To Supercharge or Not to Supercharge

[bdg4512]

Yet again I turn to the infinite wisdom of the Ultimate Yota forums, my dad has offered to pay for a supercharger for my Christmas and Birthday present. It is something that sounds really interesting to me because I would love to have the extra power and I almost think that it might help my crummy gas mileage. Here's the downfall, I have 175,xxx miles on the old girl and I don't know if I should really tempt fate by adding such an expensive toy. So basically what do you guys think, aside from bad gas mileage the truck seems strong enough, never acts up, and I wouldn't hesitate to drive her across country tomorrow if the need arose. Is there anything that you guys would suggest doing to make her ready for such an upgrade or would you forgo the project altogether?

[Seanz0rz]

aside from the blower itself, you will need the appropriate fuel upgrades, etc.

ive seen total price estimates (when i researched doing it myself) in the 3grand range. plus on a motor that old, i just dont know.

im sure more people can better explain and put down their own experience, especially stevo3.

[bdg4512]

I knew that I would probably need to go to a higher output fuel pump and higher flow injectors, but other than that, is there something else that I'm forgetting? Also does anyone else have any input on doing this to a high mileage motor? Thanks guys!

[MTL_4runner]

To add a S/C with any kind of reliability involved you'll also need to get the URD kit fuel upgrade kit ($1000) as well as doing a valve body upgrade ($700 + shipping both ways to IPT) to save your tranny from imminent destruction. The grand total is usually in the $4-5k range for everything which is alot.....not to mention a motor with 175k is getting a little long in the tooth to try and put that much power down to the ground. Unless the engine is truely in immaculate condition, I think I'd pass on the S/C and save for a 4th gen.

[fenrisx]

I know I mentioned this in another thread.. but what about doing the V8 swap out of a Lexus SC300(or is it the 400?). Those would put out numbers close to the 3.4l v6 w/ a super charger wouldn't it? Plus would it weigh less than our engine with a super charger? The price would be close to that of the Supercharger..and even paying someone to swap it.. still might come out cheaper than doing the Supercharger + 7thinjector and installation.

And could possibly find a lower mileage one to boot..

[bdg4512]

The supra engine does sound appealing, but I'm thinking that given the price of those beasts and the problem of finding someone who knows what they're doing to install it, will kind of take it out of the running. But with a supercharger running a grand total of $5,000 to be done reliably, I may as well save my pennies and just deal with my crappy mileage and lack of acceleration. Thanks guys for the advice I think I need to do a little more research, I can justify $2-3k but it gets out of hand really quickly. Thanks again on your input, you guys are like my guiding light . (that was a lil gay)


Also, I was thinking of regearing, anyone have any clue on how to tell what gears you have?

[MTL_4runner]

Regearing would be one of the most reliable ways to gain acceleration but just like anything it is a tradeoff (ie there's no free lunch there) against highway speed fuel economy. Going that route you'll get quicker acceleration but you'll also pay a bit more for it in MPG at highway speeds.

The best way to tell what gearing you have is to put the rear of the truck up on jackstands, put the T-case in neutral, mark the driveshaft / 3rd member /tires and turn the driveshaft until the tires make 10 full revolutions. Then divide the number of driveshaft revolutions by 10 to get the gear ratio.

Example:
Wheel revolutions = 10
Driveshaft revolutions = 41
Gear ratio = 41/10 = 4.10

[fenrisx]

Oh.. I didn't know those were the same engine used in the naturally aspirated Supras.. cool.

[fenrisx]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/91-95...spagenameZWDVW
There's one on eBay (40k-60k miles) for $550 +200 shipping.

[Seanz0rz]

the 300 yes, that was the inline 6. im not sure how well that fits into the 4runner.

the sc400 had the 1uz-fe lexus engine. cebby knows all about swapping that, his thread can be found on this site.