Well I haven't posted in a while because I'm on vacation and super busy. Last week I got my 4.88's put in. Only problem was the speed sensor in the rear diff broke off it was so seized. Got a new sensor but now can't get the old piece out of the diff.. no biggie it holds oil. Now then for those complaining about the 3.slow power that have put on bigger tires quite moaning and buying little mods and spend the cash to regear. It's like driving a whole new truck. It actually has power now!! I can use my cruise again! From the moment I let out the clutch I could tell it was better. It takes off from a dead stop so much easier and I can pull hills a gear higher now. I also got more miles to a tank then I ever had since I first started changing tire sizes more than 3 years ago. It was totally worth the money. Right after having them installed I broke them in, changed the oil and then I drove a 1100 mile round trip and everything worked fine. Averaged 17 MPG. High was 18.5. This is with 33's. I came home today to repack and change my oil and I'm leaving tonite for Cali which will be another 2500 miles by the time I get home. The runner is definitly getting a workout this vacation but so far has performed flawlessly. Got my Stubbs sliders welded on this morning and pretty happy with them. Wish me luck on my roadtrip/internet girl meeting adventure.

 

Nice, thats good to hear. I'm gettin mine very soon. Hoping to wait for a really good deal somewhere so i can get a package with front and rear ring and pinion, install kits and a rear detroit locker. Im probably gonna get 5.29's for my 33's. Hope those arent too low, but i may go to 35"s someday.

 

What kind of milage were you averaging before regearing?

 

Swall I was averaging about 15-16 and if I was in a hilly area or pulling my trailer I was getting 11-12!!
Yotafool 5.29's may be a little low for a 5 speed depending on the type driving you do. I am running about 3200 rpm at 70 mph now. The speedlimit was 75 on most of the freeway I was on last weekend but I only ran 70 because I was turning almost 3500 at 75 and the 3.0 drinks the gas at anything over 3 grand as you probably know. I see no need to run the engine that hard for just an extra 5mph anyways. Before I regeared I could barely hit 70 on a flat but at 60 I was only turning like 2200 or so.

 

The sliderz look very nice Joey.
I can only imagine how it must feel with the new power from the gears.

Have fun on your trip.

Hey, our rigs are looking the same now from the sides since you got the sliderz on.

 

hmm, so do you think you are geared a little better than you were stock with 31's?

 

Semper Fi Jake!! I'm Thinkin 5.29's would be pretty tough if you commute at all. That sounds more like a step to take at the same time as slappin on the 35's but then again I never claim to be an authority on something I've never done myself. I'm sure someone on here could tell us what kind of RPM's at speed would result from that combo. UK, Your rig looks AWESOME!! Have a great trip to Cali and be safe Bud! Great info on the re-gear and tire set up. It was recommended a while back that I get that done on mine. I just Dumped a big pile of money into gettin the motor completely rebuilt so i'm gonna hold off for a bit. I was actually seriously considering that ratio and tire size for the next go round. How do you like your BFG's?

 

Good Luck!
Hope she looks like her picture, my buddy has told me some stories

 

i love my 4.88s with 33's but i would stay away from 5.29s all the gear shops and a few people all warned me against them. the pinion gear is so small they break easily. with my 4.88s my gas milage has suffered a little but it's a damn offroad truck so who cares! the power is great and being able to pass on a hill is great

 

Well if i got 4.88's id stay at 33's. The only reason id go for 35's would be for show and its probably not worth it. I'll look into the 4.88's a little more now.

 

If you dont mind me askin UK, how much did the installation and parts cost you? Also what gears did you buy and where?

 

YotaFool I got my gears from Randy Ring and Pinion it was an internet special. They ran me like $530 with the master install kits. They are Yukons. I had them installed by a guy who does Yota work in his shop at night after his normal job. He's done ton's of gear set ups so I trusted him. He only charged me $300 for the install and had my truck back to me late the 2nd night. I was quoted up to $700 by some local shops here in town though. Shamrock I love my BFG's this is my 2nd set. They look sweet and they perform very well on and offroad.

 

hmm, do you need the master install kits? i can get precision gears front and back with "mini install kits" for around 440 from reiderracing.com

 

hey joey!

great to hear your install went well and you are enjoying your new found power! my diffs already have the 4.88's and 33's will be the next major purchase. have a safe trip and good luck with the meeting, i met my g/f online 2 yrs ago. we are getting along fantastic and she lets me mod my truck!! what a gal!!

lee

 

I did my lockright install a few weeks ago I had to remove that thing too.
To remove my speed sensor after I removed the bolt I had to wiggle turn it back and forth with a pair of plyers it finally came out it was really stuck in there though. The O ring survived so I was able to put it back in I cleaned it up and put a dab of grease around the o-ring so it would go in nicely to reinstall it.

So it sounds like from your experience 4.88's is a good combo with 33x12.5's and the 5 speed tranny and not to do 5.29's unless you are running 35's or 36" tires. A automatic is a different story though so 5.29's would probably be a good combo for 33's if you had factory 4.88's and anything bigger than 33's a 5.71 gear would be disireable.

Although a master install kit is not required it is good to have incase you run into any problems with the old bearings it all depends on the shape of your bearings and hardware front or rear diff but you can reuse the stuff. Most just do it so they won't have to tear it apart for a long while.
Also from what I have heard most rock crawlers stay away from percision gear and geniune gear the concenus on pirate4x4 say those things are weak no matter what combo you run so you get what you pay for. I would get good gears like Yukons.

This topic on gears has been beat to death though also the rumors of 5.29's and 5.71's being weak. It factors in alot of things like the quality of gears and how it was setup and if it was setup correctly. A loose pinion nut will make almost and pinion eat it's self some more than others.

If you stay with a quaility gears like Yukon gears and have someone set it up right chances of failure are pretty slim.

 

Yukons are Precision Gear. Because Randy's buys in such large volume the boxes are relabeled to make it look like his brand. A lot of guys order Yukons from him and get Precision Gear boxes and vice versa. One of the best tips I've heard on setting up gears is to not use a crush sleave and to use a solid collar. Here are Zuk's rules for setup:

1-Hi Quality gears...preferably US GEAR
2-solid collar
3-good pinion pre-load
4-good carrier bearing pre-load

 

what gears did you have before the 4:88s?

 

Probably 4.56's if his had the 31" tire option.

Yes you are right sorry about that. It's just the geniune gear set to stay away from.

Anyone heard anything about Richmond gears? I know they are alot more expensive than the percisions or yukons.

 

UK--Beautiful 2nd Gen. I am doing the same thing next week--4.88 and 33's wrapped around black steel wheels.

Are you thinking of the 3.4L swap, you already have the BL???

 

Just got home from my roadtrip. Happy to report that it went awesome!! The girl I went to meet took me camping in Yosemite, went to the beach in Pismo, and and did some sweet Mt biking. Runner ran like a top the entire way. Final mileage was just under 2900!!! I made it from Spokane to Redding, CA the first day in 14 hours. Goes to show ya if you stay on the road and don't screw around you can cover some ground. Anyways still extremely happy with the gears. I was sure glad I had them a few times going over the mountain passes.