Running 4.88 gears, was it worth the Cost??

[DJCloz]

Hey guys my last and final major mods left for my truck are rear bumper ( appx. $3k for the slee shipped) and gears and front locker (my 99 has the stock rear E locker) The cost of the Nitro Gears and required install parts is appx $1400. Once I am having the front diff opened, it would be silly not to install a front locker at the same time. The ARB is about $900. I am not even factoring the compressor cost, I would take care of this at a different time. I am assuming the labor will be at least $600+. My LC is not a daily driver, but since getting it 6 months ago, I have put 10k miles on it because I just enjoy driving it so much on weekends and taking road trips. I don't feel the power difference is that much of difference from when I had stock sized tires. The other thing is that I drove the car very cautiously in the first month or so when I purchased it since it had 170k miles. I then installed 33's. Perhaps that is why I do not notice the power loss? The only time I do notice the power loss is when going up steep grades for long period of times. Without pushing the truck too hard, but this is a rare occasion. I am attending HIH in July and plan to drive all over the mid west that week. So the questions is :

Is the 4.88 gears worth the cost or would you get the sleep bumper first?

I am aware that the rear bumper will add even more weight to the rig, therefore needing gears, but if you had to choose.

I am also aware that my front diff on my 99 is "weak" and the front locker would fix that issue.

Decisions...... Decisions....

other notes: I seem to drive about 75-80 mph when on open roads outside of town.

 

[bamabrock]

going from a 4.30 to a 4.88 isn't worth it IMO.

 

[SanDiegoCruiser]

I regeared my 99 over two years ago. It's not my daily driver. For around town & on trails it's great. But on long hwy trips the RPM's are around 2900 at 80mph. I got used to it but that's really the only downside. I'm running 34" toyos. With your 33's your RPMs would be even higher..

 

[ihadmail]

@SanDiegoCruiser are you using a yellow box or anything to bring your RPM/Speed back within OEM ratio or just leaving it as is and letting the tire and gear size get it close enough?

This thread is also relative to my interest as I'm contemplating the same thing about buying gears.

 

[DJCloz]

I regeared my 99 over two years ago. It's not my daily driver. For around town & on trails it's great. But on long hwy trips the RPM's are around 2900 at 80mph. I got used to it but that's really the only downside. I'm running 34" toyos. With your 33's your RPMs would be even higher..

Darn, I thought regearing would help lower the RPMS for hwy speed. I currently do about the same RPMS / MPH ratio as you do(per the speedometer) I have not recalibrated. I know that at 70 MPH I am really going 73.5 MPH ( per various GPS unit readings)

 

[lrowe_csp]

I run a 34.4" tire, and I have the slee bumpers, BIOR under armor, winch, dual battery's, arb fridge and a lot of gear in drawers in the back. The LC felt very heavy and slow, so I regeared at the same time that I put the arb lockers in, and it was money well spent, as my LC has sufficient "get up and go" to make driving fun. I had previously regeared my 80 series when I did an arb install on it, so this was the second time around and it was a no brainer for me to do the same with my 100 series.

 

[DJCloz]

I run a 34.4" tire, and I have the slee bumpers, BIOR under armor, winch, dual battery's, arb fridge and a lot of gear in drawers in the back. The LC felt very heavy and slow, so I regeared at the same time that I put the arb lockers in, and it was money well spent, as my LC has sufficient "get up and go" to make driving fun. I had previously regeared my 80 series when I did an arb install on it, so this was the second time around and it was a no brainer for me to do the same with my 100 series.

did you notice any difference in gas mileage?

 

[jemsec]

Agree with BamaBrock. Unless you just have to have them. Then it's ok.

 

[pcut]

After blowing my front diff on Kane Creek Canyon last fall (see my Real Time Help in Moab thread), I faced the same question. I have Slee front and rear bumpers, winch, OME lift etc. I elected to stay with the stock gears because I drive 3-6 hours on the highway from Park City to Cedar Mesa, Moab, Wyoming, Idaho,etc. etc. and I didn't want the noise or fuel consumption associated with 4.88s. I put front and rear lockers in and have more than enough power to pull Parley's summit (4200' elevation to over 7000') full loaded at 75-80 mph. I say spend your $ elsewhere.

 

[sonk76]

I didn't notice real impact on MPG. not needed with 33's, with 34"+ it's nice to have the extra responsiveness...

 

[lostih]

I blew up my front diff in my driveway...literally...and then faced the same decision as you. I opted to regear, but wouldn't have in retrospect...especially if you drive 80. I am in the process of switching from 33's to 35's to help with the RPM's. I would do the ARB in the front though...and if you plan to go to 35's now is the time to do the gears...

 

[benc]

My vote is to regear first and wait for the dissent rear bumper

The 4.88 were worth every penny and while your in there you may want to consider lockers.
I was geared with 33s for a while and loved the extra power but anything over 70mph the rpm were to high. I ended up back on 35s and it puts my speedo and odometer back where it needs to be.

 

[SanDiegoCruiser]

Darn, I thought regearing would help lower the RPMS for hwy speed. I currently do about the same RPMS / MPH ratio as you do(per the speedometer) I have not recalibrated. I know that at 70 MPH I am really going 73.5 MPH ( per various GPS unit readings)

I have a yellow box recalibrated to match my gps for speed.

 

[bluecruiser]

Not worth the coin if running 33s. If you get to the 34.5 plus tire, maybe. I'd still look at a @benc bumper, regardless of what you do.

 

[hoser]

@Carlos Lozano , My understanding is you are trying lower your RPM's at 80mph. 4.88's will do the opposite.

 

[DJCloz]

I blew up my front diff in my driveway...literally...and then faced the same decision as you. I opted to regear, but wouldn't have in retrospect...especially if you drive 80. I am in the process of switching from 33's to 35's to help with the RPM's. I would do the ARB in the front though...and if you plan to go to 35's now is the time to do the gears...

Very interesting. I just got these new KO2 33's. I really do want to be able to drive 80 on the hiway. I did run some used 35's before purchasing these tires for test fitment and they just rubbed too much and were not even full 35's since they were used. Maybe I will just go with the rear bumper. I am not against the @benc bumper, I am just incredibly impatient and slee seems to be the only guy that keeps products pre made in stock.

 

[TeCKis300]

I'd re-gear. It will give her some good around town agility back being so heavy. Re-gearing won't make much of a power difference on the open highway, as that's where HP takes over. But it will give you your torque back for every other driving situation.

Also, gas mileage is not just straight RPM. You have to consider load. With a heavy vehicle and taller tires, the engine is always running at higher load points. This will cause it to run rich.

So even though you might be running at higher rpm points after a re-gear, the engine will be running at lower load points. This likely will save gas, as well as taking strain (and improving longevity) of the engine.

 

[duggy]

Correct! Re-gearing should net you some MPG back even with 33s.

 

[tabraha]

The 4.88's are a subtle improvement when on big tires similar to the 5sp tranny being a subtle improvement IMO. Go out to 100's in the hills for the best side by side comparison. You will see that us 4.88 guys are not setting the world on fire and those guys with the 5sp tranny aren't blowing anyones doors off going up the roads either.

My MPG hardly fluctuates with 4.88's. It just is what it is anymore. I pulled the expo trailer ~600 miles between Friday and Monday and was right under 12mpg. I basically get that without the trailer LOL. Over the ~4500 mi trip we did with the trailer this past summer we averaged ~11.x mpg also. That included a full week of not seeing asphalt between Maine and Canada averaging 50-70 miles per day for several days.

80mph on 4.88's is spinning the engine pretty good... Not sure I'd go the 4.88 route if you do alot of driving at that speed. The biggest advantage of the 4.88's is out of the hole and on grades at lower speeds IMO. The biggest weakness is engine speed at higher freeway speeds. Your described use sounds like the best route would be to do the Slee Bumper and run it for awhile. If you feel like you want to re-gear to get a little zoom-zoom back so be it. If it's really not bothering you then go ahead and do the ARB up front, forgo the re-gear and spend the $ on doing the compressor so you have a usable front locker. I certainly would not rush re-gearing when you can add the rear bumper and then make a decision.

 

[DJCloz]

The 4.88's are a subtle improvement when on big tires similar to the 5sp tranny being a subtle improvement IMO. Go out to 100's in the hills for the best side by side comparison. You will see that us 4.88 guys are not setting the world on fire and those guys with the 5sp tranny aren't blowing anyones doors off going up the roads either.

My MPG hardly fluctuates with 4.88's. It just is what it is anymore. I pulled the expo trailer ~600 miles between Friday and Monday and was right under 12mpg. I basically get that without the trailer LOL. Over the ~4500 mi trip we did with the trailer this past summer we averaged ~11.x mpg also. That included a full week of not seeing asphalt between Maine and Canada averaging 50-70 miles per day for several days.

80mph on 4.88's is spinning the engine pretty good... Not sure I'd go the 4.88 route if you do alot of driving at that speed. The biggest advantage of the 4.88's is out of the hole and on grades at lower speeds IMO. The biggest weakness is engine speed at higher freeway speeds. Your described use sounds like the best route would be to do the Slee Bumper and run it for awhile. If you feel like you want to re-gear to get a little zoom-zoom back so be it. If it's really not bothering you then go ahead and do the ARB up front, forgo the re-gear and spend the $ on doing the compressor so you have a usable front locker. I certainly would not rush re-gearing when you can add the rear bumper and then make a decision.

Great insight. I am pretty sure that is the route I am going. The week of HIH I plan to drive 3k miles all over the mid west. WEll I just called slee and ordered a rear bumper!!!! Should be here by next week!