O.K. here is the low down.
I have a line on two different turbos, both are Van turbos, 1 is a 1.0 a/r, the other is a 1.15. both are non EBPV, and neither is wastegated, neither has an ATS housing(but that can be changed) and there will be a 6.0 cooler going in.
Now I have heard a lot of stories about the 1.15 spooling slow. I have driven a truck with the 1.15 and stock injectors, and I didnt really notice a lag of any great significance. Injectors are on the list but it will probably be 6 months(or more) before that comes about. I have never driven a truck with a 1.0.
I realize that since both are essentially stock turbos anything over 25psi risks damage to the journal bearings, but due to the higher a/r in both turbos(over the stock .84) doesn't that mean that I can go for a little more with out raising the drive pressure? what is the magic number?

Bobs Pulse is also on the very short list.

Thoughts, comments?

 

Actually, JTHarvey ran a van turbo for a while and really liked it. Now his current set of injectors are way too big for that turbo, but you might want to PM him and ask about his setup.

I've ridden and raced against a PSD with stock injectors and a van turbo. Even at high altitude the lag wasn't bad.

Oh, and because of the larger turbine housing, you can actually spool them over 25 psi and they'll take it. The bearings on the stock SD turbos and the van turbos have a tolerance of 60-80 psi of thrust load. That load is reached quicker with a smaller turbine housing as found on the SD's, due to the higher exhaust backpressure creating a larger imbalance between the turbine and compressor side. With the van turbo, you have less backpressure, and less thrust load at higher boost levels.

 

Yeah Curtis, Jeremy and I have talked a little, I told him that when he got ready for a new H2E I would buy his Van turbo, but I don't think he is ready yet, and the two I am looking at are pretty cheap. I have also read what CSIPSD (joe) had to say about his old van turbo and the 175/163 inj that he ran. but both of them had/have the 1.15, I just wonder about the 1.0

 

I believe the van turbo comes with a 1.0 housing but could be wrong. It would need to because there is no IC. BTW, I wouldn't waste a penny on the 6.0 IC, especially if you plan on a larger turbine housing. Think of it this way, a turbo designed to work w/out a IC running on an engine with a IC. If it is a killer deal, get it, otherwise save for a BB unit.

FWIW, my GTP38R came with a WG and EBV 1.0 housing. Both are gone now. I don't believe I need a WG with the larger housing and lower drive pressure. I need to get some more driving time to fully evaluate it. But working does that.

 

I was hoping you would chime in, Good point on the I.C.. isnt the van turbo also a gt38

 

I believe so, with the larger turbine housing. You may want to pick CSIPSD's brain on this since he seems to have run all combos I can think of short of the H2E or compounds. Of course he cannot keep his rig on the road but he can flame me for that. Seems like the tranny for him now.

My honest assesment for now, and much more driving is needed, is that I have some lag which hurts me initially just tooling around. Most folks can probably get me off the line unless I build boost. After about 1-2 seconds, get out of my way because I am bringing it and it keeps coming until redline. Once the boost starts, it just goes, and very quickly at that.

 

When you guys talk about van turbos do you really mean they come from a van or is that just the name

 

E350 and so forth vans. Straight out of there.

 

From my understanding and I may have to get with Jeremy about this, doesn't my Van turbo have an 88mm turbine wheel just like your GTP38R?

I know that a OEM truck turbo turbine wheel is 80mm.

 

Could be, I don't know??? What size is the inlet tube from the intake? That would go to a ported shroud intake housing question.

EDIT: you're probably right. The turbine wheel from my stocker looks identical to the GTP38R. From there, the similarities end.

 

You must be talking about the compressor wheel. I know my compressor wheel is an OEM wheel. I'm wondering about the turbine wheel on the exhaust side.

 

I was talking about the turbine/exhaust/drive wheel. They all look alike sans the housing they are nounted in.
In the store, it may show up falsely. From there, the impellar/compressor housing and shafts/wheels must be considered.

 

IMO, the van turbo doesn't spool all that bad with stock injectors. Is there some lag, sure. Did it ever bother me to the point where I wanted something different, nope. Especially with an auto trans, the TC will allow enough slip to get over the lag pretty quickly. I never had an issue pulling into traffic or getting moving from a stop.

The van turbo comes stock with a 1.15 housing - at least all the ones I've seen were like that. I know there are some 1.0 non-WG housings available for the truck turbos though.

The overall diameter of the turbine wheel on the truck and van turbo's is identical once you get past the curved parts of the fins and to the flat part of the blade. The difference lies in the curved part of the blade. The van's turbine wheel is slightly larger a that curve, but the difference is quite small.

I ran both a truck turbo with a 1.15 housing and the van turbo, back to back, and could barely tell a difference in performance. It was so small in fact, I had to be in a specific chip setting (80 econ), going a very specific speed (50 MPH in OD), and be accelerating up a hill (to be under a load) to tell the difference. The van turbo would light maybe 50-100 RPM later than the truck/1.15 combo. The exact difference was the truck/1.15 would light at 55 MPH, where the van would light at 56-57 MPH. That's hardly anything to even worry about.

What does all this mean for Brandon? Well, if I were him, I would be going with the 1.15 housing, especially if injectors and BO are on the horizon. I would love to sell you my turbo, but I don't see myself having $3K to drop on a turbo for at least another several months. Times are unexpectedly tough, so I'm having to adjust my spending. The truck has unfortunately suffered from these cutbacks. Heck, I'm not even driving it much anymore. Since gas is cheaper than diesel and my old '87 Wrangler gets better mileage than the truck around town, which is what most of my driving consists of for work, the Jeep has been seeing most of my of DD duty.

 

If you are going for injectors in the future (don't know how large, you didn't mention), then i'd defanitely go with the 1.15, especially so if you tow.

 

I didn't mention how large on the injectors cause I really haven't made up my mind on what to get. (waiting on Mike to really test his, will be talking to Jeremy and Joe for their evaluations)