Billy182's 2013 X-Runner Build

I bought my 2013 X-Runner in October of 2016 off a dealer lot in Pennsylvania. The truck was originally sold at the same dealership and was a recent trade in from the original owner with only 26,000 miles on the clock. The truck was basically bone stock, and at the time I bought it, I was thinking of using it as a daily driver, and really had no intention of ever modding it.


However, I soon became more interested in this rare model, and began to search for a forum where other enthusiasts shared similar interests.

After doing some researching, I began ordering things from XII, TireRack, and URD in hopes of slowly upgrading my bone stock ride.

Before you know it, winter set in, and for any of you who may live north, it sucks big time (unless of course you're into skiing or making appropriate use of the carpet in front of the fireplace!)



However, lucky us we got a warm spell in February 2017 and I got a chance to begin my build. The very first thing I did was to drive over to Power Train in Lodi, NJ, where I had the useless open differential removed and an Eaton truetrac posi unit installed and well as a URD traction bar.

Next, it was back home to the driveway where I installed an XII Street Drop Kit Plus that included adjustable QA1 rear shocks:



Next went on the Doug Thorley headers, both sides put in easily from underneath with the rearmost manifold studs removed:



Next to follow was XII front and rear sway bars, and a TRD big brake kit:





Next to install was the supercharger. Since I was still thinking of keeping my truck as a "driver", and at the time I couldn't find any TRD superchargers on the market, I opted for the Magnuson supercharger:



I was hoping for a mild increase in performance, so I installed a 2.85 pulley immediately. Also, at the time the UCON or HP Tuners were not yet available for a 2013, leaving my only options being a Toyota TRD reflash or a Bully Dog handheld tune (more on this later).

As I got to the interior my goals were to have a decent sound system and 3M crystalline tint on all glass. For the head unit I chose Alpine's 8 inch, component speakers with amp, and a 10 inch sub driven by an Alpine 600W amp. As I said my goal was to have a driver, so I didn't go crazy with the sound system, but overall it came out pretty good. The sub box was my design as per size spec for the speaker.






More of the wheel/tire package. I chose 18" Enkei wheels with Goodyear 285/40 Eagle F1's all around:




I knew I'd need a better fuel pump, so I pulled the tank and installed the URD walbro kit:





At this point I thought my truck was pretty much done; however, I wasn't really too happy with the performance. There was a definite flat spot off idle, actually a little past idle. The truck would pull off the line when I stepped on it, then bog flat, then at 2500 rpm or so pick up again and pull harder. With me being completely new to these trucks, I was at a loss. The more I researched (lol and heard feedback) the more I came to realize that the Bully Dog tune I had initially installed was shit, and a huge mistake.

I thought I was stuck, but then had the best luck. Being a complete newbie, I wanted to get to know some other owners, so I figured what's a better way than to sign up for HardTaco's (from the xr-forum) get together in Virginia Beach!

My luck got even better, not only did I meet HardTaco and a bunch of other great x-runner forum members, but I had the pleasure of personally meeting Gadget and having a lengthy discussion about my truck. Gadget was a complete gentleman, and took the time to listen to my newb questions, and even go for a ride with me in my truck.

Shortly afterward, Gadget offered for sale his UCON-EMS for my year truck and I jumped on it (HP Tuners was still not available for the Tacoma at this time). While I was at it, I ordered a 2.7 pulley, 7th injector. I also found new old stock TRD intercooler cover and snout from a dealership and ordered them.

Installing the UCON was the easy part since it plugged right in... yes I'm talking perfect fit that took minutes to install.

Next I installed the cam gears. I was kind of dreading this, but this was easy and from start to finish only took me (a lazy lol) two days in my driveway.





After I got the cam gears installed it seemed that everything else went together super easy. The new snout with 2.7 pulley, the URD 180 thermostat, and the 7th injector.







And finally for the best part, after completion I took it for its test drive and can only say wow, it was a completely different animal. Steady power curve from idle on up, and completely predictable. Absolutely no flat spot or bogging, and even though the temperatures in Jersey that day were in the 90's, the truck pulled strong throughout the power band.

Here's a pic of the truck as it sat in 2017 in Virginia at the gtg:



And a side view:



Not being able to leave it well off alone, I still wanted a little more power since I felt the 2.7 pulley just wasn't doing enough for me. I went ahead and bought URD's 2.55 pulley and installed it.
Unfortunately, this is where my problems started. Although it pulled better and quicker, belt slip was killing me. This was still in the summer of 2017, way before guys who are much smarter than me figured this all out. I became a bit discouraged with it, having to go easy on it most of the time, and constantly worried about overheating the belt due to slipping and it snapping. To make matters worse, I was going through some rough times, and basically put the truck to the side and worried about more important things in life at the time.

Jump ahead to 2023, most of all the bad stuff was behind me, and I was still breathing, so I got some renewed interest in the Tacoma.

This is where the folks on this forum came in to help big time. Since the xr forum is pretty much a ghost town at this point, one day out of the blue I decided to post up a reply on the TRD/Magnuson 4.0 Supercharger Tips, Tricks, and Mods thread here saying how I was considering going back to a 2.7 size pulley to eliminate the belt slip issue (at that point, I had no idea this issue had already been figured out by folks here long ago).

Instead of flaming me into ashes, everyone who responded was very helpful and pointed me in the right direction. I soon did my research, and decided on a Rousch tensioner, upgraded long studs, and the @BillDaCat8 wrap mod for my 2.55 pulley.

I bought an OEM VW pulley for the wrap mod, and @XPOTRPR was super helpful by offering to machine the pulley to spec.

So for now, everything is back up to speed, and I have renewed interest in my truck. I'm so glad I didn't sell it. I was seriously considering it, but my wife loves it and talked me out of it.

Next up I plan on upgrading the wheels to 20x10 all around and some new rubber. I'm sure I'll also think of some other things to do, you know how these things are

Thanks everyone for all your help, this forum is great!

 

Sick truck

 

love it

 

glad you found the motivation and interest again brotha, especially after hard times. I know all too well how that goes.. to many more years of taco enjoyment!

 

Thing is badass! What power are you putting out? That thing has got to move pretty well!

 

Thanks bro! These trucks are so much fun, and now that they’re getting older, they’re finally getting some of the respect they deserve. The usual response from an onlooker is they can’t believe these were available as lowered sport trucks with superchargers.
After I had the 2.7 pulley installed, I brought the truck to a dyno and it pulled 325whp using SAE correction. I felt that was a little weak considering the work done, but I told the dyno guy not to go above 5k rpm because the entire build was all rather new at the time, and I still wasn’t 100% sure I trusted it.
Since then, I’ve put some more miles on it, and the latest upgrades of the 2.55 pulley and the belt wrap. I haven’t dyno’d it again, but I’m guessing results would be somewhere between 325 and 350whp (SAE) or maybe even a little more pulling to redline. I’m not sure what other guys are getting with similar setups.
Overall the truck pulls great, and is a super fun ride for anyone who loves trucks with manual transmissions

 

Nice! They're very rare to see on the road which is awesome. I always appreciated the xrunners

 

Also, your truck and my 2020 supra got the murdered out look dialed in

 

I love the wheels and tires/staggered look you've got on there. That's the way to do it, nice, clean and looks good. We have similar taste. In fact, a few weeks ago I ordered a set of forged 5 spoke 20" wheels that look almost identical to what you've got. I've got 18's now, so the 20's should fill out the wheel wells better. I'll post some new pics once I get everything finished.

 

Bad-Ass ride brother!!

 

Thanks man! I put a lot of thought into mine. Got some go fast parts waiting in AZ once I'm done traveling for work. 6466 incoming luckily I got a tunable one without sending my ecu to Russia wheel gap bugs the heell put of me but I also ain't about the low life worrying about bumps. I went from 255/275 front rear to 265/295 and it filled pretty decently. Post the new setup once you do it! I'd love to see

 

I finally got the chance to put aside a day to finish up a few things on the x-runner so I could finally enjoy it. First thing is installing a set of new RB VVT solenoids. A huge thank you goes out to @SUMOTNK for sending these to me at the group-buy price!

Installation was easy peasy