Well I'm finally doing it 4.88

I made an appointment with East Coast Gear Supply to get 4.88 gears installed in my 5th gen. I have been putting it off for too long. Looking forward to it.

 

Nice. Just for those who dont totally understand, can you explain what putting that 4:88 will do? What benefits will you gain? Thank you

 

Small wheels turn fast
Big wheels turn slow
OP wants big wheels turn fast
By regearing. Magic happens inside rear end (booty upgrade)
Now big wheels spin fast

It helps to think of gears and how they mesh and what happens if you increase the size of the output

Someone will correct me thats what i yearn for

 

nice! Layman's terms!

 

Yes great explanation. I want to be able to climb at a more controlled and less full send over an obstacle and not worry about flying off the edge of a cliff lol. Weeeeee.

 

Lmao. I asked the question and your response totally made sense. Thank you

 

Gears make your rear end (wheels) spin faster utilizing the same output rotations from your output shaft/driveshaft. So for every revolution of your transmission output shaft, your rear wheels will spin so many revolutions of what your rear end gears are (or both front/rear gears in a 4wd setup).

They are the best bang for your buck performance upgrade on a sports car. For a foxbody mustang for instance (since i own one with gears), the stock rear end gear ratio is 2.73 which means for every 1 revolution of the output shaft/driveshaft the rear wheels will spin 2.73 times. I have a ratio of 3.31's in my rear end, so now for every 1 revolution of my output shaft/driveshaft, my wheels spin 3.31 times. I think i'm getting those numbers right. Just makes your car get up and go faster, keeps you in a more usable powerband when driving, etc.

For a 4wd situation, it helps move more weight (like a 4runner with armor/bigger tires) easier. It also is good for rock crawling because you can have more rpm/speed control going really slowly while wheeling.

 

Very nice!
BTW, it is 3.73 gear ratio for stock.

 

Nice.

I have an open order for a 1 ton Ford pickup running 4.30 and wish they had a 4.88 option for the pickups and not just chassis cabs.

 

You can do that as well on the F pickup. I have a friend that all he does is to regear the raptors that go overseas.

 

well yeah you can do anything aftermarket.

I'm gonna try 4.30 first though, I spec'ed it with the 7.3 V8 so it will still have plenty of torque off idle.

 

Actually this is incorrect. The ratio is the number of drive shaft revolutions into the differential per one rotation of the axle / wheel. A 3.73:1 gearing requires 3.73 revolutions of the drive shaft to rotate the axle / wheel one revolution. A 4.88:1 gearing requires 4.88 revolutions of the drive shaft to rotate the axle / wheel one revolution.
Assuming 3.73:1 is the original gearing, the engine, in a given gear at a given vehicle speed will be turning 1.3 times faster with the 4.88 gears. For example, at at ~80 mph, instead of turning ~2500 rpm, it will be turning ~3250 rpm. The net result is better acceleration, better 4wd manners and typically lower fuel economy..

 

Actually, the higher the numerical ratio,the slower the tires spin regardless of size

 

Slower spinning tires mean the the drivetrain wil be able to delivery more toque to the ground.

 

The transmission fluid will be cooler and the engine will be back in its operating range.

 

Came to say the same thing. They had it backwards. You get more torque because it is easier on the engine/transmission but you actually lose top speed as the engine will run at higher RPMs. I have 4.88 on my 4Runner. I noticed it more when off-roading and driving down the highway than I did just driving down the road. I have more control off-roading and higher RPMs on the freeway

 

My '94 Pickup came factory equipped with 4.88 gears. These were optioned with the 31x10.5x15 tires and automatic transmissions. My guess Toyota re-geared these trucks in '92 to help the 3.0L V6 keep up with larger six cylinder engines from Jeep, GM and Ford. I'll agree it helped as acceleration is adequate for its era and not frustratingly slow like '91-earlier trucks.

 

Yes i had it backwards, but same theory applies. You guys are correct.

Hey i did caveat it with "i think i'm getting my numbers right", gotta protect yourself on the forums.

 

@Ctreg , show us pics if you can.

 

That’s all I got. They hide the work area way in the back can't even hear the impacts.
I love the 4.88. Drives real nice now. 2400 rpm at 70mph in 5th.

 

Nice! You’ll have to give us all a report on the driving manners and new mpg!

*if you’re up for it

 

Yeah now I have to stop every 50 miles for 30 minutes for 500 miles all the way back home. I'll let you all know when I get them broke in and new gear oil in. I have been waiting a while to get this done so I'm pretty happy. It's a big upgrade for me. $$

 

That's like putting 4.30s on a stock-tired 4Runner.

 

Finished break in on the rear differential. The 4runner now drives so much better than I expected. Fuel seems like it's going to be way better than before it really stays in the power band of the engine. It's a lot more torquey as well.

 

Wait until you go off-roading and drop it in manual down to first gear. Then it crawls down. Granted not as slow as a double transfer case but for a small modification 4Runner it is quite the difference.

 

Looking forward to hearing your results, I joined specifically for this thread haha!