The 3.4L TRD Supercharger Thread

[Ryan_H]

Once you add all that extra weight with heavy tires, heavy bumpers and gear you can throw performance out the window. That being said, it's worth checking for a vacuum leak, that could be your fuel smell. The intake has a bit of a fuel smell because of the 7th injector. Vacuum leaks kill power.

I haven't been able to find any vacuum leaks, even with a smoke test. At lower boost/RPM there is a distinct whistle coming from the intake that I can't figure out however. My friend's SC'd Tacoma with the same set up does not make any noise other than the whine in boost. Seems unlikely but maybe its leaking boost out of the metal plenum gasket? I have no idea if it was replaced when the SC was bolted on.

I'm hoping there's something minor wrong, the truck can't even break the tires free from a stand still.

 

[gamefreakgc]

I haven't been able to find any vacuum leaks, even with a smoke test. At lower boost/RPM there is a distinct whistle coming from the intake that I can't figure out however. My friend's SC'd Tacoma with the same set up does not make any noise other than the whine in boost. Seems unlikely but maybe its leaking boost out of the metal plenum gasket? I have no idea if it was replaced when the SC was bolted on.

I'm hoping there's something minor wrong, the truck can't even break the tires free from a stand still.

Also double-check the vacuum hose routing. Look up TRD's instruction manual and in the back there's diagrams for specific years and 4WD years that have slightly different routing. You might have a boost leak that's small enough that you can still build boost at WOT but not at partial throttle. I had that when I put my supercharger on but forgot the IAC one way valve.

 

[Ryan_H]

Also double-check the vacuum hose routing. Look up TRD's instruction manual and in the back there's diagrams for specific years and 4WD years that have slightly different routing. You might have a boost leak that's small enough that you can still build boost at WOT but not at partial throttle. I had that when I put my supercharger on but forgot the IAC one way valve.

As far as I know the vacuum hoses are routed right, I haven't been able to find a diagram for the '02 and first gen SC yet but I'll keep looking. My buddy's Tacoma is an '04 and I think the vacuum routing is the same, so I have mine routed the same as his. A small boost or vacuum leak would definitely make sense.

 

[Black798]

Pssh I'm putting my 2.0" pulley back on later this year once I get the funds to do it right. Looking to hit 13 PSI, that'd be 3 higher than I'm at right now (with headers you lose some PSI but gain power).

I posted some photos of the intake manifold and cylinder head ports on my build thread. There's some definite gains from increased flow from a port and polish doing a simple gasket match job. Same goes with the exhaust but no photos of the exhaust side. https://www.toyota-4runner.org/3467340-post229.html

Sir you can run a smaller pulley than 2.2 but at what expense. With a 2.0 your running it 20% faster than it would have been stock and stock for the 4runner was already a smaller pulley than Magnuson ever used for any other application of the m60 blower. It might be making 13psi but at that point the charge air is so insanely hot even with methanol that it's not capable of making a whole lot of power and you're probably spending 60+ horse just to spin the damn thing that fast.

So sure I don't have the "max power" the blower can possibly make but I feel I'm at the point where it's at the max it can make and still be even the slightest bit efficient. And even then my blower was rebuilt about 10k miles before I bought it, I've out about 15k on it and after my last trip of running it hard in the dunes the nose cone is puking oil from the heat basically melting the seal. That's my big drive towards a turbo, I can do it for cheaper than I sell the supercharger, more power at the same boost level because it's not running off the crank, better mpg, way cooler intake temps which again means more power, and they just sound better imo.

The difficult part for me going that route is I'd like to polish the intake plenum but there's so many tight bends in the upper two portions with long straights in between I'm not sure how I would be able to do that. The heads i don't see a whole lot of improvement being there other than some light polishing of the the long side radius and around the valve stems. But a lot of those benefits will only be realised at 4000 Rpms and up and with forced induction the difference won't be nearly as big as on a NA motor since there's already some pressure forcing the air in. The port design on this motor actually is pretty good and oddly enough the intake ports are significantly larger than a small block 350 which is like a 5.5 liter. I do think some good polishing and smoothing in the chambers would he worthwhile for heat management but otherwise the juice doesn't seem worth the squeeze. LCE sells some ported and polished heads it would be interesting to see them side by side with stock

 

[gamefreakgc]

Sir you can run a smaller pulley than 2.2 but at what expense. With a 2.0 your running it 20% faster than it would have been stock and stock for the 4runner was already a smaller pulley than Magnuson ever used for any other application of the m60 blower. It might be making 13psi but at that point the charge air is so insanely hot even with methanol that it's not capable of making a whole lot of power and you're probably spending 60+ horse just to spin the damn thing that fast.

So sure I don't have the "max power" the blower can possibly make but I feel I'm at the point where it's at the max it can make and still be even the slightest bit efficient. And even then my blower was rebuilt about 10k miles before I bought it, I've out about 15k on it and after my last trip of running it hard in the dunes the nose cone is puking oil from the heat basically melting the seal. That's my big drive towards a turbo, I can do it for cheaper than I sell the supercharger, more power at the same boost level because it's not running off the crank, better mpg, way cooler intake temps which again means more power, and they just sound better imo.

The difficult part for me going that route is I'd like to polish the intake plenum but there's so many tight bends in the upper two portions with long straights in between I'm not sure how I would be able to do that. The heads i don't see a whole lot of improvement being there other than some light polishing of the the long side radius and around the valve stems. But a lot of those benefits will only be realised at 4000 Rpms and up and with forced induction the difference won't be nearly as big as on a NA motor since there's already some pressure forcing the air in. The port design on this motor actually is pretty good and oddly enough the intake ports are significantly larger than a small block 350 which is like a 5.5 liter. I do think some good polishing and smoothing in the chambers would he worthwhile for heat management but otherwise the juice doesn't seem worth the squeeze. LCE sells some ported and polished heads it would be interesting to see them side by side with stock

The hot air is why I'm contemplating adding a small shot of nitrous, around 35-50. On supercharged engines that HP gain is exponential because of the heat reduction, it could be more like 50-75 due to nitrous being a cryogenic gas. You are right about the nose cones, there's a better seal you can get from Rolling Performance that holds up nicely. I had to do that about 3 months after replacing my nose cone with the 2.1" pulley.

The supercharger definitely has it's limits but the trade-off is CARB approval (12 states have adopted CARB standards now!!!) and ease of installation. Of course though, if you can install a turbo setup and pass any emissions restrictions then the sky is the limit for power. More boost, more fuel, and more importantly more CFM's and less heat, to some extent. Still get heat transfer from the exhaust gases though. 400 RWHP becomes a possibility, depending on how crazy you want the boost levels. The biggest hurdles I have to adding more boost and power with the supercharger is CFM's, the darn thing just doesn't flow enough air through the intake side.

You are right about the intake post-boost does not need as much flow as an N/A engine. Air compressed by a supercharger will take up roughly 1/2 the volume of the uncompressed air coming into the supercharger. Turbos might be different though, not sure. However there's enough data from other parts to show there's still power to be gained. The camshafts that I had in that just increase intake lift (allowing more time for the combustion chambers to fill) were dyno'd at a 22HP gain. That was above 5000 RPM though.

I appreciate your insight and willingness to explore new things. It's people like you who think outside of the box that make this forum a valuable source for information. I'm still learning about these engine and their capability, and so far I'm impressed on how well the 5VZ-FE takes boost & performance upgrades.

 

[Black798]

The hot air is why I'm contemplating adding a small shot of nitrous, around 35-50. On supercharged engines that HP gain is exponential because of the heat reduction, it could be more like 50-75 due to nitrous being a cryogenic gas. You are right about the nose cones, there's a better seal you can get from Rolling Performance that holds up nicely. I had to do that about 3 months after replacing my nose cone with the 2.1" pulley.

The supercharger definitely has it's limits but the trade-off is CARB approval (12 states have adopted CARB standards now!!!) and ease of installation. Of course though, if you can install a turbo setup and pass any emissions restrictions then the sky is the limit for power. More boost, more fuel, and more importantly more CFM's and less heat, to some extent. Still get heat transfer from the exhaust gases though. 400 RWHP becomes a possibility, depending on how crazy you want the boost levels. The biggest hurdles I have to adding more boost and power with the supercharger is CFM's, the darn thing just doesn't flow enough air through the intake side.

You are right about the intake post-boost does not need as much flow as an N/A engine. Air compressed by a supercharger will take up roughly 1/2 the volume of the uncompressed air coming into the supercharger. Turbos might be different though, not sure. However there's enough data from other parts to show there's still power to be gained. The camshafts that I had in that just increase intake lift (allowing more time for the combustion chambers to fill) were dyno'd at a 22HP gain. That was above 5000 RPM though.

I appreciate your insight and willingness to explore new things. It's people like you who think outside of the box that make this forum a valuable source for information. I'm still learning about these engine and their capability, and so far I'm impressed on how well the 5VZ-FE takes boost & performance upgrades.

The nitrous will be interesting to see and I think in your use case will work well sense it sounds like yours gets used a lot more at high rpm. In my case im chasing that low end stump pulling torque which with the motor having such a short stroke is already an uphill battle haha. But for me it just doesnt make sense to have a cam or anything that adds all the power in the last 500 rpms of the motors range. Definitely agree that theres a lot more potential for power in the motor people just dont really ever try to chase it.

Theres also always the option of retrofitting an m90 blower which would really open up some posibilites. Ive only seen one person successfully do it though. For me CARB isnt really an issue since we arent required to even test emissions here

What Im looking forward to the most for the turbo is the ability to actually map the boost curve with my piggyback, right now at 2500 to 3k rpms the most i can get the blower to push even locked in 4th with the tc locked up and my foot on the floor is 5psi, I know its got more in it just cant get the supercharger to do it. Im shooting for 10 to 12 psi total when I turbo it and around 8 or 9 in that 2500 to 3k range. Short term Im planning to delete the oem knock sensors in favor of some GM sensors and running them through the piggyback. That will allow me to move the point that the sensors come on down to 2200 rpm or even lower but that will kinda be determined by if the sensors are picking up false ping from engine noise. Should add a nice layer of safety and let me experiment with the timing curves a little more.

 

[SDmtnbkr]

Is this the correct AFR gauge to get for our setups?

Amazon.com: AEM (30-4110) UEGO Air/Fuel Ratio Gauge: Automotive

Also, recommendations on boost gauge that close to matches? ....I don't know if the AEM one is worth $170 just to match lol

 

[4Reak Show]

Is this the correct AFR gauge to get for our setups?

Amazon.com: AEM (30-4110) UEGO Air/Fuel Ratio Gauge: Automotive

Also, recommendations on boost gauge that close to matches? ....I don't know if the AEM one is worth $170 just to match lol

Any quality AFR gauge will be "correct". Keep in mind you'll be adding a new AFR sensor and therefore drilling and welding in a threaded bung prior to any catalytic converters, just after where both banks collect.

I went with a single gauge which includes boost and AFR and is customizable to display as you wish. Amazon.com: AEM 30-4900 Wideband Failsafe Gauge: Automotive

It works really well, and it data logs/records if you want to hook up a laptop and go about it that way. Otherwise, any AFR gauge will be fine to keep an eye on any overly rich/lean conditions.

 

[SDmtnbkr]

Any quality AFR gauge will be "correct". Keep in mind you'll be adding a new AFR sensor and therefore drilling and welding in a threaded bung prior to any catalytic converters, just after where both banks collect.

I went with a single gauge which includes boost and AFR and is customizable to display as you wish. Amazon.com: AEM 30-4900 Wideband Failsafe Gauge: Automotive

It works really well, and it data logs/records if you want to hook up a laptop and go about it that way. Otherwise, any AFR gauge will be fine to keep an eye on any overly rich/lean conditions.

Oh nice, I'll have to think that one over. It's the same price as the two gauges anyway, and I have to go with a pillar mount because I don't have room anywhere else... and no one makes a single gauge pillar pod. Hmm... I do plan to go meth injection eventually, so maybe I can just put a plug in the extra hole??

How do you like reading them in the same gauge? I guess you don't really monitor your boost that often, other than at a glance to see where you are. So as long as the AFR readout is numerical and easy to read, it wouldn't bother me.

And yeah, I'm a solid welder and have a Millermatic 210, so no issues there.

 

[SDmtnbkr]

[MENTION=127339]4Reak Show[/MENTION]

Oh wow, I just spent a few minutes looking into that gauge and it definitely looks legit. I think I would prefer a gauge that can log all your data. Question though... looks like it came out almost a decade ago. Many of the videos on it on youtube are from 2012-2014. Is there not a newer or upgraded version from AEM or anyone else?

 

[rideexileex]

Amazon.com: AEM 30-5130 Analog Wideband Air/Fuel Ratio Gauge with Black and White Face: Automotive

I'll recommend one like this, which is what I have - it's an analog style display, so it doesn't have all the flashy LEDs to annoy you while night driving. I have it wired to my piggyback for the AFR readings.

 

[gamefreakgc]

Is this the correct AFR gauge to get for our setups?

Amazon.com: AEM (30-4110) UEGO Air/Fuel Ratio Gauge: Automotive

Also, recommendations on boost gauge that close to matches? ....I don't know if the AEM one is worth $170 just to match lol

The AEM wideband is one of the most reliable AFR gauge and sensor out there and will work with virutally every system. I see a lot of people getting the Innovate Motorsports boost gauge, it's a little bit cheaper. But if you have a piggyback ECU wiring in for tuning there's no need for a boost gauge, you can get the data straight off the data logs. I don't use a boost gauge since it doesn't tell me anything important that I don't already know. If the engine is in boost I'm going fast, pretty easy to tell.

 

[Speedracerick]

I believe Magnuson will sell you the parts you need.

 

[4Reak Show]

[MENTION=127339]4Reak Show[/MENTION]



Oh wow, I just spent a few minutes looking into that gauge and it definitely looks legit. I think I would prefer a gauge that can log all your data. Question though... looks like it came out almost a decade ago. Many of the videos on it on youtube are from 2012-2014. Is there not a newer or upgraded version from AEM or anyone else?

First of all, there are single gauge pillar pods. I installed one just like this on my 1995
AutoMeter 15411 Single Gauge Pillar Pod, Toyota Tacoma/Runner

Not a perfect fit by any means, but I think it's meant more for a 3rd gen anyhow. Look around on summit. I think I got that one right there for like $20

As far as the gauge set up, it's customizable. So the outer ring can either be boost or be AFR. I have mine set up as boost on outer ring and AFR on the center digital display. Basically, it's for reference. And the boost part is way too high for our set ups. I think it goes to like 30psi or something. At any rate, I have no complaints. It's nice to be able to glance over when gunning it and see how much boost is going on and what AFR is. It helped a lot to tune using that and looking at the RPM gauge all at once I could alter the inputs on the URD 7th and get it pretty close to where was safe and powerful.

 

[SDmtnbkr]

[MENTION=115347]gamefreakgc[/MENTION] [MENTION=127339]4Reak Show[/MENTION]

Thanks for the input guys!

 

[SDmtnbkr]

ETA: All good!! Supercharger is installed!! Just waiting on the new Type D harness from URD to wire the 7th injector setup.


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[MeglaJohn]

1st gen gray Supercharger question

In the midst of rebuilding this 1st gen SC. took the bypass inlet off the intake and replaced the o-ring. the rebuild kit i got came with 4 o-rings, 2 of each size. is there an o-ring under the arm to the bypass flange area? i see a snap ring and tried to use my snap ring pliers to remove it but no matter how much i spread the snap ring it wont come off and it swivels very easily. see pics. thanks in advance.
-John

 

[Pj Benn]

Are there certain standard ‘stages’ that are usually followed when upgrading supercharger?

For example
Stage 1- basic supercharger kit
Stage 2 - seventh injector kit, intake, exhaust, other urd controller etc


If there isn’t something like that, for the guys who have done extensive mods and pretty much reached the superchargers limits, what route do you think is best?

 

[Formidable]

Get the URD 7th injector and 2.2” pulley from the get go. Skip the intake. Skip the exhaust. Those do jack and shit in comparison. If you don’t experience HGLRPM and 4500 rpm ping on the base map, congrats! You can stop there or consider upgrading to the 2.1” pulley. However, you will likely need to run the R4 software and dial in the tune if you go any further.

Are there certain standard ‘stages’ that are usually followed when upgrading supercharger?

For example
Stage 1- basic supercharger kit
Stage 2 - seventh injector kit, intake, exhaust, other urd controller etc


If there isn’t something like that, for the guys who have done extensive mods and pretty much reached the superchargers limits, what route do you think is best?

 

[gamefreakgc]

Are there certain standard ‘stages’ that are usually followed when upgrading supercharger?

For example
Stage 1- basic supercharger kit
Stage 2 - seventh injector kit, intake, exhaust, other urd controller etc


If there isn’t something like that, for the guys who have done extensive mods and pretty much reached the superchargers limits, what route do you think is best?

No stages but with any forced induction application, more boost and more fuel adds more power! I agree with the comment above. Going to the 2.2" along with the 7th injector could be considered stage 1 since it adds around 2 PSI over stock and roughly 40 HP with the fuel mods. Stage 2 could be considered the 2.1" pulley which adds another 2 PSI and roughly 15 HP.

I don't think there would be a stage 3. Obviously a larger intake, larger exhaust, anything that allows air in faster and out faster will increase the efficiency of the engine. I would recommend either removing the intake elbow in the fender (goes between fender tube and air box, comes out with 2 10mm bolts) and putting in a high flow or oiled filter. You can check my build thread for ideas.