Review: East Coast Gear Supply Gear Swap

[comtn4x4]

I am also in Colorado and was curious if you are still very happy with it? considering regear if its that big an improvement without significant MPG loss like a supercharger. On I70/rural I25 where the speeds are around 80mph and altitude is between 6k-12k ft, are you seeing significant MPG losses or gains at those speeds? and is the driving feel night and day? It would be nice if it even had close to as much get up as my 07 v6 camry from just a regear.

I wouldn't say I gained any MPG through the re-gear, and I wouldn't say I lost any either. My average is about the same but I do a bit better on the highway and a bit worse around town.
As far as drive ability at altitude, it's much better all round. On surface streets it's more peppy and fun to drive, On the highway it's not hunting for gears and has good power. Including on the 70 corridor.
All that being said this is no supercharger, it's not going to drive like your Camry.
Also, the true shining star improvement is off road. It's so much better, just rolls over obstacles.
FWIW I have about 65,000 miles since re gear, all living in Colorado

 

[jdm-v35]

thanks for the insight! So i guess it would truly shine more offroad(especially in 4L) then on a daily basis, vs a supercharger that would provide a more significantly felt power increase. a lot of my trips are mostly highway, with maybe 2-3 hrs of trail at the end

 

[comtn4x4]

one more question...

If you jumped to 315/70/17, would you still be happy with 4.56 at the altitude you live in?

I'm under the impression with 315, I can go both ways (4.56 vs 4.88) and i would still be happy since i live at sea level on flat ground...but what about you up in dem mountains? I find that when I go run away from work and civilization, I find myself hiding in the mountains for some dirt therapy and my transmission gets heat soaked pretty quickly right now.

I haven't run 315's yet, don't know if I will, so no real world info there. I have run 3 sets of 285/75's and 305/70's. They're both basically the same height, the 305's did sap just a bit more power than the 285's. I think the 4.56 do great at altitude and when I've been at sea level it's been even better, better MPG and more peppy. If I go to a 35 I'd definitely, see how it does before I jumped to immediately re gearing. Again I don't tow, but I'd probably add a supercharger before re gearing to 4.88's and see if that made the difference.
All this being said, I haven't moved as fast with my build as some others do. I've been re geared for 5 years about 65,000 miles. If I did have to re gear for the next iteration of the rig I wouldn't feel to bad. And if I was I'd seriously consider adding front lockers along with a long travel set up. But at that point she'd be a recreation only rig.

 

[comtn4x4]

thanks for the insight! So i guess it would truly shine more offroad(especially in 4L) then on a daily basis, vs a supercharger that would provide a more significantly felt power increase. a lot of my trips are mostly highway, with maybe 2-3 hrs of trail at the end

I think the ideal solution is re gear AND supercharger honestly. If money was no object I'd do both.


If you'd like we can get together sometime and you can drive the rig. There's really no better way to tell the difference. I'm not far from you at all, I'm in Lone Tree

 

[Jeremy556]

so any of ya'll regret not getting 4.88 after getting 4.56's?

If I were to do it over, I would probably go for 4.88s instead of 4.56. I'm running at about 5900lbs on 35s. I was happy with the 4.56s on 34s.

 

[jdm-v35]

I think the ideal solution is re gear AND supercharger honestly. If money was no object I'd do both.


If you'd like we can get together sometime and you can drive the rig. There's really no better way to tell the difference. I'm not far from you at all, I'm in Lone Tree

Nice!! yea that would be cool. Would also be nice to meet a fellow 4R owner since I don't really have any friends that go offroading. they will go camping or fishing with me but nothing beyond fire roads really. they have trucks, but not really modded at all. I'll send you a PM an hopefully we can meet up sometime.

Yea I'm sure regear and supercharger combo would probably be ideal and at least be something comparable to a tundra or GM truck. though that combo with a front locker would be 10k or so. Have you ever wished you got or needed the front locker? that in itself is a significant price bump, and I just wouldn't want to regret not getting one.

So, do you not see any significant mpg drop even at higher speeds? I saw some of the reviews said >70mph they were seeing efficiency tank. I am currently getting 17mpg or so loaded up with gear and a smittybilt XL RTT on top. without all the gear im getting 17.5-17.8 driving to work.

 

[comtn4x4]

Nice!! yea that would be cool. Would also be nice to meet a fellow 4R owner since I don't really have any friends that go offroading. they will go camping or fishing with me but nothing beyond fire roads really. they have trucks, but not really modded at all. I'll send you a PM an hopefully we can meet up sometime.

Yea I'm sure regear and supercharger combo would probably be ideal and at least be something comparable to a tundra or GM truck. though that combo with a front locker would be 10k or so. Have you ever wished you got or needed the front locker? that in itself is a significant price bump, and I just wouldn't want to regret not getting one.

So, do you not see any significant mpg drop even at higher speeds? I saw some of the reviews said >70mph they were seeing efficiency tank. I am currently getting 17mpg or so loaded up with gear and a smittybilt XL RTT on top. without all the gear im getting 17.5-17.8 driving to work.

Well there's always a price to pay for either higher speed or acceleration right? Over 75 mph on the flat MPG start to suffer. Pure highway miles I can get up to 18, I average about 15.5 with combined driving. In the mountains if I'm loaded up to go camping with everyone in the rig probably 14 MPG. Keep in mind I'm on 34's and fairly heavy build (No RTT, but probably the same air resistance with all my gear up top).
Also remember this is at least a nominal MPG improvement over stock gears with the same general build and a significant improvement in drive ability and off road performance .

 

[Jeremy556]

If you're doing gears and think you might ever want the locker, this is the time to do it. I have certainly never regretted having it, and it has gotten me though many places that wouldn't have been possible without lots of wheel spin and likely broken axles.