4.88 gears with 33” tires. Bad idea?

I’m looking to regear soon and need some advice/opinions.

background:

Mildly built 4Runner SR5. Basic specs include a lift, 33x10.5 tires, bumper, winch, roof rack etc. naturally, the larger tires and weight made an already slow car even slower, though it was livable.

I recently moved to Colorado from Washington, and the power robbing altitude exacerbated the problem even more. Mountain pass highways can easily exceed 10,000ft elevation, and when fully loaded down with a weekends worth of camping gear, my 4r is pretty dang gutless. To the point where it gets a little sketchy.

my plan is to regear and throw in ARBS front and rear. 4.56s would be ideal for my 33” kendas. Though I know eventually I’ll want to move up to their 35x10.5 tire size, cause who doesn’t want 35s. Which 4.88s would be ideal
For. I don’t wanna re gear now and then re gear again a year or so down the road. Do it nice or do it twice as the saying goes.

so my question is, if I were to re gear to 4.88s while still on my 33s, would that be significantly over driving the power train? I really don’t go above 60mph during my weekly commute and mostly take back roads. I’m not familiar with any potential concerns or problems that overgearing could bring besides high revs at speed.


Any advice on the subject would be appreciated, thanks !

 

Do the 4.88s, I’m running them on 255/80/17 and it’s perfectly fine. The drivability is great.

 

If you are certain you are doing 35's soon, then go with 488's. I'm doing right now 456 but I'm not planning to go to 35's and I have a supercharger so 488's won't be suitable for me. It seems most people go to 488's though.

 

Good to hear, seeing as we have pretty similar tire sizes.

 

4.88 and I’ll add that the biggest issue with ARB is a botched install.

So I went with ECGS, get the built 3rd members from them. They do ARB installs all day long and really know what they’re doing with both the differential setup and ARB Installs.

While you’re at it, get the bushing to replace the needle bearing too.

Good luck and Cheers
Mike

 

Or, you could buy the magnuson supercharger. Or do both

 

I just installed the Magnuson and have stock gearing. I'm also running 285/70/17 tires. It's right where I want to be with that combination. If I was running 35's with the supercharger I'd likely opt for the 4.56. Without the supercharger and planning on 35" tires 4.88 sounds suitable.

 

Oh very nice! I have rebuilt a rear end before. A ford 8.8 31 spline. 94 F150, 3.73 gears, added a lunchbox locker. It isn't fun. And you really don't want to pay a shop twice to do it. I kinda regret not going to 4.10s, but you do start losing mileage. I imagine the supercharger pulls 33s fine without the regear. 35s, you probably want to talk to Jeep and big boi truck people. 4.88 is only 7% bigger than the 4.56, so that isn't a big difference. May as well go big, but definitely talk to some knowledgeable people. Buy once, cry once!

 

Will Tacoma diffs or gears fit in 5th gen? I would like their 4:30s.

 

i had 4.56’s in a super duty 6.0L with 37” tires. it ripped but i probably would have been happier with 4.11’s. just depends on how and where you drive. for the highway, probably a bit too low. city was fine though.