regearing is better for durability & reliability.

supercharging increases the stress on the drivetrain, while regearing reduces the stress on the drivetrain by making use of lower gears.

No it doesn't!!! Oh wait, my transmission just gave out, I guess so...

I am regearing it at the same time I swap out the transmission so here's to hoping it does reduce the stress my poor overworked automatic transmission sees.

My two cents, supercharging the 3rd gen doesn't sound like it's going to really solve what you are looking for. I don't care for Xterra too much having test driven one about the year range you're looking at awhile back. It was a manual and I didn't like the way the clutch felt, but it certainly has power compared to a 3rd gen. I think the Nissan interiors are ugly as well.

Why not a 4th gen 4Runner? More interior space, more creature comforts, better ride, just about as capable as a 3rd gen factory vs factory, but much more power. Even the V6 would pull a little trailer like that with ease, the V8 you won't even know it's back there. Plus they're just as reliable as the 3rd gens. Both the 1GR and 2UZ are known for reliability and longevity.

I had a SC on my 3.4 for a few years and loved it. However, its not gonna solve your problem.

At your elevation and with towing (3rd gens hate towing in hills) you are only gonna get the benefit of the SC when you get on it. That and the trans doing a shift while you have things pegged is a recipe for disaster.

You also need to consider the costs of fuel management hardware/software and or water meth setup to go along with the SC for it to be reliable.

So I was in the exact same boat as you, I took the SC off my 3rd gen, sold the URD kit and used all of that on a down payment for a 05 V8 4runnner. At the time they were really cheap if you were willing to travel to an area that does not have snow (got mine in Phoenix).

I had a chance to drive 2014 Xterra 4WD Auto for a month while working in California - putting 3000 miles on it driving up and down a lot of highway hills on the 101. Compared to my 2000 SR5 V6 with Auto, the Xterra had a lot more pep with the factory 5-speed and gear ratio. The 4.0 motor makes decent low end torque. It would tow a small trailer just fine. Similar to the 3.4 3rd gen motor though, I remember it running out of steam at the upper end of the rev band.

I think the biggest drawback of the 3rd Gen Auto is the Auto itself. There's just not great spread between the gears like the 5-speed manuals. I remember thinking to myself that I wish the 3rd Gen Auto felt as peppy as the Xterra. That's sort of where it ended. The interior of the Xterra was cheap hard plastic and my luggage and crap would slide across the trunk all day long on that plastic floor.

I vote looking at GX 470 or 4th Gen 4Runner with V8 and keeping within the Toyota family. 2010 GX 460s are starting to come down in price too which gets you into 6-speed auto territory with 3.91 gearing. I was able to tow an Axis A22 surf boat (6500lbs) relatively comfortably for short stints using my wife's GX 460. Just don't think I'd enjoy it on long road trips as the wheelbase is still pretty short and worried about straining the transmission over mountain passes.

I have a 2000 SR5 Manual trans, with 4.56 gears and 285's. I am not supercharged. My truck is a LOT faster than the Automatic 4Runners my friends have. I can get rubber in 2 gears and get sideways easily. The rear Grizzly locker helps, but the point is re-gearing will make a big difference. Before I re-geared, hills were a problem in general.

If you haven't done the Deck-Plate mod, do that as well. It's about $10 and adds about 7-10HP and 18-20ft/lbs. of torque from 2000-4000 RPM, which is right where you need it most. Get a free-flowing cat-back while you're at it. That adds about the same amount of HP and Torque as the Deck-Plate mod. Get one of the non-baffled type of exhaust systems. Magnaflow, Borla, Jardine, etc.

I can leave small performance cars like the Acura Integra from the same era as my truck in the dust from stoplights. I shit you not.

Toyota quieted down these engines compared to the original in the T-100 due to their intended audience. They made them sluggish because of that. The auto trans doesn't do this engine any favors.

So, to summarize, re-gear and make the engine breathe better.

My .02

source: dude trust me

If towing is your main concern I don't think anything beats the 5.7 engine in the Sequoia or the V8 in the 4th gen. You can also do a lot of things with the extra space. Sleeping platform, etc.

Also I think you're supposed to turn off the OD or shift it into second if it is that bad. Rev it up. Italian tuneup! It cleans the cats.

Project SportRunner - Deck Plate Mod

It's been proven on a Dyno by multiple people years ago.

Edit: Gadget's findings, although he was SC'd, it still makes a big difference. As I said, Toyota quieted down the 4Runner, which hampered performance.

Air Induction

The quoted increases were around 110 mph. If you look at the graph provided from his testing results there is maybe a couple horsepower difference while driving at lower speeds. Even then I would be willing to bet that any horsepower or torque gains are minimal below 3000 rpm where most people and engines operate.

And it also stands to say if the engine could've been improved so drastically from such a small and cheap modification you can surely bet an automaker would do so as opposed to spending the time and effort to engineer the intake through the fender well and adding an expensive supercharger, especially considering these vehicles were designed with highway use as priority with advertised towing capabilities - meaning the proposed change would've meant less engineering, less materials and manufacturing, and ultimately cheaper production with more return profits. Well I say that, but we've all seen how the 3RZ suffers... and if the results are the same as an elbow delete (something that I advocate for) then I guess I don't have much room to speak on
I'd love to hear more about this "quieting down" cause I can't find a lick about it no matter where or what I search for

Toyota did a great job of quieting the intake noise. I've removed every piece of the stock intake and mine sounds like a shop vac in my engine bay when I start it up in the morning.

The deckplate is one of those 'try it and see if you like it' sort of thing. I saw a dyno chart once where someone had turned on ECT Power and done the deckplate mod and gained roughly 10 HP on an otherwise stock engine. I realize that's not much but it adds up if put on a cat-back exhaust, high flow air filter, etc. Maybe all one is after is turning their 183HP 4Runner into a 200HP 4Runner and that's enough.

I was in the same boat about 4 years ago. S/C my 3rd gen or buy something else (I was eyeing a GX470/460 as the replacement and building it up. I already had an LC80 and didn't want to to go back to it... too large for the trails I take, I didn't like its sloppy steering and too slow).

I also already lifted my truck and did a lot of modifications geared towards the type of OFF-ROADING I do. So I just S/C mine in the end.

That said, if you don't really offroad with any intensity (read: fire roads and the occasional rock) or haven't built up your truck much, I'd say you're better off going with the Xterra. Never drove one, but that's a great engine (as far as power, longevity seems to be OK on the newer ones?) and it'll probably be more civilized, relatively capable and a good support community.

I do suspect it will have more issues compared to the 4runner, but not enough to break the bank (as all Nissans seem to).

I'd get the Pro-X... but those are going for a crazy premium. If you don't have a RR diff lock now, than any 4WD Xterra would be fine I'd guess.

On this mod, I saw the same dyno... not sure how valid it is, HOWEVER, I did the mod anyway after I S/Ced mine... figuring it was sucking in more air due to the FI.. so it couldn't hurt it. Does sound a bit throatier, could be faster, not sure?

Just have to make sure to seal it up before any rainstorms, lol.

Tundra 5.7 for towing all the way. Guys where I work love this motor. Otherwise you want a V8 4Runner. All the other stuff is going to be expensive bandaid fixes for a vehicle that was never meant to do heavy towing.

Trailer weight and vehicle weight need to match up and so do hitches and anti-sway equipment.