2002 Tundra 4.7 Pure Performance

[mikeysettles]

Hey all. New to the forum. Just inherited my dad's 2002 since he's moving up to a diesel. 2002 4.7 Access Cab TRD Off-Road Package with stock class III hitch. Only mod is a drop-in K&N filter. He bought the truck in 04 at 45k and just hit 195k. The only, and I mean ONLY work that has ever been done to the truck was timing belt change at 130k, front struts at 150k, and new radiator just a few months ago. The truck has been great to him just like any other Toy, and so far all I have noticed are occasional rough starts after sitting for more than 2 days and a couple hard shifts with a good size load in the bed. Have been reading as much as I can on here about getting the truck up to date with service and maintenance and here is what I have gathered so far: Run a can of Seafoam though the gas, half can through the oil, and half can though the intake. New PCV valve, clean MAF, fuel filter, new spark plugs, change rear end gear oil (RP) and add friction modifier, new tranny fluid (On the fence about about a full tranny flush, heard positives and negatives) and possibly add magnifine inline tranny filter. Since this truck has basically been driven daily with absolutely zero maintenance (minus the obviously necessary timing belt change). I would really appreciate some input on the things I can do to keep this thing on the road for another 200k.

Onto my second order of business, and what the title of my post implies, I would like some of your professional thoughts on performance upgrades. Been reading various posts for the last week or so to avoid questions alreadyI plan on being on the road this summer pulling a travel trailer and expect to put on about 30k with the trailer. I know I am going to be pushing (but not going over) the 7200lb limit with the trailer and all of my tools and materials. Just like every other dude with a 1st Gen I'd like to get the most bang for the littlest buck. (I know, gotta pay to play, but I want this stuff so I'm not having panic attacks while going up the 5 mile 10% grade hills in West Virginia, not so I can show my buddies how fast and loud my beat up looking truck is.)

[tundrunk]

First order of business, a big THANK YOU for reading up before posting. This is exactly what so many new guys here don't do, great to see you avoided getting bombarded with "use the search function" remarks.

Congratulations on the truck, you have studied hard and well, pretty good ideas cooking on your brain. One thing I notice is you mentioned using friction modifier in your diff, this is only needed if you have the LSD(even then it is debated). I would go ahead with the other items, although I'm not a believer in the Seafoam you will want to do that before installing new plugs and changing any fluids in the motor. The mangafine filter is a good idea, do it. I would get a stock air filter in there, from my personal experience the K&N does not filter as well as a regular paper filter. When you change your plugs, go with Denso or NGK.

Here's the bad news, as far as increasing performance there isn't much out there to really pick these trucks up. Headers and/or electric fans are the best options, both are fairly expensive and neither will yield more than a few horsepower. Don't bother with an aftermarket intake tube kit, they just make noise(been there). There is only one aftermarket computer for these trucks and reviews are very mixed as far as gains, it seems to work better for the 05-06 Tundra. For the price, I'd leave it alone. The only real way to gain horse power for these trucks is getting a hold of the much sought after supercharger, but you're looking at over $2k and a bit of part chasing. If you are towing often, most mods aimed at raising horsepower won't be a good idea since most lower the low end torque in exchange for upper end horsepower.

Be careful with your transmission, the 99-02 has a weak planetary gear and is known to fail under heavy loads. Be extra careful when towing, one hard acceleration with that kind of a trailer could leave you stuck.

[mikeysettles]

Thanks for the quick reply and good advice. As far as headers go, from what what I've looked at long tube headers would be my best bet with the gains in lower end torque. I've had a couple of ideas that I haven't seen alot about. I'm aware of backflow pressures and how they affect the numbers but I'd like to get some input on a few different setups.

Running long tube headers with no cats straight into a muffler for true dual

Running long tube headers with no cats with an H pipe for scavenging purposes straight into a muffler (still pretty much true dual)

Running long tube headers with no cats piped into the factory Y pipe, delete resonator, then to a single muffler

I don't think short tubes would be good for my application from what I've read, but if that were the case I'd think to keep factory cats, delete resonator then to a single muffler.

Or is all this even worth the hassle, $, and slight gains in power when I could delete resonator and stick on a flowmaster myself for about $80? I'm not concerned with the legality or extreme noise, I'd just like to know which would give the best results keeping pressures in mind, and using O2 simulators to keep the ECU from overcompensating fuel mixtures.

Other thing I was wondering about was the suspension. When my dad was using it before he said he wished he had gotten an add a leaf kit because of sagging and bottoming out with a heavy load. I've looked at helper springs which seem to be pretty nice, but I've also seen leaf kits that add about 2 1/2" of lift in the back. Can't really decide which would be best. Would I need to change out the back shocks to accomodate this extra rise, or would my bed weight with my usual amount of materials (500-750lbs) plus the tongue weight of the trailer level it back down to about the factory height where the stock shocks are used to working? How about a rear sway bar? Would that be a worthy investment as well? Thanks again for the input.

Mike

[Jimmypop]

Hey Mike, welcome. In reguards to towing, many on here have (and love) firestone airbags to help with heavy loads. I also wanted to throw in a reminder to hit the O/D off button when towing! Good luck on the mods!

[tundrunk]

I like how you weigh options. I haven't run long tubes or deleted cats on my truck so I can't really tell you from first hand. I know that escondidotundra (Keith) had a great outcome when he ran long tubes/h-pipe/dual mufflers. If you want to talk exhaust he is the guy to find. I would avoid flowmaster at all costs, I ran one on my truck for a few months and the drone was horrible. Best muffler I can recommend is either a Spintech(what I run) or BAMuffler (hand built in USA by Keith).
A lot of guys who aren't looking to get into headers just delete the resonator and swap muffler out with an aftermarket muffler. This will get a little sound going but no serious gains.

Most of the leaf spring packs you see are for lift, but they normally use thinner leaves which will lose the ability to tow or carry loads. Spring helpers are reported to work well, and air bags seem to be the best option for what you need.

Here goes the link to Keith's thread, shoot him a PM or email. He's a busy guy so it may be a few days before he replies, but he's knowledgeable and helpful.
How a properly built exhaust system works

[jjjackies]

Welcome to ts mikeysettles i own a 00 and have replaced both the transmission (planetary gear) and differential (it go boom) i upgraded to a lsd i do a lot of hauling and learned to drive with the od off headers sound great and there is a slight improvement on hp (not much) jmo

[MRT Motorsports]

I like air bags over add-a-leaf sets. They are there when you need them, but dont make the ride rougher.

[toyeyoda]

I think you're on the right track with getting all the maintenance issues taken care of first. if there is anything thats going to help "performance" its a well maintained truck. as far as towing goes...well, i guess we can be our own best friend or worst enemy with that, lol. i have heard good things about bags but i haven't used them. i used to pull a 33' toy hauler but that was with a different truck, one thing i did notice making a big difference was "E" rated tires. they take the load much better. just my .02. good luck with your truck and don't forget to have fun with 'er too.

charlie