I have a few questions for people that have played with the turbo combos.

presently the stock turbo in my truck is fine, but since ive chipped it I have surge.. While I dont tow heavy 7-9k max I just about tow daily. I also have the 6637 filter and this thing with the surge is crazy loud..

So I have had a van turbo on hand for a while now and thinking about putting it in, but I have read that the stock turbo with a ported housing works great with no surge too. Im not a power freak, I want this truck to run solidly for another 310000 miles, as being stuck on the road sucks..

Do I run the stock turbo with ported housing or the van turbo? also do I need a wicked wheel? I have read some others saying that the van turbo with the larger compressor takes longer to light off, that turns me off.. coming out of duramaxs where the boost is there all the time, this truck already is slow enough.. but for what im doing with it its perfect except for the noise and surge..

any direction would be great, and any help from other towers real world experience would be great.. I would like a tad bit more boost if possible but not much more. thanks! Kirk D its a late 99 if that matters.

 

Van turbo should take care of you, if it doesnt then you can get an ATS 4" inducer, if I remember right its ATS???????? The van turbo doesnt take any longer to spool in my opinion than the stocker, keep in mind thats coming from a guy who has one and isnt sayin in theory. Youll have mixed reviews about the WW, I personaly dont have one.... because they flow less air to cure your surge, thats up to you. OR your more expensive option is to get a 38R

 

Thanks John... So I can install the ported housing on the van turbo too? it seems that I read somewhere that someone needed to use a WW on a van turbo too..

Just wondering because before I do the install I would like to set it up 1 time so I dont have to mess with it in the future. I have a nasty habit of jumping the gun and doing things 3 times..

 

Heres the housing Riffraff Diesel: ATS Ported Compressor Housing
Heres the adapter flange youll need to adapt for your down pipe Riffraff Diesel: 1.0 A/R 1.15 A/R Turbo Outlet Adapter
Some guys do run the WW on the Van turbos, youll get mixed reviews about that. In all reality if I were you I would put the van turbo on and see if that takes care of your problem first and if it does you just saved yourself $420.00. If it doesnt take care of it you can try the WW for $100 if funds are low. If the money is there the ATS housing will take care of you for sure. Have you checked to see if you have any boost leaks? What kind of boost numbers are you running now? What is your set up? Is it tuned? If you add a signature it would be helpfull to you and everyone you ask questions to down the road.
You wont see any higher boost numbers from doing these things to your truck, inorder to see higher boost numbers you have to add fuel and air... Tuning... Well help you spend ever dollar you let us lol

 

I'd sell the van turbo, and install a W.W. for 100 buks. The ported housing will set you back a few bills. Clay could get u the wheel...mine was surgiing and the wheel cured it COMPLETELY.

Johnny, 5k miles with ur turbo i rebuilt, allz good, my brutha...

 

Good to hear I got about 10K on my Van turbo and couldnt love it more

 

i had surge and went with the ATS housing, completly solved the problem.
i later found dmg to my turbime wheel and ended going with the 38r. one of the best mods ive done.

i still have my ats housing for sale if your interested. $325 shipped.

 

WW did NOT cure my surge. It reduced it, but I still get it quite often when towing my ~14k lb 5th wheel. Not sure exactly what I'm going to do yet to fix it. The real problem is the RPM's are too low in OD at anything less than 75mph to provide the necesary backpressure to keep the turbo out of its stall region. Thinking of regearing but thats expensive too, so I don't know. Just thought I'd throw my experience out there.

 

I'm in this same situation. The Wicked Wheel cured about 90% of the surge, but when towing if I get my foot into it with overdrive, I get the surge. Re-gearing would really help since I'm running 37's for tires

 

What exactly will I gain by using the van turbo? I know people swear by them but why?

 

I am thinking about a new turbo. Why wouldnt we just go with a 38R?? Only neg. I have read is the noise which is not a huge deal for me. That is what the radio is for. Any other negs to consider?? Or is there an even better option for a turbo?? Oh yeah and the 38R is not rebuildable, but is that a big deal?? I have 260k plus on my stock one. Does the 38R not last as long???

 

Rebuild kit for the stock turbo ~$100
ATS housing ~$400

$500ish for a fresh & surge-free turbo

38R = $1300


You can go with an H2e (and it's billion variants) but then you're looking at $2000+

I'd say go for the ATS housing & rebuild

 

Compared to the stocker you should see lower EGT's and lower back pressure which will be good for the PMR's if you have them. I have had the the van turbo on for about 5 1/2 years (100K miles or so.) with the WW. The van turbo has a 1.15 Exhaust housing, larger than the stock .84 housing - EGT's dropped a couple of hundered degrees while towing our 31' 5th wheel and have had no surge.

The van turbo is good for up to @ 400 hp if you plan to do more power mods down the road. It is a direct bolt on but you will need the exhaust flang adapter mentioed above to connect it to the exhaust. I would also recommend the Non - EBPV turbo pedestal or you can modify the stock pedestal to remove the EBPV. Of course you will need a chip with the right tunes to make her shine.

In my opinion the lag is minor and not that big of a deal. It no longer exists with stage I injectors if you plan to go that route. A van turbo with stage I injectors and a better intercooler is one hell of a tow rig - I fully enjoy towing & camper racing with this setup. With stock injectors she might take a second to light but when she does - look out- she spools quicker up to 20 psi than the stocker and easily to 25-27psi.

The Van turbo can handle the higher boost better than the stocker. From what I've learned from Jon, Pocket, Jeremy & Brandon (and others), is that because of the larger turbine housing on the Van turbo, you can actually spool them over 25 psi and they will'll take it unlike the stocker. The bearings on both the stock turbo 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 stock Super Duty'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.

I saved this explanation from when Pocket posted it on FTE a while back.....Thanks again Curtis!

Some go with the ATS housing, I went with the WW and have not had any surge issues. But those that have had the WW and ATS housing together say the turbo whine can get anoying and loud. Bdrummonds is one that comes to mind. IIRC JTHarvey ran the stock wheel and wicked wheel with the Van turbo and noticed no significant difference in performance, in addition if I remember correctly Beans Diesel Performance ran both wheel on the dyno and had the same results.


The only ones that seem to have issues with the van turbo are those that live in much higher altitudes. Hope the info helps.

Here are a couple of links with some more info:

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...bo-anyone.html

http://powerstrokenation.com/forums/...ad.php?t=38133

http://powerstrokenation.com/forums/...ad.php?t=14955

 

Robert, another option is BDP's 1.0 exhaust housing. 99-03 Power Stroke 1.0 A/R NON-wastegated Turbine Housing w/ adapter - Turbos & Upgrades - (1999-2003) 7.3L - Power Stroke

I had this and the wicked wheel on my Excursion for years and never once, not ever had any surge.

Stewart

 

Stewart, thanks for the link and info. I had not considered that as an option. Its a little less expensive than a ported compressor housing. Hows the install? I assume the turbo has to be removed completely.