I recently bought an 88 Runner and have some things I need to take care of.
I don't know the maintenence history but feel I should do the timing chain to be on the safe side. Soooooo... while I have the engine somewhat opened up was thinking of adding an EB cam and maybe bringing the spare head I have down to the machine shop and have it cleaned up and put that on.

I have read over EB's power increase write up and would like to follow it as closely as possible. I am however reluctnat to put the 2.25 exhaust on for two reasons. I just put new stock exhaust on. I have 2.25 on my PU and just don't like the way it sounds.

Can I realistically expect any gains in power with the cam and head work without the bigger exhaust? The truck has 140,000 on it and runs and sounds good. But wouldn't mind giving it a little more ooomph.

thanks!! Jim

I like the dual row timing chain conversion kit ($400-$500) from LCE on my 89 22re, i think the 22re's before 1985 came with stock dual row timing chain setups. Not really a HP increase mod but if you are gonna be wheelin hard then it will be alot more durable than the single row setup.
If you decide to go with single row chain, make sure you get the steel guides.

I have done what you mention and Im happy with 2" exhaust.but I think EB sugest 2.25 only from the mufler back.I think Im about as good as Ill get from a high milage 4cl engine.I like EBs timing kit with the steele guides.4-5hundred bucks for a timing kit is too steep for me.I did the oil pump and water pump while I was in there and still had less than 200 bucks in it all if I remember right.no rock crawler but I drive the hell out of it elsewhere.

also wanted to say if your manifold is ok I wouldnt waste money on header.

You will probably see some gains, but not an over whelming amount of power unless you are going to go with over sized valves.

You could run the cam, and see what difference it makes, then open up the exhaust. Do to the age of the Runner a new exhaust may be do anyways.

What type of muffler are you running on your truck?

I notice some very impressive gains when I replaced my stock rusted out exhaust with 2.25 pipe and a magnaflow muffler on my 87. It actually made the truck somewhat enjoyable to drive. I think I'm going to get a 2.25 cat next and keep the stock manifold and call the exhaust system good.

A new cam is going to move more air so intake and exhaust mods will make the most of it but I think you would notice decent results with a stock setup too.

Which cam are going with?

I agree that opening up the exhaust was the best mod Ive done .Made a one gear difference going up hills,dont gear down as much now.

x2^^^ I got 2 1/4" with cherrybomb turbo muffler and lovin it. Effective/cheap mod.

Not too likely as the cam and head mods basically push more air into the cylinder- therefore you need to upgrade the intake/exhaust to get that air in and out of the engine. Otherwise you're going to be wasting a lot of that power in exhaust backflow. What kind of head mods are we talking? Oversized valves, port/polish job, shaving the bottom of the head?? All except the port/polish should be paired with an upgraged intake/exhaust.

Can I realistically expect any gains in power with the cam and head work without the bigger exhaust? The truck has 140,000 on it and runs and sounds good. But wouldn't mind giving it a little more ooomph.
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>>>*There are a number of sure paths to power gains.

The first thing to remember is all an engine really is, is an air pump. The other point to understand is the engine does not "suck" in the air and fuel when it is running. It simply creates a lower pressure area inside the cylinder than the surrounding atmosphere, therefore the mixture flows towards the lower pressure area.

The exact same situation that causes windstorms and air motion. So any restriction to airflow motion is potential power lost.

All a camshaft does is open up one portion of the system. This works because most stock engines are designed to be smooth and quiet, let's face it, Grandma in her 4Runner isn't going to stand for much racket on the way to her knitting club meeting.

The easiest way to help make an engine quiet is to restrict the exhaust. Plus the factory must deal with ground clearence, too. Customers get crabby if they knock their exhaust pipe off climbing a curb. So we realize the factory aims for quiet, smooth, with adequate power.


The exhaust likes to be loud, it operates not only under pressure, but in pulses as each cylinder fires. So building one a bit small is nice and cheap for keeping things quiet.

Factories like things nice and cheap but adequate.

The exhaust system is number one for power gains, without forcing things, there is nothing I or anyone else can do to beat improving the exhaust.

*Well. 30# of boost will, but..... <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/lol.gif" alt="" />

Once the exhaust is freed up, expect a change in sound. This can be controlled by choice of muffler and pipe sizing, witness our #43 NASCAR stock car, just 81 decibels running 6600 RPM at the old Portland Speedway. Yet no loss of power, in fact we set quick time one day running that sound level.

The factory exhaust manifold is darned hard to top for quiet and efficiency, the header can help more in the middle to upper RPM's. Personal choice there.

Once the exhaust system is well done, this creates opportunity! Now we can add a cam profile that fits our driving style. On cams, the real gains(changes) to powerband come from when the valve opens/closes, how far you hang it open doesn't really gain that much.

*Well, it can, but now you are probably on a dirt track chasing a Pinto, different world.

There are literally hundreds of choices, most will perform similarly if in the mellower street designs. The differences in real life are normally inside of 1-2% and a few hundred other factors involved can make any single one superior to the others in a given situation. Look for around 270? duration or less and under .430" valve lift and you are in the ballpark for a rig you need to drive.

I know. I should insert a comment about the "secret" design here but the fact is, while we do use some lobe shape changes over most, all that does is help keep things quiet.

*Usually...*LOL** (Dang noisy little critters, anyway!)

So power gains go like this: Exhaust first. Cam change 2nd. Reach for your wallet, third..Sure, carb/EFI/intake mods can help, but they are way down the list. The best improvements after the first two basic steps are valves and ports, find and remove the restrictions. Of course, compression ratio is on the list if you don't mind premium fuel.

130 to 140 H/P is fairly easy to reach, after that?...Well, bring the checkbook.... <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/evil.gif" alt="" />......*EB