"The Final Spring Push"Ok guys and gals,
From this point forward I had multiple projects that had to be completed by the end of the month and spent every evening working late on the truck. I was bouncing between projects as parts would come in and following my normal chronological post format would even give me a headache. So I will group projects together and use date ranges where needed
April 8-18, 2018: NITRO's new 5.29:1 Ring and Pinions!!
Nitro's Front 8.0" Differential Product Page for 2nd/3rd gen Tacoma --
Nitro's Rear 8.75" Differential Product Page for 3rd gen TacomaOn April 8 we yanked out both front and rear diffs because....!!
NITRO finally pulled through with making a new 8.75" 5.29:1 prototype Ring and Pinion for us 3rd gen owners and sent me a set to test out!!
H-U-G-E Thank you to NITRO for
not giving up on us Manual Transmission 3rd gen owners -- A truck that actually
does need 5.29s!!
Just to recap:* Autos come with 3.91:1 R&P. So 4.88:1 makes for a 24.8% reduction. That is great!
* Manuals come with 4.30:1 R&P. So a 4.88:1 is only a 13.5% reduction. This is not great. Finally having 5.29s means I'll have a 23% reduction over the stock R&P which is much needed for any manual 3rd gen running 37s or larger tires.
This was a ten day span to install both front and rear NITRO 5.29s but only because we had to wait for parts from ARB (I told them I was not in a hurry).
Rear diff pulled
Take a look at my out-going 4.88:1 Nitro Gears. The wear contact is awesome. This is why we always say that Nitro gears set-up better than any other. They are amazing and we
strongly recommend them to Tacoma owners!
Opening up the front diff again, hopefully for the last time!
What I really like about the 2005 and newer Tacoma front IFS differential is that it uses the same gear set as the 80-series Land Cruiser High Pinion Reverse Rotation front differential, which is, of course, entirely BADASS. We have trusted Land Cruiser High Pinion gears in the front of live axle Hilux Pickups and 4Runners with tire sizes larger than 40" for nearly two decades. Yes the Tacoma is heavier, yes the Tacoma is more powerful, yes the gears are vulnerable in reverse, but I love it.
