frodin1

I've been thinking about purchasing a supercharger for my 00'runner "3.4".But i'm wondering what the possibility of a trans failure is with these?I've read a couple articles about this problem but I haven't seen it here.Is there a recomended upgrade from Toyota for the trans, or is the stock one capable of handling the torque created from the new supercharger?Is there a difference from a regular runner transmission to the TRD version? I currently have a K&N FIPK and Magnaflow exhaust and I think that a new SC would be the ticket"or get me one"!If anybody has some advice to prevent me from tearing up my runner please let me know.I'm kind of new to the 4runner game and I believe that all the experience from you,"actual owners" would be extremely helpfull.On that note ,If you have any advice or recomendations for me before I start this venture please feel free to let me know.Thanks!

3.4v6

i would send out your tranny valve body to IPT as soon as you slap the charger on there.

Tacoma Dude

Depends on whether or not you have auto or manual transmission. If you have an automatic you'll want to do the valve body upgrade. Don't forget that you'll need to do fuel upgrades as well.

I strongly suggest that you run a search with the specific topics you want. Supercharger by itself will yield a bajillion results. Supercharger and upgrade will yield much more helpful threads. There's a LOT of information archived away I'd suggest reading up and doing homework.

NicksBlue934runner

I think that a new SC would be the ticket"or get me one"!

pre-paid legal

no really i kinda wish i had it when i got my 97 in a 60 the other day from the troopers

Strap22

If you decide to get one we still have 75 in stock at the old price. See the vendor section. Price will be going up soon.

frodin1

Well after reading everybodys replies,i'm pretty much convinced that I don't want to do this.I was looking at a couple grand plus Tstat,plugs,and gauge.Now I'm looking at fuel mods in excess of $1500,SC$2000,VB upgrade$700 plus all the little stuff,tranny cooler,t-stat,guage,plugs etc.Lets just round it off to $5000. Is it even worth it?All for a reported 75HP.I think I'd be better off going and getting a brand new rig with the TRD package.My 00'runner only has 56,000mi .But now i'm having a really hard time justifiying the SC upgrade.Thanks for all your help!

rimpainter.com

This is one of the best responses I have ever seen to SC'r advice. Good call man!

Do it right, or don't do it at all.

ebelen1

Did research on the same topic months ago and came up w/ the same conclusion you came to. $5k wasn't worth it to me.

I have a difficult time driving over 85 mph on the freeway as is w/ a slight lift. I even have Addco sway bars but it just isn't stable enough for my liking. Where you'd get a lot of benefit from the s/c is off the line power and midrange. I figure for $5k for upgrading a nice daily driver like an IS300 would be worthwhile. Now I just have to figure out how I can get an IS300...

rearviewmirror

I agree w/ not doing it all if you plan on keeping the 4Runner for a long time. The 3.4 is what it is, and the 4Runner is no sports car. So in light of that it just doesn't seem worth the dosh to get some extra HP out of a damn good engine which ultimately will sacrifice reliability. I'm certain done right it will last a long time, but let's face it, most are not tuning it accurately and eventually the high load/low rpm pings will eventually take their toll. If only we could have a comparably priced diesel swap in the US, now that would be money well spent. More power (torque) and longevity to go along with it.

neliconcept

for 5kx2 you could get a nice bmw to mess around with.. thats my excuse.. i was also wanting to get a supercharger but im just going to save up for an e36 m3

3.4v6

if you look around on the for sale sections of different toyota forums you can get a deal. i paid $1600 for the charger with an 11 psi pulley and the 7th injector.

frodin1

Yeah,but with all the other stuff it's still kind of crazy to spend that much.I was thinking that it was olny going to cost a couple grand,which is still alot to justify.My ol'lady would kick my a$$ if I spent five grand on that.I'm sure she'd rather have a new vehicle to sport rather that me blowing 5K. Like some of the people have said "do it right or don't do it at all".I really dont want to lose the reliabilitiy of my toy.I figure it comes down to this.Even though being a service rep for a worldwide company,and I cus them out, usually on a daily basis.Engineers have designed this 4runner to operate a certain way.Granted we can alter a few things to make it better but I would rather purchase A TRD version that they have worked the kinks out of,than start messing with the way it's supposed to be.Loosing the integrity and reliability of my rig is not worth 5K and a 75HP gain.Thanks,again for all the advice.I'm gonna leave my daily driver alone for now!

jimbob

All good advice. I will add that if you are happy with the way your rig drives now, don't add the SC - it becomes a huge list of additional parts and add ons. Put the money into lifts and armor - $$$ spent wisely.

I drove my '91 3.slow 5sp for 10 years - it was pokey, but I still loved it!!!
I picked up the 2002 in '03 - it already had the SC on it. I was looking for a 99/00 with a 5sp and planning to put a SC on, but I found the 02 with less miles (35k) and the SC for what I would have paid for a hacked up 99/00 with 80k+ miles + adding the SC.

I was happy until I found YotaTech and learned about the lean out and ping issues. It never ping'd that bad, but I was scared of the lean out. I was thinking about pulling the SC, but I opted to spend $1700 for the 7th (installed) and NOW its picked up a little pinging, along with difficulty going past ~3500 rpm. Now I need to look into :
- URD Denso plugs --- the IK22 plugs specified by TRD for the 7th are single tip - hoping the Denso's will take care of it (they look like 3 prong plugs from the URD site)
- Airraid tube - get rid of the ISR
- Walbro pump - more pressure
- URD 7th upgrade - +O2 sensors + tuning --- if the other mods don't help
- the guilty feeling for not doing the IPT valve body for the tranny

I need to take a stock 02 out for a ride to see just how much different the power curves are --- I would hope its all worth while. I'm into deep now to get back out!

If you haven't gone SC'd yet, don't unless you're willing to put a lot more money into it.

MTL_4runner

Ditto here too.....I think alot of people come to that conclusion even though it is very tempting to upgrade.
....until you get the bill.

MaNiAk

This thread is the best thread yet. Lots of honest answers. I was considering a SC today and decided to do a little search. That's when I came across this thread. After reading all the extras that need to put put into place for the SC and vehicle to run right I also decided that it's not the route I want to go. But if there is somebody that did put all the extras in and on with the SC I would like to hear their opinions on the "whole kit-n-kaboodle". I would like to hear if they have had any problems yet even with all the upgrades. Because if I hear some great things about the SC and all the necessary upgrades I might ponder the idea of a SC again.

ebelen1

Just so you hear the other side of the equation, there's a guy named Koz over on tr4.org that says you don't need fuel mods or anything else. Just slap on the s/c and you're done. I think his father has his 3rd gen and it's still going strong.

My two cents is to go w/ the guys on this board as they "appear" to have better knowledge than Koz but to each his own...

rimpainter.com

I'm happy and have no problems to report. However, I skipped the injector upgrade. Now I am going to have to pull the charger again and install injectors (305's) because I am sick and tired of losing so much power from retarding the timing to eliminate audible ping. I should take you for a ride some time. You will be amazed at the 2nd gear pull. It flies! 3rd gear isn't so bad either. 1st gear is just ridiculous because it hits redline so fast.

For me, this was all worth it. I simply purchased a donor rig, snagged the SC'r off it, put that one back to stock, and sold it for $1300 more than I bought it for; covering the cost of my plane ticket and fuel/timing mods. The supercharger cost me $0 (except for premium fuel costs).

A few of us have lunch every now and then. You should join us sometime if possible.

4Runner94115

I got the supercharger in 01, as soon as it was available. Got the 7th Inj as soon as it became available. I have well over 100,000 miles on it with no transmission problems. It's like anything else - if you beat the crap out of it, it's not going to last as long. If you buy, shop around. I bought my stuff from a Toyota dealership in FL (?) their prices were so low that my dealership couldn't touch them at their cost.

MaNiAk

Did you just but the S/C or did you have it installed too. And If the Stealership installs would there be less problems because they tune it in as well? Does the dealership installation include any fuel upgrades etc?

rimpainter.com

^ Matt, "no" to all that stuff. All worthwhile mods and the associated tuning is done on the side; unless you find a dealer with a tech that is familiar with piggybacks, etc. The dealer is going to rake you over the coals on prices with install. If you walked into Camelback Toyota tomorrow and purchased a SC'r with 7th injector, my guess is you would be walking out of there dropping $4K - $5K including install. Totally not worth it.

I drove a SC'd Taco without the VB upgrade and the 1st --> 2nd gear change made me cringe it slipped so bad.

I can bring my laptop when we meet up and show you how I tune my engine. It's pretty trick.