New to Altitude. Suggestions?

[joshespdx]

I recently moved here from Portland, OR and decided shortly after that I wanted a 3rd Gen T4R. My 2000 Limited will be delivered on Saturday after a long trailer ride from Portland. I live in Fort Collins (5,000 feet) and frequently drive over Vail Pass (10,000+feet).

Aside from going the forced induction route, I've chosen to add a aFe Pro5R, the URD light weight crankshaft pulley and the URD MAF sensor calibrator. When funds permit, I'll add a complete exhaust system to take full advantage of the MAF sensor's capabilities. A a large trans cooler will be in the works, as well.

Am I missing anything painfully obvious? I'd really appreciate some feedback from other folks here in the Mountain States.

Cheers!

:girl:

Josh

 

[csp]

Short of forced induction or more cubic inches you're not going to notice a lot of change from the mods you've listed. The bang for the buck certainly isn't there, IMO.

The butt dyno will never notice 5-10hp.

 

[joshespdx]

I ran the the aFe on a 2006 Tacoma and a 2007.5 Silverado ("new" body style). The difference was noticeable, particularly in low-end throttle response and reduced gear-hunting while climbing grades. They sound great, as well :biggrin1:

I test drove two rigs with the S/C and the difference from a naturally aspirated variant is amazing! As many of us around here say: some day...

I'll drive it for a few weeks before I put them on, and then see what my butt has to say about it when I head over Vail Pass :lookout:

 

[JayRolla]

Other than forced induction any mods won't do anything. I live on high altitude and my truck does fine.

 

[paddlenbike]

save your money for the charger

 

[Range]

Theres actually someone selling a SC on this board right now. $2500

 

[paddlenbike]

Theres actually someone selling a SC on this board right now. $2500

Unless that price includes a 7th injector setup, I would never pay that used. $2,700 without discounts is a common new price and you can get it for less if you shop around or wait for a sale.

https://trdparts4u.toyotaofdallas.com/scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=-8162

 

[snivilous]

Anything you do aside from a SC or TC won't make up for the 15% power loss you'll experience. I would say get used to it or boost.

 

[absalom]

Screw natural aspiration and it's limitations at altitude. If I wasn't doing my conversion, I'd turbo the stock motor in about 2 seconds. Some members have done it for around $800. No power loss at altitude, increased mileage, and awesome sound!

 

[csp]

I ran the the aFe on a 2006 Tacoma and a 2007.5 Silverado ("new" body style). The difference was noticeable, particularly in low-end throttle response and reduced gear-hunting while climbing grades.

Where were you located at that time?

 

[MtnT4R]

Welcome to CO! Just my .02: our trucks can do 75 up the passes just fine as-is; the speed limit is also 75 and I-70 is heavily patrolled by state troopers because its a notoriously dangerous road.
While your truck is yours to do with as you please, and a lot of guys here SC and add other performance mods, at the end of the day we are still driving trucks built more for rugged offroad capability than highway driving. Depending on what image you have in mind for your truck, I might suggest saving that money for offroad mods or something else besides performance. I've read that a few people have apparently managed to squeeze nearly 300hp out of their motors, but these trucks handle a lot like bricks at high speed anyways.

 

[calimobber]

Im living in Grand Lake,Co now and my house is at a staggering 8,700ft. I can tell the difference but its not that big. Can still get up to speed just fine.

Id recommend not getting sucked into the power mods unless its just for the fun factor. Ive been sucking into them many times and im sure glad I resisted. I still tow a 6x10 trailer thousands of miles every 6 months and she handles it fun, just gotta slow down and enjoy the drive.

But to still answer you question, everyone has said it already. only thing that really helps these engines is a super charger.

 

[joshespdx]

Where were you located at that time?

With the Taco I was living in Albuquerque, NM, with frequent trips to Breck via CSprings. It was a 6-speed manual. Performance above 3,500 RPM was noticable.

My Silverado was frequently above 5,000' in the Pacific NW, pulling a wood trailer. Gear hunting was drastically reduced (it was the 4-speed auto, not the 6-speed auto), especially while on cruise control and encountering mild grades. Overall, there was a benefit the drive-ability of the truck.

It's not so much that I'm looking to unleash some "hidden" power of the 3.4L. More so that I want to reduce the engine's effort to create the same amount of power (be more efficient at what it does).

Thanks for all the great feedback, everyone! :thumb3:

Josh

 

[MtnT4R]

It's not so much that I'm looking to unleash some "hidden" power of the 3.4L. More so that I want to reduce the engine's effort to create the same amount of power (be more efficient at what it does).

smaller tires :driving:

But honestly, besides a supercharger the best thing you can do is replace all fluids, make sure they are all in good condition- go with top shelf full synthetic because they provide better performance in cold temperatures, and don't ever let your tires go under-inflated. That transmission cooler is a great idea as well.