hi im new to the thread and this is my first post so dont flame me too much and just point me to the right direction or give me a real answer. Well i just recently lifted my 99 4runner with ome 3" ultimate lift to fit my 285/75/16r i was wondering if bigger tires made me lose power.., well yesterday while driving to Vail, C.O. (oop: load of mountains to get there) I noticed my 4runner was having a hard time going up the mountains and i told myself " I need to keep this 4runner but i want more power" it was doing so/so going up running 65 with 3100rpm but traffic was on the way and i had to slow down... i tried to floor it and waited but it wont go anymore i was stuck on 30 mph ... it got me sad ... first time ive seen my 4runner struggle ... all i had inside is 2 bikes and me and my wife...i i really want more power and im not leaning towards supercharger or turbo's ... ive been looking around threads and all i can see are write ups for 2nd gen to v8.... what engine (v8) is there that would be and easy swap or not to a 3.4 3rd gen , please include price if know and other things needed bell housing, harness,.. ect sorry for the long post... im not good on these thread stuffs thank you in advance


: ps : shout out to vail C.O. 4runner's ive seen pretty nice rigs while driving around

v8 swap has been done, but unless you have a very high level of mechanical abilities you will be better off buying the $2700 supercharger.

dont really care about shop installation price . i can work on it too

Out of curiosity, why are you against the forced induction, yet want easy, cheap power? Unless you're gonna throw in a Chevy 350, I think any Toyota V8 swap is going to be a huge undertaking compared to a supercharger. And with the right tuning, forced induction should get you the power you need, unless you just want a V8.

If so, I vote 5.7L iForce

just really want a v8

i know that some companies make 350 swap kits for tacomas (which is the same as a 4runner), but i dont know the price but i'm sure a google search could help find that. but in my opinion i wouldnt put anything but a toyota motor into a 4runner. people have done v8's from 1st gen tundra's and v8's out of a Lexus ls400 or an sc400(1uzfe is the engine). either swap would be pretty expensive and extremely custom because there isn't much in the way of swap kits available as far as i know. i would choose the 1uzfe personally because its lighter, smaller, and more reliable than the 4.7 out of the 1st gen tundra. buy the engine off ebay and get the harness through tweakdperformance.com, and check out UZswap.com - Index for advice on the swap.

And by all means, if you do decide to swap in a v8, TAKE LOTS OF PHOTOS AND SHOW US ALL!! =]

Good luck!

Agreed, and burnout vids.

Pretty sure Singtoe did this. I imagine be would have the answers u r looking for.

That is Wierd because I took mine up the east cost to New York and I did not think that I need a v8! sure it could have used a little more power, but not another 100 hp! I think you need to make sure your truck is running good!

Definitely x2 on the super charger! It is so easy to do! The v8 swap takes a lot of time and a lot of money and you can't forget a lot of patience!

Truck shouldn't have been stuck at 30 MPH with 33's on it. I towed another 4Runner home a few hundred miles with mine on 33's with no power mods.

And unless you have money to just burn, a V8 swap is the least cost effective route. Hell, gears would solve your problem.

Just asking, but what gears are you running? That might make a difference.

Yes, the larger, heavier tires can definitely make a difference. You have less mechanical advantage with your now effectively taller gearing, and the tires are also heavier, and likely have a more aggressive tread then what you previously had, so there is also more rolling resistance. A lift also degrades the aerodynamics of a vehicle, so you now also have more aero drag, further hurting performance.

On top of that, a naturally aspirated engine loses approx. 3% of it's power, for every 1000 ft gain in elevation.

If you drove over the Eisenhower pass on I-70, the road tops out at 11,000+ ft.

So a stock 5VZ-FE that has 183 hp @ 4800 rpm at sea level, only has a maximum of approx. 122 hp @ 4800 rpm at 11,000+ ft. If the engine was only turning 3100 rpm, you have even less power than that.

Forced induction (supercharger or turbo) works especially well at the higher altitudes you were driving at.

It can't be done, don't even waste your time even thinking about. Get one of those electric superchargers or magnets for the fuel line or something.

Two words for you, Dustin... Re. Gear.

If you need to come into a forum and open with a post asking not to be flamed for not doing your research, then a V8 swap is completely and utterly beyond you. Take your truck to a driveline shop and give them $1000 to swap in a set of 4.88s, plug one of these into your cigarette lighter, and get down with your bad self.

When I take my bike from here in WI at under 1000 ft in elevation back to WY where I grew up at 6000+ elevation, the power difference is just stupid. Its like riding two completely different bikes. 3%~ is the number Ive always heard as well.

OP, youre talking about spending a ton of money. Super charging and re-gearing are good advice that you should logically consider. Or just get a 4th gen that already has an 8.