Magnuson Supercharger Mega Thread for 16+ Tacoma - Unboxing, Install DIY, Dyno Video

I said goodbye to my supercharged Taco a couple of weeks ago. It's been in and out of the shop for months with idle issues I couldn't figure out and neither could any shop. No codes, no nothing. I tried a ton of troubleshooting on my own like running without belts, running in limp mode bypassing the airflow sensor, replaceing plugs, smoke testing the intake, etc etc.

Other than exactly 1000 rpm it still ran like a top.

Finally I had a shop suggest trying motor mounts. Passenger side was easy and it was collapsed about 1/4" but still fine. The driver's side was a nightmare. The book time on it is 12 hours and I can see why. You can't get to it without a universal joint socket or wobbly extension. I broke two decent quality universal joint sockets trying to remove those stupid mount bolts.

I finally said screw it and had my mechanic replace it. It took him 8 hours to replace it so that was expensive. That side was collapsed about 3/8" and replacing it fixed the problem, at least for now.

My 3rd gen has been the worst car I've ever owned even before the supercharger. it's also been the most incredibly fun daily driver I've ever had after upgrading the sway bars, putting highway tires on it and installing the SC. I spent a lot of time and money trying to make it a fast, reasonably maneuverable street truck that could also tow my race cars. I succeeded for the most part, but man that "stage 2.5" clutch I needed for towing with the SC SUCKED. I will never ever install a puck type clutch on another vehicle lol.

I made a tough decision and traded it off and got something that fits my driving style better. A 2024 Hyundai Santa Cruz Limited. It's a full second faster 0-60 and quarter mile than my supercharged Taco and it's so much smoother and better handling. It tows my #3300 trailer+racecar just fine and gets almost double my average MPG from the Taco. (It's been a better higher mpg while towing surprisingly!)

I do miss my 6-speed stick and cool ass orange and black interior, but the wet DCT in the Hyundai is quite fun shifted manually and the interior in the Hyundai appears MUCH better quality than my Taco was.

Anyway TLDR: I was one of the first supercharged 3rd gens. After about 30,000 miles with it, it was time to move on. I'm currently a lot happier with my Hyundai. We'll just have to see if they actually stand by thier 100k warranty!

 

Yes
I road trip all winter. I drive for hours at a time through mountains across plains all over north america.
The lack of torque on the stock 3.5 is horrible with a manual. The supercharger for me is not only worth it but nearly essential
But im one of those weird people who actually use my "overland" build to travel.
Also i did the install myself, final price was about 8k with aftermarket tune
Which is not too bad as far as aftermarket boost goes
Ive got 8k in suspension and tires alone, but trust me when i say i use it

 

It's totally transformed my truck. I tow a small travel trailer at high altitude in Colorado and prior to installation, it felt pretty much unsafe with the lack of power on steep mountain passes. Now, I've got power for days and the truck is a million times more fun to drive day-to-day. It's definitely a lot of money, and you need the Stryker tune with it, but to me it was worth every penny. I consider a Tacoma a long term investment. I got it new in 2016, supercharged it at 82k miles in 2022, just passing 95K miles now, and plan to keep it at least another 5-6 years. If you're in it for the long haul, it's an incredible upgrade.

 

Don’t get me wrong… I’d love to have a supercharger for my build. But after spending $8,000 and with doing all the work yourself? I think at that point I’d start looking at selling the suspension I have and putting that money plus the 8k towards portals. It’s a regear as well, plus added ground clearance. Just feel like $15k is a better option since you get a lift, regear, better ground clearance over the same size traditional lift, plus a bit wider stance. Just my 3 cents

 

I don’t think anyone enjoys driving highway speeds on portal axles. That’s diff-whine x 5. Also aren’t you limited to like 60Mph with portals? Seems like apples to oranges.

 

Interesting trade considering the Santa Cruz turbos have been plagued with problems since they came out. Seems like it would have been worth the time to revert to stock and recoup some of that money before you traded it off.

 

That’s true I didn’t think about their mechanical speed limit. But also if you’re running 35” tires it bigger are you even really wanting to go over 70? It switches from miles per gallon to gallons per mile it feels like. Idk I just like the look of portals over non portals so I find any excuse to justify them

 

they are running portals on ultra4 cars at 100+ across the desert. Probably some noise on the highway but people already have tire and wind noise so most aren’t gonna notice anyway

 

I know almost nothing about ultra4 cars so I didn’t even realize they run portals. My thinking was it’s 2-4 gears and some oil in the portals. As long as the oil is cooled and the gears don’t explode from rotational force, run them as fast as you want.

 

Mercedes 4x4 Squared comes with portal axles and has a top speed of 137mph. I find it hard to believe that it’s excessively loud if it is on AMG vehicle.

https://news.dupontregistry.com/spe...pecs&text=The transmission is a 9,(220 km/h).

 

If you wanna go down a rabbit hole, check out the bronco loren Healy is running at KoH. Most of the top ifs cars are running them now.

https://youtu.be/TfbUp543750
https://youtu.be/nNJg1zhVVoc
https://youtube.com/shorts/nVXXP0Eid2o?si=3yXDi2Bvbt3idXWs

 

Well great… there goes my full 7 hours of sleep tonight I’ve seen that bronco before in person and it’s insane! My cousin builds buggies for racing just like that bronco, and I saw it in the pre-event show. It’s crazy what the new rigs can do

 

There is nothing really wrong with the 2.5L Turbo motors. Most of the issues are with the 8DCT transmission. The programming issue was fixed in 2022 that caused most of the issues. I’m convinced the rest of the failures of the DCT are due to people treating them like automatics and slipping them like crazy.

Unlike Toyota, Hyundai has a warranty that actually covers a few things. Our local Toyota dealers are trash. If I was still in Colorado I'd be 100% still driving a Toyota. Even so I still have my eye on that Toyota Stout concept.

also I’ve had the opportunity to tow #3600 with the Santa Cruz now. That’s the reason I installed the SC in the first place on the Taco was for towing. Out of the box this little Santa Cruz has noticeably more pulling power and better braking than the Taco with the SC. The self leveling rear shocks are also incredibly useful. I’m also averaging 3mpg better while towing than I did with the taco too.

I’m going to miss the Toyota resale value though…

My old Taco is still in the shop at the dealer. It looks like I made the right decision to jump ship. Apparently they are having a hard time with something mechanical.

 

Hope it all goes well for you. I will say though that Toyota isn't alone in shitty dealers who try not to cover things, or say "oh that's normal/expected behavior".

 

Hey all, I'm a serial lurker but I was curious what the interest would be for an uprated direct injection pump. I reached out to Nostrum High Performance to see if they might have any offerings for our 2GR-FKS and they were willing to research options. However, they are unfamiliar with the Toyota/Lexus market and were hoping for some market demand feedback. Would anyone be interested in this?

 

Currently OTT flashed for 87mm pulley. Anybody running URD's 85mm pulley safely?

 

Was hoping to find an answer to this question after you posted it.

I have an S&B in mine and would like to add the Mag S/C down the road. I'm still holding on to my stock intake, just in case.

 

30,000+ miles on my supercharger including towing a travel trailer. I have swaybars and drive it like a sports car. It has always run and continues to run butter smooth. Very happy with the SC. I have only opened the hood 3 times since installing the SC to change oil. Very reliable.

 

I’ve got similar miles and experience as you ( 35k miles and flawless) but I open my hood a bunch just to show her off or stare and marvel at it myself haha

 

Not sure if any one has heard of the issue of getting flagged while smogging your truck in California?
Ive seen some posts on this from a guy in Colorado who claims when he went in to his local smog shop he was flagged for having unidentical CVN values or something? With a super charger is this even an issue or does the stock magnuson tune send in a list of values to the state to look for when smogging?
Thanks in advance…..