like a champ that I would've been stuck in without the 5.29s. Get a good shop, insist on pictures of the gear pattern for both front and rear diffs, coast and drive side. Insist on backlash measurement and I would add in the drag reading as well. Because gear setups are tedious shops like to call close enough perfect and say things like, "It's a little louder than we like but everything is good".

I ended up buying all the tools and will do my own from now on. Not the most difficult thing in the world, just tedious. Helps to have a really good bearing puller so you can adjust without ruining bearings. Also a solid spacer with shims to avoid the crush sleave headache. A third member holder (transmission holder) is nice to have but not required.

I would not try to run 33s-35s without the re-gear. Once my 35s are wore out I'm setting up to roll 39s. Again not my daily driver. Bought it to be my mid-life crisis toy. It has to be able to get me deep in the woods and away from people without any concern for getting stuck. I won't be satisfied with trails Subarus can take.

 

After years of creeping on this thread I’ve finally made the jump to Yukon 5.29 gears. I had my truck done at Premier West Gears in Riverside. My truck isn’t tuned and I’m only running 285/70/R17s but the truck going into fifth and sixth gears on the free and has more low end torque. Tomorrow I am getting the @Apogee Offroad rear bumper with tire carrier installed. Excited to see how it responds with a little weight in the back.

 

Wow crazy to hear that. Seems like that guy is just a pure yt$grabber.


Is the ECGS swap the route to go?


I’m on 255/85/16 tuned and definitely notice the lack of power but the tune covers it mostly but I’d guess not for 35s.

 

Just picked my truck up from ECGS today. Went with the 5.29’s. I run 285/70/17’s and pull a 20 ft bay boat. Now I just need to get thru this 500 mile break in period.

 

Can you share a cost. Will be near in September. Been thinking about it.

 

$3217

 

Thats about what I paid after core returns for 5.29 with ARB lockers front and rear, sold spacer with me doing the installs.

 

Want to do mine?

 

I'm on my way.
It was not terribly difficult. The rear diff is surprisingly simple and fairly quick. The front diff is more difficult mainly because of everything in the way.
When I did mine it was a Friday after work for the rear diff, Saturday morning for the front. I have videos up of the installs which will give you a good idea of the process.

 

Man am I glad I pulled the trigger on the 5.29's.
Stock gearing is whack compared to the 5.29's. More power more pop.
Tacoma wants to go now and it pulls the 20 foot bay boat like a champ.

 

Really? I paid $3,500 all in dropped the truck off for 2 days. Traveled a bit and had to get an Airbnb but still didn’t have to do anything myself. Helps finding someone who used to work at ECGS

 

Yep, mine was around $3500 including ESGC. Worth every penny, for not having to lift a finger except to break them in.

 

Just to be clear, you guys are saying you paid $3,500 for 5.29, ARB lockers front and rear and labor?

I paid $3,300 - $3,400 after core returns for 5.29s, both front and rear ARB lockers, and solid spacer. No labor, I did the diff installs.

 

For me that price did not include lockers.
It included 5.29s front and rear, ESGC, + all labor and all taxes.

 

I need this dudes info!

 

Maybe if it was all parts only and 0 labor

 

Yup in Colorado. Guy has probably increased prices some now that he opened a shop. This was out of his garage at the time.

 

I see, you only added 1 locker, the front. I added both ARB lockers front and rear. The lockers alone were $2,000 for me.

 

Got my 3rd and clamshell from ECGS yesterday, but I procrastinated ordering a VFTuner cable (I was expecting to have more time sine ECGS states 4 weeks lead time). I put in an order last night, should I wait til I get my cable to install gears, or install gears this weekend and retune when ever the cable arrives? I have OTT mild right now, and I have all the files for 5.29s, just need the cable.

I'm sure many of you can relate, when you get new parts you want to install them right away.