URD Supercharger Adventure

The reason for me to install a supercharger is to improve towing experience when towing at rated capacity. The current engine performs admirably for daily driving delivering approximately 20 mpg in the city. I drive fairly conservatively and 85% of my driving is in the city, 10% off road and 5% highway. The decision to upgrade the engine rather than purchase a tow vehicle is driven in large part by the size of my garage. The 4runner is the biggest vehicle I can fit in a brick garage built in the 1940s. Please keep in mind the following are my opinions based in part from data on the internet. Accuracy is subjective and suspect but hey what opinion is not?

Roots vs Twin Screw:

URD/Whipple is a Twin Screw Design: The main factor choosing this design is the lower parasitic draw in driving the screw and the lower heat gain. Heat gain leads to detonation/knock and detonation is a VERY bad thing. Most all decisions around this build are done to avoid DETONATION. There is little/no instruction available regarding the URD install on youtube or writeups.

Magnison (TRD) is a Roots Design: The flow of air is routed around the outside of the compressor body with a physical contact between the lobe and the sidewall. This physical contact creates additional heat in conjunction with the heat generated through compression. The Magnison product is a very polished install with lots of youtube and writeups.

Both Superchargers use an Air to Water intercooler. Both use a pump to circulate coolant through a radiator mounted in front of the engine. Both Superchargers use a self-contained oil reservoir for lubrication. Both superchargers require the removal of the Crankshaft Pulley Bolt. Both require premium fuel to reduce the chance of DETONATION.

Detonation:
I define detonation as the fuel igniting when I do not want it to. This can be caused by excessive heat, a fuel/air mixture that is too lean, engine timing that is incorrect, etc. From my reading I believe the engine ECU/CPU uses timing and fuel enrichment (fuel map) to control knock/detonation. I chose the URD design because it contained a seventh injector mounted on the supercharger, an aftermarket fuel pump to deliver additional fuel if needed, and a piggyback ECU to monitor the supercharger. If there appears to be additional cooling needed I will use a water/methane injector system to control the issue.

The adventure begins

Ordering:
I had to put my name on a waiting list and wait about 6 months before the URD unit was in stock. I purchased it as soon as it became available. The stock was sold out in one day. Delivery took about six days once the kit was assembled by URD. URD needed a couple of weeks to assemble the kit.

-To be continued-

Receipt:
The kit arrived and the boxes were undamaged! One box contained the Supercharger body while the other contained the items needed to install it. The Parts list was very difficult to reconcile as some parts were pre mounted on the supercharger while other parts were in marked bags and still other parts were in unmarked bags. From the notations on the parts list it appeared someone did review what was going into the parts boxes as it was assembled, I just could not reconcile it on my end. The only part I was not happy with was the radiator I received. About 3 percent of the fins had been displaced (nitpicking)

Instructions:
There are three sets of instructions included in the kit. The main install instructions, instructions for installing the UCON Flex EMS and finally the instructions for the fuel pump upgrade. After review of the various instructions I was not sure I would be able to complete the installation at home. The primary hurdle is the Crank Shaft Bolt. URD wants that bolt tightened to 205 Foot pounds. Stories abound regarding Crank Shaft bolts. The next hurdle was the aftermarket fuel pump could pull air into the fuel line when the tank was under ¼ full. I do anticipate pulling loads with less than a quarter tank up and down hills. This particular problem can be solved with a fuel surge tank which is not part of the kit but would require some fabrication for the mounts on my end and decisions on where to best locate the tank. Next, I do not think the main instructions handle the Cold Start air injection system very well. You will need the factory manual to identify the parts that comprise the system so it can be moved when installing the belt drive system. None of these are complete brick walls but I am now in November and the garage is unheated. Busting knuckles in the winter is a painful prospect.

The first quote to install is from a shop that has a dyno and is $1,500. I am 3 weeks before they can start it . The good news is they recently installed a Whipple in another vehicle and they have a reasonable estimation of time and effort. They say the bad news is Whipple has the tune locked down and they can't adjust it. URD says their Piggyback ECU is self learning so I am not concerned with that issue.

-I am off to get some more quotes-

Sounds like a fun project! As someone with some experience regarding forced induction applications, if you can avoid using water/meth injection I would. Unless you intend to try a more aggressive overdrive on the blower, I imagine the intercooler and heat exchanger they supply will be plenty. And if for some reason you do want to improve the IAT cooling, upgrading the heat exchanger would be a simpler solution than water/meth injection.

Second quote received: $2500 for install. They could start now. They have never installed a Whipple system. Seems like I am paying these guys an extra grand for on the job learning.

I ordered a Radium Fuel Surge tank (20-0011-00) in order to allow me to drive in the mountains with boost and not be concerned with lean out due to air being sucked into the fuel system. The URD kits Deatschwerks (DW) 9-201-0766 is physically similar to the Radium Walbro GSS342 pump in that the intake is in line with the output. The fuel sock at the end of the DW pump may have to be modified to change the orientation but I will figure that out when I get the Surge tank. The Surge tank is approximately 5x5x10. I think I can squeeze it in front of the gas tank. My plan is to splice into the rubber lines that run on top of the gas tank rather that try to tie into the hard lines that run along the frame. I will have to fab a bracket to mount the surge tank to the frame.

Next is Amazon shopping for the fittings I need. My best guess is the hose on top of the gas tank is 5/16 so a barb to AN6 is on the shopping list. There also appears to be kits with hose and fittings that will work

The water/meth injection is a fallback position. The cost for the system is the approximately the same as a bigger radiator. There was a post I read here regarding a larger radiator and it being ineffective in lowering the trans temp so I may be biasing the inter-cooler solution. The base system is produced by Whipple and they appear to have spent a lot of time on the inter-cooler. I think I will be ok. Just dreaming/contemplating my navel at this point.

Besides lowering the intake temps, I was considering it because of the ability to clean up the intake. I had installed an oil catch can and was dumbfounded with the amount of blow by oil it was catching. I am not looking forward to the cleanup of the runners when I open the intake up.

Had this installed for a few years now! works great, Hope you will have the same great experience i have with mine! This supercharger is more work then the magnuson due to the upgraded fuel pump.

I hope to see some mods for the supercharger such as different size pulleys and varying stages of tunes.

I’d like to see these get over 400 wheel


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there was supposed to be a stage 2
not sure whats going on with that, its been a long time without updates.

to the wheels??? haha better upgrade everything else then

Third quote. $1k. I think we have a winner! Will have to wait until after Thanksgiving but I can get the surge tank in during that time. The cost and the fact I won’t have to work in my unheated garage in freezing temps is what sold me on getting it done by a shop. Sorry this thread won’t have pics of the install step by step. I will post the step by step of the surge tank tho. Just waiting on parts now.

Magnuson uses rotors from TVS/EATON, It is not a traditional roots style anymore, it is more of a hybrid twin screw, albeit with a smaller helix angle than the whipple (Lysholm) twin screw type. The only real difference anymore is where the air enters the rotors between the whipple and TVS/EATON types. FOr what it is worth, the TVS/EATON types have compressor efficiency maps that rival turbos now, particularly at the low boost levels we see in a 4runner.

If you are under 16-18psi, the Maggy may be a better choice..

This ford mustang guy does a great break down of the two types of positive displacement type super chargers..

I personally love the procharger centifugal types.. 90% of the complaints about them can be addressed with proper sizing and realistic goals in terms of HP...

TVS vs. Twin-screw. | Modded Mustang Forums

I received the surge tank and it was what I had expected. A nicely machined product which I hoped would work with the URD kit supplied Deatschwerks 9-201-0766 fuel pump. I anticipate a horizontal mount just in front of the fuel tank. With a horizontal mount it is important to have the fuel pump pickup located at the bottom of the surge tank. The Radium tank 20-0011-00 is set up to work with a Walbro GSS342 pump. Well the Deatschwerks could have been made in the same factory. The intake lined up with the outlet. Even the Plug matched so I didn’t have to put in a splice. My only problem was the Deatswerks had a fuel sock/strainer that was not orientated so that it would fit. Fortunately Radium sells a fuel sock that will fit in the tank and on the Deatswerks pump. I did clock the pump to line up with the holes shown on the the Surge tank and I will have to fab a bracket to attach the surge tank to the frame.

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Exciting stuff.

i'm debating if i need the surge tank. i guess it would help at WOT on low fuel levels. How easy or hard is the install?

So I have now fabricated a plate that attaches to the frame and holds the surge tank. I used a cardboard template and brought it to a local guy that does art stuff. He charged $45. I ground down the worst bumps on the frame with an angle grinder and hit it with a rattle can of POR-15. I drilled the plate for the holes and then marked the frame for further drilling. The plate was overkill at 1/4 but then I am a noob. I had to come back and cut a notch in the plate with an angle grinder because the surge tank has a round bottom which prevented it from fitting flush on the plate. I used Rivnuts to thread the bolts into the frame, I guess you could tap the frame as an alternative. I wanted bolts so I could get in there if I needed to.

Next up is the electrical (relay).

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