To supercharge or not...that is the question...

[bigwapitijohnny]

All,

I was wanting your insight into my latest conundrum regarding my 3gen 4runner. I have noticed that towing my Outlaner Sherpa II through Kansas is manageable, however, towing this through the Ozarks is a different story. The V6 just didn't have the muscle to power up the hills. So I have been contemplating several options at this point...

1) Install the TRD supercharger along with the URD 7th injector system into my 4runner with 155,000 miles...:smiley_drive:

2) Hijack my wife's '04 Sequoia (iForce V8) and get her another vehicle...She is still very content with this rig and absolutely loves it...:Wow1:

3) Buy an newer 4thgen 4runner for myself with a 4 liter V6 and be done with it...:drool:

both options 2 and 3 would be the most expensive considering the need to 'properly' equip said rigs with Armorology bumpers, lifts, lights...you get the idea...

My question to you all is this: Is the TRD supercharger / URD 7th injection system a legitimate option? Or is this just a 'ricer/rich kid' mod wraught with constant adjustments and attention following the install?

I keep telling myself 'if only my 4runner had about 220 horses'...In my estimation, Option 1 would get me there with the least amount of money invested.

One caveat...We are going to be a family of 4 soon!

Please discuss and many thanks for everyone's insight...


Regards,

BWJ

 

[RMP&O]

I have a S/C on my 04 Taco....along with the URD 7th, Doug Thorely Headers, URD pulley and a Jardine exhaust. It is fricken sweet and I love it. No I am not a rich kid who got it just to be cool.

Most people are going to tell you a S/C is not a good choice for an overland truck and really they are right. Yet....


For what you say you will use it for, a S/C truck sounds just fine.

It can be a little bit of a pita to set the truck up right with a S/C. Mine threw engine codes for about 2yrs before we got it all dialed in. Had to replace o2 sensors and a CAT in the process. Recently I had to replace my throttle body. The S/C can make the TB get rather hot which in turn ruins the sensors on it. There is a bunch of ways around this though, the easiest and cheapest seems to simply do a coolant line bypass on the TB. I think it is good if you can tune the truck yourself but not required. I also think things like an AFR gauge are good to have but not required. A S/C will make the truck run lean, which is why people put on a 7th injector. Yet, even with the 7th it can run lean. Running lean is not good for the engine.

A S/C will put more wear and tear on the tranny. At the least you want to run a trans cooler. There are other mods though too such as the valve body mod or just get a whole new built up tranny, costs about $3200. A S/C will also make the truck runa bit warmer than without. There are ways around this too including a nice aluminum radiator which runs about $650.

I put the S/C on my truck at 70k miles. My truck now has nearly 125k miles. Compression was checked before the charger went on. It was checked again at about 100k miles. All good and no worries with compression before or after.

I drove my truck to Panama and back putting 15k miles on it in 13 weeks last winter. No problems at all with the engine or S/C. I will be driving it again this winter to Panama and not worried one bit.

IMHO you can't go wrong with the S/C, 7th and tuned correctly. The engine can take the power increases and the boost. Just take care of the engine. For towing I would also highly suggest modding or upgrading the tranny. If you did the S/C and the tranny upgrade at the same time I think you will be very happy and have no problems towing. My truck never lacks power and is very heavy.

A turbo is also an option...

 

[cruiseroutfit]

SC'd on my 04' Tacoma, has been since 54 miles and now has ~106k). Zero additional engine or super-charger mods besides deleting the coolant flow in the throttle body. I've had a couple of throttle body failures related to the SC (neither left me stranded and the issue is now resolved with the mentioned coolant mod) and my wife was coming back from Cruise Moab last year in the truck (I was still out on the trail in the 40) and it threw a SC belt (I have common spares such as belts in the truck), she nursed it off the highway and I met her a couple hours later to swap a belt. I was a bit hesitant at first but my worries were releived after talking to several good freinds whom are long time Toyota techs and mechanics intimately familiar with the TRD SC. Some years & some model SC's didn't mesh well but I've been extremely please with mine. The power is welcome when fully loaded or towing or just hauling through the desert. I still attest that my 5 spd manual Tacoma still felt more 'peppy' than my auto, but the SC does a lot to fill the gap. Occassionally I find myself behind the wheel of a custmers auto non-SC 3.4, feels anemic to me particularly on acceleration.

All that said, even given my satisfactory experience with the SC... I wouldn't feel comfortable putting one on a rig with 100k miles, just too many variables. I have zero data or experience to back this up, I'm sure others will chime in with experiences that prove the opposite.

 

[kcowyo]

I've got a S/C as well on my 3.4ltr, with no URD add-ons, just a tranny cooler. Installed at 50K miles, now at 174K miles, with no real issues to speak of.

It got a little raspy sounding when the S/C had about 90K on it, so I drained & added new oil and it has been running great for the last couple of years. I tote around an 800+lb camper in a bigger T100, living among & travelling over a lot of mountain passes, so I'm a huge fan of the additional HP.

I don't know the answer to your proposed scenarios but I would say, "No, it's not a ricer gimmick that needs a ton of fiddling with after installation." Assuming the installation was done correctly, they are pretty dependable overall from what I've seen & heard.

.

 

[Martinjmpr]

I have no S/C experience but wouldn't it be less expensive to just swap vehicles with your wife on those occasions that you need to pull a trailer? The Sequoia should pull a trailer just fine and if your wife is commuting, wouldn't the 4runner work for that?

Do you frequently travel with the trailer and without your wife?

It just seems odd to me that you have a big truck with a V8 that was made for pulling trailers, and a much smaller one that is considerably less suitable for pulling a trailer, and you're looking at modding the small vehcle to improve trailer towing capacity.

 

[OldSven]

I PM'ed you back. Best option when looking at a supercharger if possible is ride in one that is all setup with it. Then you can feel the difference. I know if I had to do a 3.4 toy again I would do the supercharger again. Expensive mod but when you get on it and that thing starts to whinning, people think twice:sombrero:

 

[Deleted member 9101]

I say go for it!!!

 

[Zam15]

If you try one out and don't like it Ill take it off your hands :sombrero:

But seriously if you get one please do a write up. I would not mind hearing your experiences.

 

[sargeek]

Keep us posted on your delima.

I have a Gen 2 TRD Sport and a small 10' pop-up camper. Currently the set-up is a perfect match. The truck can pull the small trailer all over the place with out hesitation.

However, a 10' pop-up is really small for the wife, 7 year old, Lab and Newfoundland. We are also getting ready to expand the family by adopting. So eventually we want a bigger trailer.

By installing a supercharger - the truck will have the horse-power to pull the trailer, but the remainder of the truck will be undersized. Brakes, cooling system, transmission and other parts are going to be operating close to capacity.

Should I start moding the Tacoma or wait and get a Tundra or other full size truck.

 

[OldSven]

With my setup all I have done is the supercharger, 7th injector kit, intake, exhaust, URD computer, and the only thing I could see if you were an auto would be a cooler. Otherwise upgrade in brakes and what not would just have to do with your load and off road goodies. The supercharger is an expensive mod not to mention the fuel upgrades to make it run correctly so the question really is "is the rig you really want to keep and mod out" or "Would I rather throw that extra couple grand at something else"? I lucked out and bought the runner with the charger on there so I just had to make it run right.

Tuff question but if you go for it, it has a very cool answer...:smiley_drive:

 

[blakeape]

I have a 1996 Taco 3.4V6 5spd and a friend of mine has a 2000 Taco 3.4 supercharged, 5spd. He put the S/C on at 12k and has had a lot of problems, it now has the whole URD kit and was giving him issues recently on a cross country trip from VA to CO where it was running lean. Both our trucks are extended cab models, but I had Dana 44 SAS 35 inch tires and 4.88 gears while his was stock on 31's. I was actually more impressed with my setup power-wise than his. His truck definitely would out-pull mine on long grades and mountain passes, but around town and off the line mine actually felt quicker. His truck has always had "pinging" issues and of course requires premium fuel. I don't know what size tires you are running, auto or 5spd, or what gearing you have, but I would look into your gearing before dropping a blower on the engine. Good Luck. Just my personal experiences.

 

[eli]

to supercharge or not . . .

Hmmm . . . well in theory the super charger should help you reproduce what your engine would be putting out in torque/horse power at sea level (at a conservative amount of boost). A normally aspirated gasoline motor is not the best processor of air without question . . .

Now because your motor is well used you could consider having it checked ie; compression/leak down test . . . That would help eliminate any question as to whether or not your piston rings and or valves were not up to par.

Then you could consider a supercharger with a conservative amount of boost that would help the cause vrs. hurt. An inter-cooler and ability to tune/monitor the air fuel mixture would be a smart investment.

Good Luck

 

[tomesd]

No issues whatsoever with my '06 off road DC- I'd do it again in a second!