mastacox

Hmm, this is not what I was hoping to hear...

Bottom line is I think I'm going to need a VB upgrade as my 4Runner's going to be a Desert Bomber, with a lot of WOT 1-2 shifts. Question is, will I need it right away...

My shifts are quite firm right now (especially when I'm in 4-lo), but I have been purposely avoiding wide open 1-2 shifts... perhaps that will be good enough I did end up tightening up my kickdown cable some time ago, which went a long way to firming the 2-3 shift and shortening the 1-2 shift.

I'll just add in a tranny temp gauge, and keep an eagle eye on my temps for now. Damn, I was hoping we'd be able to get another shop that could do VB's, and start a price war with the east coast guys...

Speedy

I can ask the guy if he'd do one if you mailed it in if you'd like.

I'd definitely recommend a tranny cooler. Mine's running in the 160s cruising and the highest I've been able to make it get is 187 so far. Prior to the cooler I saw 220 frequently.

blink

Hey Speedy,

Wish I was able to post before you purchased anything.

When I had my v8 stock, the same muffler was installed. I was pretty disappointed as I ended up losing torque down low in exchange for hp up top. I figured that most of my day to day driving was going to be in the 0-65 range, where I would benefit more from torque then the hp increase.

This muffler with its straight through design flows too much on a v8, and even now that I am s/ced its still hurting me down low. Hopefully since you have a roots type s/c youll not be affected as much.

midiwall

Probably, but it's a shortsighted approach to look for people that have had failures. What you're not including are the people that had the VB work done before a failure and thus avoided one.

fwiw, "failure" comes gradually, usually showing first as a bit more time in that 1st->2nd shift.

You've spent a good amount of time since putting the SC on talking about how much grunt the motor has, and your WOT runs, and being able to break the tires loose... If you're gonna keep doing that, even causally, then you can expect gradual failure.

But if you're going to stop doing all that stuff, then ... why'd you build up the engine in the first place?

blink

Masta,

I would recommend getting the valve body done soon. In my 01 taco I was driving around with dual hayden coolers rated at 24,000 LBS pounds each, and kick down cable extra tight and still ended up with a messed up transmission.

Speedy

My goal was better drivability with the ability to open it up once in a while. I've more than accomplished both goals. Not to mention I'm a project junkie and have to always be working on something haha.

If I start to feel any issues, I'll re-visit the VB mods. The majority of my driving will just be day to day stuff and I'd rather not have banging shifts all the time for those few times I give it some go pedal. IF I have a tranny problem down the road I'll just deal with it.

I'd also wager that if you drove a stock 4Runner and did a lot of tire spinning (or tried to), and WOT red light to red light, it would also have a tranny issue over time. Obviously a SC'd motor will speed up that process, however.

Where's this cable that can be tightened to firm it up some?

Speedy

That's odd. Nearly everyone that's SC'd says this muffler is the way to go, as well as adding headers to boot. I'll see how she does. We can always switch out muffler if need be. I'm also gonna do 2.5" pipe as well.

mastacox

I might have to take you up on that, $300 for a VB job is far less painless than $800-$1000. I might have to talk to this guy directly, got a phone number you could PM me?

The job this buy does includes drilling some holes larger, rerouting some lines, and replacing some springs? Would he be willing to sell a "do-it-yourself" kit for a hundred bucks?


Have had a Hayden 678 on the 4Runner since I bought it, was installed by the previous owner. Planning to add a ~1" diameter gauge down in the lower left area of the dash.

Well I don't feel like I am in imminent need of a VB since I drive "relatively" conservatively on the road (especially where the 1-2 shift is concerned), but I'm going to need one before I go to the dunes, and especially after I get the long travel suspension.

Well, there's another documented transmission failure for ya Speedy... as a matter of fact I think I know a guy in Tucson that roasted his transmission as well, but he had 38" swampers in addition to the supercharger (no fuel mods). Hard to say if his failure was due to driving like an idiot or what, but food for thought that transmission failure for these trucks is a real problem rather than a rare one.

Speedy

PM Sent.

I doubt it. There's no "kit" for an A340. The guy checked.

So that makes three out of how many? Two of which we KNOW are driven hard. I'm not trying to talk anyone out of doing this. I'm just gonna hold off personally and see how it goes. I'm not against spending the $300 honestly, for me it's more of not wanting rough shifting for every day driving.

Blink, what type of driving style do you have? How many miles and what type of transmission problem did you have?

Speedy

For what it's worth I've e-mailed IPT with a few questions, one of which being why they charge $575 for something the local shop does for $250 - $300 including removing the VB and re-installing. I'll let you guys know what I find out, if anything.

midiwall

There's a thread around here addressing some of that, but in the end, their line will be that what they do is proprietary info with the specifics derived after a lot of trial and error. Which is true.


I'm sure you'll disregard this, but just so it gets said...

Having knowledge of this transmission as it works in a Mail Jeep (100hp? 2000 lbs?) is a LOT different than how it works in a hopped-up 4Runner (330hp? 4400 lbs).

Be careful with your $300 guy... While I think we all agree that IPT is expensive, none of us have ever gotten back a trashed VB. A new VB ain't cheap.

Speedy

I never disregard anything if it half way makes sense, and although we have differed on opinion on some things I still respect your input.

I gave IPT a call and talked to Anthony who said he was the manager. He answered some of my questions, but was kind of vague, although I believe he was being as helpful as he could.

He basically said he couldn't believe another shop was doing this work for $300 and that these were custom modified valve bodies they were doing. However that is exactly what this local shop IS doing, although I can't say if they're as good as IPT or not since no one's had a 4Runner done there. :shrug: I asked him about the VB preventing tranny damage and although he said it "could" help, it was more performance oriented rather than to prevent failure. I also asked about there being levels of modification to prevent harsh shifting. He said that there "might" be some things they could do, but that shifting shouldn't be harsh, just more firm than stock.

So, that's it in a nutshell. He said if I had more technical questions I could call back and talk to John who's one of the techs. For now I'm just gonna sit tight. I've talked to a couple other people with SC'd 4Runner through e-mail and they said their 4Runners were VERY obvious when the shifts weren't firm, taking 5 seconds or more for the 1st - 2nd shift. Mine's nowhere near that, more like 1 second for me if that. If mine starts to slip at all I'll re-visit at that time, or maybe later on down the road when I need another project to fool with.

QSVeilside

I held off on the VB mod my truck is supercharged with the 2.1" pulley. The first to second shift always was and always will be lengthy. Takes around 8 mph on the speedometer to complete when mashing the pedal. Tightened the kickdown cable recently, which made some difference.

I'll get the VB mod eventually. If the tranny goes in the meantime, I will convert this truck to manual.

Speedy

That's kinda what I was thinking. What's involved in converting to manual? Is it just a swap in or is there a bunch of computer stuff to deal with?

jimbob

Just so you know speedy --- the 01-02s can't be swapped to a manual because there is no provision for the pilot bearing in the crank --- so don't make that a long term plan!

Speedy

OK cool. Thanks for the heads up on that. I guess if the tranny goes, she'll get rebuilt with some upgrades!

Speedy

I've continued to read up on the A340LE tranny that's in my 4Runner. The "E" denotes electronic and I don't believe it has a Throttle Valve cable, but is computer controlled. In some initial research I found this thread, of particular interest is the PDF in the first post.

http://www.performanceforums.com/for...03584#poststop

It seems this would be "stage 1" of what IPT does to the trans. Stage 2 would be drilling out VB holes. Stage one is simply shimming up a couple of springs.

Edit to add more from a Certified ASE Toyota Master Tech:
http://www.supraforums.com/forum/sho...d.php?t=267655

Speedy

Got the custom cat back done today. Luckily I made it a bolt on because I dont' like it.

Luckily it only cost me $87 do get it all put on.

I'm going to stick with the stock exhaust.

If someone wants a Magnaflow 12286 I'll sell it cheap. If feels like it lets the SC breathe easier, but I'm just too old for the sound I guess.

mt_goat

What, are you saying it was too loud? Maybe you want a stock Toyota muffler, hehe.

I got one:
https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f107...1-taco-117607/

Speedy

I kept all the stock stuff. As a matter of fact the cat back I had made was bolt on as I got a flange out of a junk yard. I'll just bolt the stock stuff back on the truck.

Yep, I guess it's just too loud for me.