TRD/ Magnuson 4.0 Supercharger Tips, Tricks, and Mods

It's tight and a pain in the ass getting the electrical connections and mounting clips disconnected off the top of the trans. Also tricky getting the top two bell housing bolts out with the four foot extension and swivel sockets. I placed those two bolts loosely in the holes when I put the trans back together and that made that part a lot easier to deal with.

Replaced rear main seal and installed hydro bearing also.

Good write-up from @BassAckwards in case you didn't know:

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...lightweight-flywheel-install-write-up.577836/

And these vids helped too
https://youtu.be/LP00caN7q0s
https://youtu.be/HiSnW_JWBhA

The biggest pain in the ass was the non SIA URD headers I installed as there is a lot of awkward spaces and I was chasing the threads slightly larger for the ARP studs. Very tricky to tap straight against an angled surface at arms length with my hand jammed awkwardly in. Felt like I almost got tendonitis from that ordeal lol.

Still have to finish installing the old y-pipe and driveshafts and waiting for a couple replacement shifter bolts that I had to drill out because the allen heads stripped out (Hurst-core shifter).

 

Curious if the headers make a noticeable difference in power/torque... ready to pull the trigger on a set

 

Meh technically 2. But still about 8hrs total.

 

do it.

 

if you already have sais removed you may want to consider the 05-11 headers to make things easier.

 

That’s what I’m thinking, haven’t pulled that thing yet but it’s on the list. I know the header install is gonna be a fight just wanna make sure it’s with it

 

Get your driveshafts unbolted and the exhaust out of there. Stick your jack under the trans and then drop the rear crossmember. Now lower and your jack. Trans will hang down several inches. You can easily access the harness and those two top bolts. Pull the harness over to the right side and hang it out of the way over the right header. Jack the trans back into position and continue your removal.

Same for installation. Get all of your lower engine to trans bolts in and tight. Then lower your jack and let it hang again. Fire in those top two bolts and clip your harness into all its holes.

 

Kinda what I learned as I went. Typical job where you learn the best ways to do things by the end of the job lol. It'll be easier next time.

 

Yeah, and you may even get to do it twice like lucky ole me!

 

I want to unlike this cause I feel your pain. Like a punch to the balls that must have been.

I'm knocking on wood...

I did bleed the clutch and everything looked like it was working as it should. Thanks for the tip on the shorter pressure line. I went to a hose shop and got the line shortened to 20 inches and everything ended up routed perfectly.

 

They’re still kind of aching a bit. Between Kevin giving me the incorrect flywheel step spec, and then the leaking bearing...

Im glad to hear you did the shorter pressure line. It’s a far cleaner arrangement than the silly 6’ line they provide with the kit. I tried to get CM to modify what they’re selling to people. Sent pics, measurements, and diagrams. Kevin there just groans at me and belches out drivel about how many kits they’ve sold. Whatever.

I’m on my very final straw of patience with him and @ClutchMasters . One more problem and I will rip every single part they’ve sold me out of my truck and then personally drive to Rialto, slam that crap on their counter and demand my money back. Honestly, I probably should’ve done that already.


I guess they’re more than “kind of” aching still. Ugh.

 

That sucks pretty bad, especially when they were feeding you the wrong specs. And then a dose of bad luck sprinkled in with the bearing leaking. The routing is for the FJ I guess but it would have been a ridiculous amount of hose to deal with on the taco.

I guess the group buy pricing was good but I was leery of buying their clutch. Read lots of reviews for different vehicles and they seemed hit or miss.

What clutch did you run?

 

A huge difference

 

The shorter line would be perfect for the Fj as well. Why replace all of the OE hardlines when you can simply disconnect at the accumulator. Same place on both vehicles.

The whole thing actually gets “better”

When the bearing started leaking, I contacted Kevin and told him what’s going on. He says he’ll send me a seal kit. Now, why in tf would he not send a new assembly!? So, he wants me to down my vehicle, yank the tranny, pull the defective bearing apart, and pray that all that’s wrong is the seal?

He also reneged on making me a shorter pressure line. In one email he says “no problem, just get me the measurement from the grommet to the hard line” Then in a later conversation, he’s doing his groaning eye-rolling routine and wants to charge me for the line. And now he wants exact measurements for the entire line. How am I supposed to do that?! Down the truck for a week, tie up a lift, pull trans, send measurement, and then wait by the mailbox until it arrives?

They botched the oil filler cap bonus for the group buy too. Completely omitted it from my kit. Said they ran out. No biggie, they’ll send one when they have more. Which they did. But, the wrong one (of course). Despite me including a pdf copy of my sales receipt clearly stating which one I’d requested.

A few days before I re-did the clutch, I asked him to send me a replacement disk. Just in case there was any problems with the one that’d been run with the flywheel cut wrong. He did. Charged me $315 for that and a set of shims for the bearing. Turned out that my current disk was fine. So, I sent the new disk back to them. Attn Kevin clearly stated on the label. The tracking number on that shipment says that it arrived there on April 7th. Still no credit. Two emails unanswered. Maybe they’re non-essential and aren’t there currently. So, I’m giving them the benefit of the doubt on that one. For now.

All of these red flags and I’m still running their stuff. Primarily for the hydrobearing. That’s how badly I want this dang truck to shift nicely. If I could do it all over, I’d try the spec clutch for sure.

Not even so much as an apology from anyone at CM btw.

/rant. Wrong thread. I know. I’ll re-post where appropriate. Don’t y’all worry.


To answer your question, the FX400

 

Even the shorties eh?

 

I think your rant is totally justified and if it saves anyone from similar problems then all the better.

Also if anybody interested in their products reads about your experience then they will think twice.

 

LTs for sure. But the shorties have to be better than stock exhaust manifolds.

 

Nice! Anyone else taking the CM braided line all the way to the brake booster. There are so many couplers looking at the stock hard line.

 

@6 gearT444E ran his up to around the brake booster. I wanted to and still do but trying to figure out which one to tie into seems to be an issue. think i know which one it is but would have to remove the supercharger to get to it and remove the line

 

Keep me posted. Im not looking forward to this project but I have to in order to know for sure it’s gonna be installed right. Got my spec clutch and cm bearing ready. Are people getting Luk or Aisin flywheel?. Always thought aisin was better...