Re-gearing for 2.5 lift and 285's

[FM8706]

I'm sure this has been asked before but I could not find it in the search function.

I have a 2019 TRD PRO and I am going to pull the fox shocks and put in a 2.5" lift from radflo. I am also planning to change the tires to 285's from stock. Is there any re-gearing that I should be considering or will stock gearing be ok?

 

[honda250xtitan]

no. save your money

 

[blksubykid]

I think the topic is pretty subjective unless you are going 35s and adding a ton of weight. Get the lift and tires done then drive it around for awhile and see how it feels to you. I got 4.56s about a month ago and it help mine not feel sluggish anymore. I am currently on 285/70/17s but I plan on going larger down the road and I do have a lot of extra weight.

 

[comtn4x4]

The lift is irrelevant. 285/70's generally don't need a re gear unless you're carrying a bunch of extra weight. As was said above save your $3000 for other mods

 

[EddieV4runnin]

5.29 gears since day one is what I say.

 

[Jshen]

Tire weight is great contributor to what makes it feel sluggish. 285s vary greatly in weight from brands and load ratings. I just put lt285 wildpeaks at3w in load c which weigh 62lbs each, it feels sluggish but not enough to warrant regearing.

 

[delloro]

OP, the problem is that you (we) have 3.73 gears, and the next step down is 4.56. There are no 4.11 gears available.

So instead of turning 2,200 rpm at 80 mph, you would turn 2,567 rpm. That's a ~17% increase. Not sure that's where most people want to be.

Sometimes when I am thinking about it, I put the shifter in sport mode while on the freeway, and then I remember why I haven't done it.

If 4.11 gears were available, I would have done it probably.

ETA: So I thought about it, and 2,550 at 80 might not be so bad. I just put on some heavy 285's, and they seem to have knocked a little wind out of my sails.

I think I might put in the 4.56's.

 

[gearguywb]

I didn't know a 4Runner could do 80!

 

[TRDHULK]

I'm sure this has been asked before but I could not find it in the search function.

I have a 2019 TRD PRO and I am going to pull the fox shocks and put in a 2.5" lift from radflo. I am also planning to change the tires to 285's from stock. Is there any re-gearing that I should be considering or will stock gearing be ok?

I think re gearing is kind of a waste of money unless you have a dedicated trail rig. A bunch of people told me I would need to re gear when I put on 34's but I don't get it. I drive 60 miles a day, up to 85 mph most of the way, and couldn't imaging having a 4.56 gear.

 

[comtn4x4]

I think re gearing is kind of a waste of money unless you have a dedicated trail rig. A bunch of people told me I would need to re gear when I put on 34's but I don't get it. I drive 60 miles a day, up to 85 mph most of the way, and couldn't imaging having a 4.56 gear.

[FONT=&quot]34's alone may not be enough to push you to wanting a re-gear. As well as being predominantly an on road rig might also defeat the need for a re-gear. (But then again being predominantly a road rig would also alleviate the need for 33’s or larger tires as well other than as a cosmetic item.) Additional weight bolted to the rig, tire size and weight, how much you load up to hit the trail and where you drive (altitude) are the biggest contributing factors, I think. [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]I will agree with you that 95% of the people here don’t “need” a re-gear. Nor do they need most of the other things they’ve done to their rigs. However, for those that do truly need and use it it’s certainly not money wasted. For me it was one of the best mods I did and I wish I had done it years sooner. But that’s me.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]I would also emphasize again that time driving with any new mod is the key to understanding how it performs in varied situations and how it settles in.
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Edit: Maybe before re-gearing see if you can take a drive in someone else's re-geared rig and see if you like it.
[/FONT]

 

[MaddoxPics]

Until you add weight, whether 285/70 or 285/75 (I'm assuming you're going 285/70) you should be okay. Even at 285/70 and weight you probably won't be hurting too much.

I jumped up to 285/75 awhile ago, and now with a skid setup and front bumper I'm really feeling it struggle. I have a rear on the way as well so I'll be regearing.

Right now I would save the money until you know you need to regear. It'll be obvious. It won't be because you're "slower" but because you can actually tell it's struggling. My key sign was when going up mountain passes. I always lock the gear into 2nd or 3rd depending on sections, and no matter what I could tell it was working hard to do it, when before it was slower, but still going without issue.

 

[mysticz]

No 5th gen but been running Radflo 2.5 with LT285/70R17 Load E with 373 stock for years with full steel front bumper. winch and sliders no problem. Only re geared when I added rear bumper. You don't really need to unless you get that extra weight as everyone said. Save the money.

 

[TRDHULK]

[FONT=&quot]34's alone may not be enough to push you to wanting a re-gear. As well as being predominantly an on road rig might also defeat the need for a re-gear. (But then again being predominantly a road rig would also alleviate the need for 33’s or larger tires as well other than as a cosmetic item.) Additional weight bolted to the rig, tire size and weight, how much you load up to hit the trail and where you drive (altitude) are the biggest contributing factors, I think. [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]I will agree with you that 95% of the people here don’t “need” a re-gear. Nor do they need most of the other things they’ve done to their rigs. However, for those that do truly need and use it it’s certainly not money wasted. For me it was one of the best mods I did and I wish I had done it years sooner. But that’s me.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]I would also emphasize again that time driving with any new mod is the key to understanding how it performs in varied situations and how it settles in.
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Edit: Maybe before re-gearing see if you can take a drive in someone else's re-geared rig and see if you like it.
[/FONT]

I'm from the performance car world and somewhat new to the off road world. With performance cars, you re gear to get better performance off the line or even from a highway downshift race. But, in a Mustang, a gear change is $200 to do yourself or $400 to have it done; far from the $3k+ on a 4Runner.

So what exactly does the 4Runner benefit from with a re gear? Does it just feel more torquey while crawling in low RPM's? Helps full the weight a little better if you've added a bunch? Just seems like a ton of money for a slightly better feel.

How bad does it affect the drive on the highway? I am already surprised with how high the RPM's are on the highway stock. I can't imaging paying thousands to make it worse unless, like I said, you had a dedicated trail rig, or maybe live in the mountains.

 

[FM8706]

So I already have slider on mine, I got them from 4x Innovations, I have a front on the way and plan to buy a rear after I do the tire change. As far as other weight I dont load it down when I take it out. I'm not planning on putting a tent setup or anything like that on it.

 

[mteolus]

Three things re-gearing does for a 4Runner. Keeps it from being such a dog at high altitude and on climbs. Helps get a better crawl ratio when off-road. Helps out with towing.

I have 285's and haven't re-geared. I would definitely like the crawl ratio better but $3000 is the killer. If the 4Runner had a 6th gear like the Taco, then I think re-gearing would be a no brainer. But instead, it's probably not all that necessary with 285's if you don't have a lot of weight.

I have heard a lot of arguments about whether you should go for 4.56 or 4.88. To each his own. Lifestyle Overland has 285's but hauls a lot of weight and hauls a Turtleback trailer. So he uses 4.88. Without a trailer maybe 4.56 would be fine. Some who crawl a lot go for 5.29's.

Now for Taco's, I think most will tell you to definitely re-gear unless it is just a mall crawler. The tranny searches for gears and is basically a dog stock. 3.69 gears stock I think. Add 4.88's and it works great.

 

[comtn4x4]

I'm from the performance car world and somewhat new to the off road world. With performance cars, you re gear to get better performance off the line or even from a highway downshift race. But, in a Mustang, a gear change is $200 to do yourself or $400 to have it done; far from the $3k+ on a 4Runner.

So what exactly does the 4Runner benefit from with a re gear? Does it just feel more torquey while crawling in low RPM's? Helps full the weight a little better if you've added a bunch? Just seems like a ton of money for a slightly better feel.

How bad does it affect the drive on the highway? I am already surprised with how high the RPM's are on the highway stock. I can't imaging paying thousands to make it worse unless, like I said, you had a dedicated trail rig, or maybe live in the mountains.

In addition to what @mtelous said, with 4:56 gears on 34" tires you would be returning your rig to closer to being at the stock ratio. To answer your specific question for me it significantly improved my highway performance. My rig doesn't wander back and forth between 4th and 5th gear on the highway. For me it felt like in order to cruise at 75 I had to floor it and force it into overdrive on any nominal hill or in order to pass or speed up. (To avoid this my max speed was 65 ish) The largest difference was heading up into the mountains from Denver. I think you'll have noticed that your speedometer is about 6 MPH off at 65 MPH, slower than actual. (shows 60 when you're actually going 66. You can verify this through google maps or any GPS speed tracker.) After re-gearing to 4:56 my speedometer is off about 2 MPH (Still low). The RPM increase you noticed would be alleviated as well, so instead of (I'm guessing) running 3500 RPM @ 70 MPH on the flat, in my situation it runs 2200 RPM. It's generally much more drive-able. I noticed a MPG increase after I re-geared as well on 34's. Prior to re-gearing I was at about 13-14 MPG combined highway and street driving. Now I can consistently run 15.5 MPG combined. Pure highway I'll get up to 18 MPG. Pre re-gear my highway most efficient speed was 60-65. Now it's 70-75. (These numbers are when not loaded to expedition weight. I also run the URD MAF sensor calibrator which gained me a bit more pep and about 1 MPG across the board)
There are others who can explain this in a much more technical manner than I. However, it's all available on the Forum if you search and read the existing threads

 

[Arnezie]

Spend the money on the lightest tire that will fit your needs and buy a set of Advan Racing RG-D2 wheels and save some unsprung weight.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[dajosh]

Spend the money on the lightest tire that will fit your needs and buy a set of Advan Racing RG-D2 wheels and save some unsprung weight.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Agreed on the lightest tires.

RG-D2’s are pretty expensive for wheels. You can get SCS F5’s for a little more than half the price of the RG’s and they’ll be at almost same weight.

I’d say regearing isn’t necessary for 285/70r17’s without too much additional weight.

 

[TRDHULK]

In addition to what @mtelous said, with 4:56 gears on 34" tires you would be returning your rig to closer to being at the stock ratio. To answer your specific question for me it significantly improved my highway performance. My rig doesn't wander back and forth between 4th and 5th gear on the highway. For me it felt like in order to cruise at 75 I had to floor it and force it into overdrive on any nominal hill or in order to pass or speed up. (To avoid this my max speed was 65 ish) The largest difference was heading up into the mountains from Denver. I think you'll have noticed that your speedometer is about 6 MPH off at 65 MPH, slower than actual. (shows 60 when you're actually going 66. You can verify this through google maps or any GPS speed tracker.) After re-gearing to 4:56 my speedometer is off about 2 MPH (Still low). The RPM increase you noticed would be alleviated as well, so instead of (I'm guessing) running 3500 RPM @ 70 MPH on the flat, in my situation it runs 2500 RPM. It's generally much more drive-able. I noticed a MPG increase after I re-geared as well on 34's. Prior to re-gearing I was at about 13-14 MPG combined highway and street driving. Now I can consistently run 15.5 MPG combined. Pure highway I'll get up to 18 MPG. Pre re-gear my highway most efficient speed was 60-65. Now it's 70-75. (These numbers are when not loaded to expedition weight. I also run the URD MAF sensor calibrator which gained me a bit more pep and about 1 MPG across the board)
There are others who can explain this in a much more technical manner than I. However, it's all available on the Forum if you search and read the existing threads

Makes a little more sense.

I did notice that when using cruise control above 70 it does wander back and forth a little between 4th and 5th.

I'll check my speedometer later today.

How would re gearing actually improve MPG's though? I figured the RPMs would be higher cruising above 70mph in 5th??

 

[sn_85]

Tire weight is great contributor to what makes it feel sluggish. 285s vary greatly in weight from brands and load ratings. I just put lt285 wildpeaks at3w in load c which weigh 62lbs each, it feels sluggish but not enough to warrant regearing.

In my experience rolling resistance has more of an effect on performance than rotational mass. I had Cooper AT3 XLT in a 285/70/17 that weighed 58lbs. It definitely felt a little sluggish with that size tire. This was pre-bumpers. I also had Falken Wildpeak AT3W in 275/70/17 that weighed 57lbs each. It felt nearly close to driving a stock size KO2 C-rated. It was only 1lb off from the 285 Cooper tire but it felt a lot more peppy. If you go from a stock size tire to a 285/70/17 the sluggishness you feel is going to be more likely from the additional rolling resistance rather than added weight. My guess is that there's not going to be much of a difference in drive feel from a 285 that weights 58lbs vs one that weighs 64lbs.

I think re gearing is kind of a waste of money unless you have a dedicated trail rig. A bunch of people told me I would need to re gear when I put on 34's but I don't get it. I drive 60 miles a day, up to 85 mph most of the way, and couldn't imaging having a 4.56 gear.

You live in Dallas where it's flat and it doesn't matter as much. If you live at elevation or live somewhere where there is significant change in elevation a re-gear will be more beneficial and noticeable.