Tundra or Tacoma re gear with fourwheel camper opinions 4.88

[Skinhyfish]

Posted this under pop camper also, but would love to hear truck guru guys opinions

Been doing all my searching and seen lots of opinions about regearing trucks with bigger tires to gain power back.. I have been a diesel owner and never really worried to much, but acquired a 2002 Tundra 4.7 4x4 recently and a 2016 fwc fleet 2016. Great little combo for the mountains here in CO and ID where we visit. Truck has 27,000 miles on it and would like To keep it for a while. That 4.7 is great little motor, but with lift and tires it isn’t as peppy, especially with camper. Have any FWC owners with tundra or Tacoma’s regeared to help with power back to stock with lift and weight of camper? I have 33in tires and looking at 4.88 with my auto trans to help out. Just curious what guys have done on here for their campers besides basic mods to help with regaining some power after more weight and height.
MIght tow a rafting trailer also, afraid with out regear it would be hard on truck hard to do both camper/tow

Love to here your opinions or results. Thanks Zach

 

[bkg]

Take a look at Addicted Offroad's tundra and sequoia builds in this forum. I believe Scotty did 4.88's in both and has good explanations in the threads.

 

[rruff]

That 4.7 is great little motor, but with lift and tires it isn't as peppy, especially with camper.

I'd save your money. Sure it doesn't feel as peppy as it did, but it is still a v8. Regearing will mostly change the initial launch feel. At higher speeds you can just hold the gear longer.

 

[Skinhyfish]

Ya, just want to keep more close to stock power feel but not loose the daily driver feel

 

[bkg]

Go read addicted's threads.

FWIW, I'm going to be putting 4.88's in my Tacoma come spring. 33*12.5 equivalents on it today. 4.88's will give about the same final delve ratio of a manual-equipped Tacoma.

I suspect you'll wish you had done the gears sooner

 

[petfisheric]

I have 33in tires and looking at 4.88 with my auto trans to help out.

Love to here your opinions or results. Thanks Zach

Your truck should have a 3.91 gear set from the factory, so going with 4.88's will give you a little more mechanical advantage that stock. Good luck with it. Oh and by the way a 2002 with 27,000 on the odometer is a super find. If you haven't done it yet take it by the toyota dealer and have them check to see if the recalls have bee completed. The recalls were for front lower ball joints and air bag. Also yours may have a frame recall as well.

 

[Skinhyfish]

Need to look at ball joint recall. Truck was in such pristine condition the frame looked new and dealer said nope

 

[jsnow]

I run 4.88's in my 01 with 35's. I think if you are going to stay with 33's you should probably go 4.56. I do highly recommend doing it though. It was honestly one of the best mods I've made to date. Hauling the camper, new gears will take some of the stress off the transmission, especially pulling the passes in CO.

 

[rruff]

Hauling the camper, new gears will take some of the stress off the transmission, especially pulling the passes in CO.

Wouldn't the truck just run in 3rd instead of 4th? 1st gear will be different, but at higher speeds I can't see that it is going to matter much at all.

Granted a 4spd auto isn't a lot of gears these days and if high gear is already a bit of overdrive @stock, it will not be very useful with bigger tires and a camper. But with a big torquey V8 with a low range when you really need it, regearing seems more placebo than anything.

Skinhyfish, what are your rpms at 70mph?

 

[leelikesbikes]

Re gearing is practically a necessity, I can't believe how many guys run bigger tires and don't re gear. An automatic, especially electronically controlled will hunt for gears if you change tire size and not gear ratio. You will gain power and mpg with the proper ratio. If you never haul anything and just drive on the street and want big tires to look cool I suppose you could get away with bigger tires and stock gears, but you lose a lot of performance. 4.88 might be a bit low for 33, but if the camper is always mounted it might be nice. I ran a taco with 488 and 37's and it was good empty, but a little under geared loaded. My tj on 35's was good with 4.56, but never hauled much in the Jeep. My current dodge 2500 has 4.56 an 37's, with the manual trans it's a pretty good combo, but I wish for 35's when I tow heavy. Might as well add some lockers while your in there!

 

[rruff]

An automatic, especially electronically controlled will hunt for gears if you change tire size and not gear ratio.

Mine doesn't.

 

[leelikesbikes]

Mine doesn't.

Wait till you put a camper on it and it will, there is a reason they use specific ratios for specific tire sizes from the factory. You don't have to re gear for bigger tires, but performance will be less than ideal, if your just going for the big tire look it may not be worth the money

 

[rruff]

I got big tires for better clearance and rollover.

I don't understand why a computer controlled transmission would have issues with a camper on. They are supposed to "learn" optimal shift points. If that doesn't work I can just leave it in "tow/haul" mode, which makes the throttle more responsive and the transmission revs further before shifting.

 

[bkg]

I got big tires for better clearance and rollover.

I don't understand why a computer controlled transmission would have issues with a camper on. They are supposed to "learn" optimal shift points. If that doesn't work I can just leave it in "tow/haul" mode, which makes the throttle more responsive and the transmission revs further before shifting.

Because your transmission is “tuned” to your engine and stock drivetrain. Tow/haul only ups the shift points and modifies lockup -has nothing to do with giving your engine more throttle response.

Transmissions can only learn within certain boundaries. We’re not talking AI here. That’s why companies build tuners that allow you to address the tune. Plus, many tunes rely on rpm and speed as data points - jack with one and you impact the decision making ability.

Plus, we’Re talking about 1000-2000 extra pounds on top of larger tires. Add a trailer and the transmission simply suffers. And it will hunt gears, lock/unlock the TC = more heat.

OP should do minimum 4.56. But I’d do 4.88, no questions asked.

 

[rruff]

Because your transmission is “tuned” to your engine and stock drivetrain. Tow/haul only ups the shift points and modifies lockup -has nothing to do with giving your engine more throttle response.

It's a truck so hauling stuff isn't that weird. And the computer adjusts the behavior of the transmission. If it can't figure out how to shift properly with a load, then that would be a pretty big fail for the engineers.

Tow/haul also increases engine throttle movement relative to pedal movement.