I was wondering if anybody knew of any good cheap performance upgrades for an 87 pickup dlx i was looking more towards air intakes but theyre nearly impossible to find for this model lol

 

gonna have to search on this one

 

I saw more hp/tq out of exhaust rather than intake (personally). Drove my friend's "87xtra cab 4x4 22re" right after my "87xtra cab 4x4 22re w/long tube pacesetter header, high flow cat, and magnaflow cat-back. BIG difference in power (and noise) I can't recommend the "pacesetter" longtube though. Cheap but I don't like the thin flange on it, would say get another brand. Don't know how "cheap" you're looking for however.

 

you could change out your coil with a msd, but if i was you i would go for the exhaust from what ive read around here and from personal experience the header is the best up grade. you can change out your cam but you still want gain much.

 

Hmm i was looking at the pacesetters to, but whats wrong with them is the material not worth it?? Also has anybody had any experience with the k&n fuel injection performance kit??

 

dont get the pacesetter. its not werth the money if your going to get a header go ahead and get a downey, lcengineering or doug thorly. there made a lot better and will last 10 times longer than the pacesetter. the pacesetter isent werth it there made cheap and the paint falls off after like 15 minutes of run time, plus they rust threw do to the thin flange like stated above. the intake isent going to gain you much i realy dident notice a power increse, if your going to spend some money go for the header it will give you the bigest gain

 

yea dido on the pacesetter. Worst $160 I've ever spent. Buy a Thorley it hurts at first but it's worth it in the long haul.

 

Get a Downey header, its not cheap, but like anything else you get what you pay for.

 

What's cheap and what's an upgrade?
It basically takes about $200-500 to add 10 hp (K&N drop-in (or maybe CAI), header, exhaust), maybe another $150-500 for another 10-20 hp (camshaft and the cost variation is due to the possibility of having to replace the head gasket). So for somewhere between 400-1000, you can get 15-40 HP. Yeah, that's cheap, I suppose.

I guess the logical questions to ask are "Why do you feel you need more power?" ... and.... "What are you going to use the truck for?"

The stock Toyota truck and 4Runner are quite "off-road" capable out of the box.

 

The best mod I've ever done for making my truck feel like it has more mower, hands down, is to UNDER gear it. Run 4.88 gears with a max of a 31" tire and it will feel like you just did a motor swap. The only time I have a problem is on long highway road trips. Max speed is about 70, and that's at about 3800 rpm, with headers that gets a little loud, but around town it's so peppy, I love it!

 

hmm so pacesetters out lol, well cheap for me is under or around 500 and right now im looking for more of engine type upgrades to give my truck a little more "umf" lol. where i live there is huge hills and i wanna upgrade the engine so that ill be able to make it over without having to shell out 1000 or 2000 bucks for lockers, ah but see the problem with under gearing it is i wanna get some 33's soon

 

Take my advise, or not. All I'm saying is that these aren't big power engines, no matter what aftermarket add-ons you put on them. If you're going to 33s, then run 5.29 gears, and you will have thet "umf" you're looking for. It makes even a bigger difference if you live in the mountains, as I do. And I didn't mention lockers, just gearing. I have pacesetter headers, and they suck.

 

the gears are the way to go. you will see more of a gain from the gears than engine mods. i have a set of 4.88's ready to go in my truck and im just running 32's, so if you want some power just under gear it like stated above. and you could make your own header pretty cheap, that's what im working own right now. you can get the flange from lcengineering for 33$ or make your own if you have some shop skills and you can find the tubing relatively cheap from any muffler shop. i making mine like the factory mini header for the tocomas. for the tubing im using 1 1/2 .065 wall 304 stainless tubing.

 

of course not, im not looking to get v8 performce out of my little 4 cylinder only a mad man would think that. Its because im not really to familiar with gears and gear ratios. Are the only things you have to change are the ring and pinion? or no?

 

the onley thing you will have to change is the gears, bearings and seals. and thats a full rebuild kit, you can get a basic setup kit realy cheap, i think it comes with some shims, pinion bearing and a crush sleave. instead of spending money own one good engine mod you can get a set of gears from 4wheelparts.com for 500$, thats including front and rear gears, and 2 master install kits. hey dont be scared of the gear installs its realy not that hard just take your time and you should be fine. go to gearinstalls.com this sight is all toyota gear installs its run by (ZUK) he's own this forum.

 

i heard that if you slap on certain stickers, you should be good for 5-10hp at the wheels...

 

you beat me to it.
also, mud flaps... mud flaps add instant power

 

i have the k&n fip kit and i realy dident notice a change to much but does do some gets a lil better milage also but u cant really tell with hp and all

 

So i've decided now that i'm just gonna bump up my tires to 32's and save what i would have spent for exhaust upgrades. What gears would you suggest i run? So these kits come with everything that i would need to do the gear swap myself

 

My downey header looks good as new (put in 12 years ago), then the Borla on top of that.