Tacoma Regear or Supercharge?

downhill

Adventurer
Tis true, premium fuels are in fact recommended/required. I can tell you I've been forced to run mid-grade as result of being in a lonely Central NV gas station that had nothing other to offer and I can't say I noticed a difference however it was mixed with a half tank of premium. Come to think of it my wife accidentally topped off a tank with regular grade once too but I added a bottle of octane boost to be on the safe side. Surely a factor that needs to be considered.

Yes, this is true! The 4.0 should be run on premium anyway though. It will run on regular, but the power output is dropped because the ecu retards the timing with lower octane fuels. The SC MUST have premium, and yeah that can be an issue in some backwater places. As Kurt said, you will need to carry booster just in case.
 

downhill

Adventurer
My suggestions have been predicated on the idea that I shouldn't tell you what your priorities should be. Here's what I really think though. The easy answer is to regear and slow down. That's pretty much what all the rest of us have done, so you'll be in good company. The problem seems to be with keeping pace with your buddies. I can understand that. On the other hand, if my buddies weren't willing to slow down to be with me, then why should I speed up to be with them? I would just say "see ya". You're looking at spending a pile of money to hold up your end, when all they have to do is back off the gas. Just sayin ............... :sombrero:

Another approach which makes as much sense as anything we've discussed is to pick up the tab for all the beverages and food along the way and run 65. How much you want to bet that you get voted in as Wagonmaster? You'll have friends along that you have never even met! For the price of all the work described, you'll never end up on the wrong side of this deal. Just sayin .............. :sombrero:
 

mvbeggs

Adventurer
Tis true, premium fuels are in fact recommended/required. I can tell you I've been forced to run mid-grade as result of being in a lonely Central NV gas station that had nothing other to offer and I can't say I noticed a difference however it was mixed with a half tank of premium. Come to think of it my wife accidentally topped off a tank with regular grade once too but I added a bottle of octane boost to be on the safe side. Surely a factor that needs to be considered.

Thanks for the clarification.

...At 85 something has to give a little, but it's not too bad. You will have to use the gears and lock the tranny out of OD until 70 or so unless you are on flat ground. You will be in 4th gear allot in the mountains. Nothing wrong with that.... You will have to manage all this, but you can....

Earlier today, I was thinking the same thing regarding locking out the OD. I think that is a workable solution.

...Inchworm and Marlin make crawlers, but I'm not sure about the ratios....

Thaks for the lead. I'll check them out.

...This May I'm going down to visit Wyatt at RST and get a twin stick FJ case. For towing it is a big benefit. It allows low range in 2 wd which you will use all the time to back up and make careful manuevers. Of course in an auto you can manage things better because you have the torque converter. I either have to slip the clutch or drive in reverse way too fast. I don't know what Toyota was thinking with the reverse gear in these manuals. It should be 1/2 what it is. Aside from all that, I hate electric gear engagement. I want levers. I'll still have ADD until someone gets a manual hub kit built, but I'll eliminate as many solenoids as possible. It's as much a personal quirk as anything.

I know what you mean, I prefer levers as well. Must be a Jeep type thing. :)
I also prefer troubleshooting a mechanical linkage than some electric gizmo. I tend to let all the smoke out of those electrical things...they never seem to work after that. :)


... The (rear diff temp) probe is threaded into the diff housing. You would have to pull the 3rd to do the work right. Clearances in there are tight. If you decide to do it, we can email each other and I can take some pics and measurements to show you the location....

You must have done this work when you regeared or added the locker. Thanks for the offer. I'll definitely shoot you an email when I get to that point.


...Bottom line is, it's doable. This is not a truck that you will toss the keys to a kid and say "go have fun". Managing all this will require a competent driver. Fullfilling all these divergent requirements is asking allot, so some added stress will be there. On the other hand, using our rigs for expo use is also an added stress. It's the price of performance.

Agreed.

My suggestions have been predicated on the idea that I shouldn't tell you what your priorities should be. Here's what I really think though. The easy answer is to regear and slow down. That's pretty much what all the rest of us have done, so you'll be in good company. The problem seems to be with keeping pace with your buddies. I can understand that. On the other hand, if my buddies weren't willing to slow down to be with me, then why should I speed up to be with them? I would just say "see ya". You're looking at spending a pile of money to hold up your end, when all they have to do is back off the gas. Just sayin ............... :sombrero:

Everyone is very understanding when we're traveling down the highway. I think it's mostly because they know once we get off road, they're the ones struggling to keep up. Sometimes it pays to be THE guy with THE winch, recovery gear, and full set of tools. :Mechanic:

...Another approach which makes as much sense as anything we've discussed is to pick up the tab for all the beverages and food along the way and run 65. How much you want to bet that you get voted in as Wagonmaster? You'll have friends along that you have never even met! For the price of all the work described, you'll never end up on the wrong side of this deal.

Apparently you haven't seen my crew eat! :D

Everyone, thank you. Stay tuned... the wheels are turning. (some clunking going on, but mostly turning :))
 

Utah KJ

Free State of Florida
For what it's worth, my 3.4l has been sc'd for over 130k without any issue. (only driver error ;-)) The sc is very predictable off road because it's belt driven, though being used to turbos anything will feel predictable. One major thing that hasn't been mentioned about the sc is that you will have to run premium.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk


Nope, I already mentioned that... just sayin'
 

mvbeggs

Adventurer
Update and manual vs auto gearing options

I called my Toyota dealer today. The TRD supercharger kit for the 2012's are not available until May. The service manager asked that I call back in May when they would, hopefully, have better information.

One more thing. A double cab, V6, automatic, regeared 4.56 and running 33" tires is geared almost identical to the manual transmission model running stock tires (265/70R16). Just more food for thought.
 
Last edited:

tacogrande

New member
I called my Toyota dealer today. The TRD supercharger kit for the 2012's are not available until May. The service manager asked that I call back in May when they would, hopefully, have better information.

One more thing. A double cab, V6, automatic, regeared 4.56 and running 33" tires is geared almost identical to the manual transmission model running stock tires (265/70R16). Just more food for thought.
I ran 3.73's with 33's for 65,000 miles on my 05 with the 6 speed manual without issue. Heck I briefly ran 37's on 3.73's and got around just fine (didn't use 6th gear much though). I'm currently running 4.88's with 37's and it is far too low for long range freeway use, and I wish I would have went with 4.56 gears. I think you will be happy with a 'charger and 33's. If you don't want to wait for TRD to get things straight Gadget has a far superior option for forced induction- http://www.urdusa.com/Forced-Induction-URD-Supercharger-Kits/c168_2/p1260518946/URD-Mk3-Supercharger-kit,-2005-2008-Tacoma-V6,-Stage-1/product_info.html?osCsid=v7ualkppp461tl3imf71a2mou1
 

mvbeggs

Adventurer
I ran 3.73's with 33's for 65,000 miles on my 05 with the 6 speed manual without issue. Heck I briefly ran 37's on 3.73's and got around just fine (didn't use 6th gear much though). I'm currently running 4.88's with 37's and it is far too low for long range freeway use, and I wish I would have went with 4.56 gears....

Although lower than I want to be; 37's, a manual and 4.88's doesn't seem too bad. I bet you're close to 2800 rpm at 75mph. For the same rpm's, I'm guessing 4.56's would have only gained you about 5mph on the highway. In comparison to the autos, the manuals are geared quite a bit lower.

I think you will be happy with a 'charger and 33's.
If you don't want to wait for TRD to get things straight Gadget has a far superior option for forced induction- http://www.urdusa.com/Forced-Induction-URD-Supercharger-Kits/c168_2/p1260518946/URD-Mk3-Supercharger-kit,-2005-2008-Tacoma-V6,-Stage-1/product_info.html?osCsid=v7ualkppp461tl3imf71a2mou1

Doesn't look like URD is offering anything for the V6 before '08.

Anyhow, IF I go supercharger, I'll wait for the TRD version and have a dealer install it. I like the idea of Toyota extending my warranty and I also like the low end torque that the TRD unit seems to produce. (I still need to verify this with Toyota) I'll especially need the low end torque if I stay with the 3.73's.

Right now I'm leaming toward limiting tire size to 32", which will gear me only about 4% above stock configuration. I'll run that configuration to see how the Tacoma handles the added weight of armor and towing the Chaser. If I'm not satisfied, then I'll either supercharge OR regear to 4.56 and go to 33" tires. Keeping the smaller tires with the tall diff gears will gear me lower than I want to be. (4.56 with 33's gears me about 13% lower than stock- cruise 85mph @ 2800rpm, 4.56 with 32's will gear me about 18% lower than stock- cruise 85mph @ 2950rpm)

Stay tuned. Body armor order is about finalized.
 

downhill

Adventurer
I don't follow the herd, so it's no surprise that I run a tire that never gets mentioned. After trying a couple of configurations I have settled on the 235/85-16 as my absolute favorite. It runs 32" in most of the offroad treads, about 31.7 in street treads. It's available in some great builds like Yokohama Geolander, and the Cooper SST. I believe Toyo makes on as well. The ones I run are built by Cooper and similar to the SST. They are the Dean Mud Terrain SXT. It actually has more of a AT tread design which I favor. I've only done a little rock crawling at Moab and other places, but I have put them through hell on ice, snow and mud. I've been thoroughly impressed with them both on and off road. They clear without any modifications. I'm running stock alloy wheels with 1" spacers so that I can run chains without any difficulties. The tires are machine center siped. They are load range E which I also like. Aired down to 15psi they are almost like running small tracks. Even in the sloppy bentonite clay you find in Montana and Wyoming they just keep pulling. The narrow profile gives excellent directional stability in the sloppy stuff which allows allot more throttle than you could get away with in a wider tire. Chained up, well, .... not much can keep up with me. Just my 2 cents ................
 

mvbeggs

Adventurer
235/85R16

I don't follow the herd, so it's no surprise that I run a tire that never gets mentioned. After trying a couple of configurations I have settled on the 235/85-16 as my absolute favorite. It runs 32" in most of the offroad treads, about 31.7 in street treads. It's available in some great builds like Yokohama Geolander, and the Cooper SST. I believe Toyo makes on as well. The ones I run are built by Cooper and similar to the SST. They are the Dean Mud Terrain SXT. It actually has more of a AT tread design which I favor. I've only done a little rock crawling at Moab and other places, but I have put them through hell on ice, snow and mud. I've been thoroughly impressed with them both on and off road. They clear without any modifications. I'm running stock alloy wheels with 1" spacers so that I can run chains without any difficulties. The tires are machine center siped. They are load range E which I also like. Aired down to 15psi they are almost like running small tracks. Even in the sloppy bentonite clay you find in Montana and Wyoming they just keep pulling. The narrow profile gives excellent directional stability in the sloppy stuff which allows allot more throttle than you could get away with in a wider tire. Chained up, well, .... not much can keep up with me. Just my 2 cents ................

235/85R16 is the size I've been considering. E rated loading, usually 10 ply, 31.7"-32" inch diameter, and in most cases works with the factory wheels. I have checked out the Coopers, but was looking at the STMAXX. Toyo does make a 235 in the A/T and M/T version. I run Toyo Open Country M/T's on the Jeep and love them on the trail and rocks. Don't know how well they'll do in the snow. We slid, backwards, back down a small snow covered grade on Imogene Pass last Fall. About gave my wife a heart attack.:Wow1: I chocked it up to driver error rather than tire. (Don't tell her I said that. LOL ) We haven't had any snow this year to really give them a good test.

I'll have to take a look at the Yokohama and Dean's. Haven't heard of the Deans. What made you try them?
 

downhill

Adventurer
The factory wheels work perfectly with them. I tried the Deans on a recommendation from a friend in the tire business. I was able to see them in person as well. They are made in the USA by Cooper, just sold under a different label. The only slightly negative comment I can make about them is that they seem to have a little softer sidewalls than some of the other offerings. I have never lost one due to a sidewall failure, but I haven't done that much rock wheeling either. Most of my challenges come in the form of low traction. I haven't had such good luck with the Toyo on snow and ice, and that is why I don't run them. The ones I've run were very tough though. I think the rubber compound is a little harder. I may try one of the Coopers next time just for a change. One thing that really impressed me about the Deans is the lack of runout. I always watch my tires being balanced so I can visual for any sign of excessive runout. Usually there is a little, which is OK, but these things ran dead true. That's unusual.

Here's what they look like on a stock 16x7 wheel. My hub/fender distance is 22" which is about 2" over stock on average.

front closeup.jpg
 

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