I have a 1989 Yota and I am gonna put 255x85R16 (33x10.50R16) on it and wanna know which gears I should put in it, I know 4.88 or 5.29 are recomended but what is the diff. between the two? Thanks Nick.

Is your rig an auto or manual trans?

may make a difference.
The 4.88's will bring the speedo back to within stock range. you'll have about the same tire size to gear ratio.
5.29's will give you better off-the-line performance, but will increase your RPM's at highway speeds.
Not to mention your speedo will read about 5% higher than you're actually going.

If you have an auto trans, I would definatly do the 5.29's. The auto is sluggish enough that it's worth the extra RPM's.

See what I use in my sig line. I like it fine.

Mine is a manual, and I am also going to get the lockright lockers, if the 4.88's will bring it back to stalk ratio then that's what I'll prob. go with thanks.

Either set of gears will work for you. I have the 5.29's w/315's(measure 36") on my '91 and I can't climb mountain passes loaded w/gear in any gear beyond 3rd. With a stock 22re I can see why a lot of people like running 5.29's w/33's. The higher gearing will help you use the power that the 22r has a little better, and it would allow you to bump up to 35's if and when you wanted to.

So what do you think with the 3.0 and 5.29's on 33's? I'm gonna go up to 285/75r16 (33x11.5) and when I regear I was debating going to 5.29 with my 5 speed in case I go larger in the future. I don't see a lot of 3.0/5 speed guys gearing that way but seems like the extra RPMs would help a lot with acceleration. Also - I've noticed that my truck gets better MPG at higher RPMs a lot of times rather than up shifting and letting the RPM's drop.

Here is a link to an Auto Calculators page. If I put the numbers in right at 70mph w/5.29's and 33"tire(actual mounted diameter) w/a gear ratio of 0.89 5th gear(IIRC), your engine speed would be 3355. At this RPM you would be just outside the beginning of the power band of the 3.0, but not at an optimal highway cruising speed, but then again not that far off either. For instance with my '90 w/33's and 4.88's my engine speed at 70/5th gear is at 2800 w/headers and exhaust work, prior it was at 3000. However since most tires when mounted are less than the sidewall #, your RPM's may be a little higher, about 200 more if the 33 tire measured only 31 inches when installed on the truck, or they could be lower if tire measures more than stated like my 315's. The calculator says they should measure 34.5", but mounted on 10's an on the truck they are 35.5"

What gears came stock, i,e., if it came with 31's and 4.56's you could run some 28's or 29's to get an idea of the what tires 2 sizes smaller than the gears is like. If you don't know anyone with stock tires/rims you can usually get a set of 4 off of craiglist or out of a wrecking yard for under $100.

There is one other thing to consider, and that is that there are opinions that running 5.29's w/the 3.0 can lead to gear breakage, since there are more teeth being cut in each gear, each tooth has to be thinner and therefore weaker. Before swapping I would post this question on other boards and see what others have to say who run 5.29's w/a 3.0-5spd. I don't know of anyone who has, I think OOP's only runs 4.88's w/his 37's, and a buddy of mine only ran 4.88's with his 37 Krawlers on his '98 Runner and it was an auto. He had dual t-cases w/4.70 gears in the second case so his off-road crawl ratio wasn't effected by not having the higher gears to go with the 37's. You might also give Marlin a call and talk to one of the techs there and see what they have to say if yuou can't get confirmation here on the web.