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I'm brand new to the 7.3, brand new to diesel, and brand new to this forum. I picked up this nasty 7.3 and have learned an incredible amount about it over the last week. My first question for you folks:
Why does my truck only begin to really spool at aprox. 2,000 rpm? Truck is basically a dog until 18-1900 rpm and then it pushes you back in your seat. I only ask because a buddy has a 99 7.3 with stock turbo/wicked wheel and it spools much earlier.
1999.5 f 250 7.3 300k
BD thruster II turbo
4" exhaust
S&B intake
PHP Hydra Chip
Those turbos need really good tuning to wake them up, the 1.00 exhaust housing and 66mm compressor wheel aint helping it spool like a chipped stock turbo truck is.
Are exhaust housing size and compressor wheel diameter things I can address? I really don’t like how it’s time to shift gears by the time the power shows up.
You can go with a ball bearing turbo like a GTP38, KC38 or a T/4 set up. I have no personal experience with any of these turbos on a our trucks but according to those that have them are happy.
Wow so you’re recommending a return to stock turbo. I didn’t put this turbo on this truck but isn’t the bd thruster ii considered a performance upgrade
I never recomended going back to stock, it all depends what your goals are with your truck. The problem with these turbos is that tbey are still a journal bearing turbo so with the bigger beefier parts instead of helping spool up they slow them down more so than stock, unless you go with bigger sticks.
Unless you install something radical like compound turbos, you need to choose your poison. A turbo with an early light-off will max out sooner than you want. The big breathers have an issue with needing more exhaust passing through before they wake up. There are units that widen the performance band, but you have to know your goals to totally target your turbo.
Oh... and you are likely shifting wrong. There is no real light-up below 2000 RPM for a lot of turbos that work on our truck, so low RPM is for anemic acceleration, sane shifting, and casual cruising. If you're feeling frisky and want to get thrown back in the seat, there is a reason redline is about 3300 - the engine can get over 3000 RPM without hurting it. Towing heavy usually involves downshifting to get in the power band, and driving all day long at 2600 RPM is nothing unusual or dangerous.
Yes it can handle higher pressures than a stock GTP38, but it takes longer to get there. Basically it's a poor man's "performance" turbo.
There are other turbos like the GTP38R ball bearing or KC38 that will drop right in, spool faster, and handle more boost than the BD Thruster.
The turbo is the problem, not the tuning or anything else. Those turbos are well known to be laggy. Years ago those and their clones were all over Ebay for cheap, which is why there were so many of them. People looking for cheap performance upgrades bought them without understanding turbo technology.
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