crawler#976

As an addition to the Kong's info above- it is better to let the gears cool down completely after the initial break in miles- as in overnight or while the vehicle is parked all day at work.

Several years ago, I had a third built in Phx, AZ., about 100 miles from home. I drove the initial 20 miles north on I-17 to Anthem, stopped and had a sit down dinner that took over an hour. I then drove another 40 miles north to a rest area and parked for another hour +. Unfortunately, I didn't make it home w/ a usable rearend- the next 60 miles killed the gears. I was lucky - the gears were warrentied out. I had the third rebuilt again, but this time I pulled it and took it down in my wifes vehicle. The 5.29's lasted 3 years - not bad considering the abuse they'd been thru.

Cebby

Thanks for the info guys. For the initial break in, I had about a 15 mile drive home from DMG's shop. I drove all back roads (this took some creative mapping...) and didn't go over 35 mph - alot of it was bumper to bumper crawling. I then took it pretty easy for the first 500 total miles.

I intentially did not wheel it, but for the first 100 or so miles, I locked my hubs to get the fronts some activity.

Steve - you described exactly what I my diff oil looked like. Front was pretty clear, rear was dark with some sludgy stuff. Glad to hear this is normal...

On a side note, my gas mileage has improved dramatically with the 5.29's. I was around 12-13 mpg and I'm up to about 16-17 now (mix of city/hwy). I could not believe it!!!

PAhydrohead

Mike,

I bet you're glad to get the mileage back up. What I don't understand about the new gears is how come you have to baby the aftermarket gear sets but if you buy a brand new 4Runner/pickup you aren't told to follow this strict procedure and you don't hear about people returning those vehicles because the gears failed????

Flygtenstein

Mike, glad to hear things are falling in line. I never ran 33's with stock gearing, so I cannot comment on mileage upticks other than with engine changes.

You will really dig the two switches, just be sure to use them a lot. Some times having the choice gets me in trouble.

sschaefer3

This is a really good point and one we discussed with the guy who setup the FJ-62 gears. He said the factory buys the R&P in huge lots and then they setup 1 and find out the shims, etc. Then as long as they keep using the same batch they are fine. We did this with the FJ 9" diffs, set the rear up and used the same formual for the front, which is the same 9" diff. It fell right in.

The Japaneese cut gears Toyota uses are extremely high quality, Aftermarket gears can vary.

914runner

Are there any companys that make as high quality after market gears?

sschaefer3

Yes, Richmond is said to be OEM quality as well as the gear Precision Gear sells. Lots of people includeing my self have had good luck with the Yukon line from Randy's

The ones you DO NOT want are Genuine Gear. They are junk.

Cebby

I went with Yukon's as well. If Steve hasn't broken them yet, they must be good!!

914runner

Cebby do you still have your 4.88 front diff?
Thanks

Cebby

Yep...

ravencr

Will this be the same process for a 3rd gen?

Chris

Cebby

Dunno for sure Chris - never worked on a 3rd Gen.

I think there are differences in the e-brake cable for the rear and I think Steve S. mentioned something different up front with how the CV's are attached.

ravencr

k, thanks! I wonder if there's some good writeups for a 3rd gen front and rear diff swaps?

Chris

Cebby

Steve has one on his site...

http://www.sonoransteel.com/regear/index.htm

ravencr

Thanks man! I really appreciate it!

Chris