My heart tells me 160/0 would be a good and solid choice. My mind and gut tell me why mess with a good thing and to replace the 140/0 injectors with new when the time comes.

I would hate to install single shot injectors and have less performance out of them based on the tuning.

Time will tell and like Brandon said below, that time may never come...

I know an FTE'r that installed all flavors of turbos available to us in his trucks/Ex. He also installed aftermarket intercoolers. The gains from the IC were noticeable, but not worth the "return on investment" in my opinion.

I authored a thread a couple years ago where the discussion got into the weeds about it.

 

If and when I replace my stock injectors I will put new AC's in. There are some technical advantages of single shot and a little extra power is also a nice side benefit.

 

I picked up a 6.0 IC years ago. I got it for a song and couldn't pass it up. It sat in my garage for a couple of years as it was not worth the effort to just replace the IC. My radiator broke and I put in the 6.0 IC when I replaced the radiator (with the radiator removed my stock IC was just sitting there begging to be retired).

I don't tow very heavy (or often) so I didn't notice much of a difference besides having more room to maneuver CAC tubes (in addition to needing a different CAC boot the boot connections are shorter).

It also looked good in my signature.

 

So, here is the thing... We were up in the mountains for just over 48 hours and it rained steadily for about 44 of those hours. We decided to come back home, to watch the weather and head back up there in a few days when there are supposed to be 2-3 days of light/no rain. We are home for the weekend, but are looking to go back up soon! The spot is amazing, off the grid and we only saw 1 other person the entire time up there.

How did the truck do? Amazing, it had me laughing at the people (once again) paying $50,000 or more for a truck to tow a 12,000 lbs 5th wheel camper. Some guy at a camper dealer said they need this or that... Silly...

The journey up there was ~60 miles in total, maybe 65 miles to the spot. About 70% of that was straight country roads at speed limits of 45-55 MPH. That is easy stuff that I leave the truck in 4th gear for and just let the engine do it's thing with cruise control on.

About 20% of the journey is twisting mountain roads where there are hairpin turns, S-curves, reducing radius turns, switchbacks, you name it they are there. On this road we climb to about 4000 feet in elevation from just about 400 feet in elevation. Most of the turns have a speed rating of 20 MPH or 25 MPH, some are 15 MPH and some are 10 MPH if that gives you any indication of the steepness and drastic turns. I don't normally pay attention to the yellow "suggested speed" signs ahead of turns, but I ALWAYS do when towing the trailer.

The truck was in 3rd, 2nd most of the time on the paved, curvy mountain road. The occasional downshift into 1st did happen, but maybe only twice that I can recall. Engine RPMs were between 1000 - 2000 most of the time with short periods of going below 1000 or over 2000 during the climb on the paved, curvy mountain road. Boost was between 2 - 10 most of the time with short periods of 0 due to using the engine to slow the load down and short periods of above 10 when downshifting from 3rd to 2nd or so and then applying throttle. EGT's were between 400 and 600 degrees when I remembered to look at the gauge. I don't think EGT's were ever a real problem for me before at those speeds (MPH and RPM), but they are definitely not now.

Once we got onto the Forest Service road, it was hard pack dirt and gravel which after about 5 miles turned into another 5 miles or so of hard packed dirt/mud since the rain was saturating everything. This entire 10 mile journey into the Forest Service area was done in 1st gear at speeds no more than 15 MPH and mostly 8 - 10 MPH. I would simply apply throttle to go up the hills or let the engine and transmission maintain speed while going down hills. I was very grateful for the Cooper ST MAXX tires as they kept the trailer on the road with a couple of near misses as the trailer started to slide on the mud toward the cliff. When I say cliff, I mean directly off the road there was a 100 ft or so drop.

2WD low in reverse is a life saver as well. When we finally arrived to our "spot", I had to back the trailer up at an 80 degree angle, then pull it back up the way we just came from and then back it into the spot due to the trees and branches in the spot.

We had a great time for the time we were there, but it was too short and we look forward to going back. Out of all the places we have seen and been to in our beautiful country, this is one of our favorite, after the Grand Canyon of course...

A couple of pictures below, just because we all like pictures.


Our spot deep in the forest.

2 creek fork which is 25 ft from the back of the camper.

 

Excellent report Sous. It's too bad EGT is not monitored by OBD. You could data log with ForScan otherwise.

 

Not much to monitor.

 

Sorry. Engineer by training. There is no such thing as too little data in our world.

 

Thanks, I tried to be as informative and across the board as much as I could for anyone interested. The fact remains that the turbo is simply amazing and I look forward to towing the trailer now instead of dreading it. I simply roll into the throttle, even if the engine RPM is down near 1000 and lugging, the SXE will begin to spin up at very low RPM's and just get stronger all the way through. I rarely get the RPM's above 2500 now where as with the modified stock turbo 2800 RPM was my hill climbing RPM. Granted I am using PHP 65 HP Performance tune now and before I was using Gear Head heavy tow or 1023 medium tow. There is a distinct difference in available power across the RPM range between them.

I know I sound like a poster boy for Borg Warner, but until you see it for yourself, you just cannot believe what the SXE does to this engine.

I wouldn't say that I drove by the EGT gauge before the SXE install. Although, as I mentioned above that I was using a heavy tow or medium tow tune at 2800 RPM. So, I would drive with the EGT gauge in sight and focus on every hill, but not focusing on it. I hope that makes sense...

Now, the EGT gauge is simply an ornament and I would not have bought one if I knew I was going the SXE route. Frankly, I probably would have gotten a single gauge pod for somewhere on/near the dash for the fuel pressure gauge and left the boost and EGT on the shelf. I like the ISSPRO gauges, but I could have saved a couple hundred dollars, bringing the price of the T4/SXE down even more to be in line with the sub-performing (comparatively to the Borg Warner SXE) KC and GTP38R turbos.

I see these guys and gals rolling around with their $60,000 trucks and think to myself, they (big 3) don't make trucks like they used to. The new trucks seem to be designed for 100,000 - 150,000 or so miles before needing some costly repairs. I bought my truck with just over 200,000 miles on it and it runs stronger now than the day it rolled off the factory floor.

 

Someone shoot Sous with some rep... my shooter is out of ammo.

 

This about sums it up perfectly.

 

Not gonna say I don't feel the burn on this one...

The truck you currently have was one of those $XXK trucks one day and it was the apple of the owners eye much like you think of it now.
You didn't ask for my life story but I am jealous your able to accomplish what you wanted with this truck by modifying to suit your needs. I was doing the same for 14 years with my last truck until in two years it stranded me and my RV towing family three times on the side of the road. Nothing will sour you so quickly of a vehicle or ideal.

You've done a great job on this conversion and the truck in general I look froward to the rest of the trip reports even though I have no need.
I will have a 7.3 soft spot forever but it sure isn't for working on it or towing with it.

 

@CarterKraft I don't post these updates to burn anyone or gloat, so please accept my apology if they have been received that way.

I post them because I like to take advantage and learn from the experiences and lessons others have already learned. I prefer not to make the same mistakes myself, although sometimes I have to learn the hard way.

I am doing my best to show people interested in learning that there are new ways of making this engine run healthy and strong despite the old methods.

Bolt on parts make this truck perform so well that my goal of bigger injectors is no longer valid or required.

Bolt on parts make the EGT gauge useless even when towing 12,000 lbs on grades.

This is all granted that the engine is healthy and working appropriately before applying the bolt on parts. I fully understand that this is a 20 year old truck and things will break. Things have broken when we were on the road.

Although, my ability to fix what needs it is much better on this truck than it ever could be or would be on a newer truck. Take the temperamental HPFP system on the newer 6.7 PSD's as one example.

Other major system failures are happening too often on the newer trucks in my opinion. This is because they are much stronger, much higher tolerances, more circuitry, more plastic, more everything...

That is what the typical consumer wants though. They want an air conditioned recliner sitting behind a 1000 ft lbs torque engine. So, that is what the big three give them.

The days of a truck being a truck are gone. Yes, 20 years ago my truck was the $XXK truck and was frowned upon by many. But, here it is 20 years later pulling strong cross country. I am looking forward to seeing what the 2011, 2012, etc 6.7 PSD's are doing in 2031, 2032, etc...

I have an idea of where they will be, but I think I have said that without saying it.

Sometimes the advancement of technology takes us backward in our lifestyle instead of actually advancing our lifestyle.

Truth be told, I am terrified of what the future may be for my truck and if it will need to be replaced one day. I would love to keep it for another 30 years, but with the EPA on their death march and inattentive drivers crowding the roads.

What are the chances I can buy a 2015 6.7 PSD in 2030 at 212,000 miles (like my 7.3 was at 15 years old when I bought it) and drive it home with confidence I made the right choice. Pretty damn slim is what my gut is telling me.

I guess I rambled a bit, but I think my point was seen and hopefully my apology was too.

 

Right on!

No harm done just wanted to let you know some of us aren't totally off the 7.3 bandwagon.

It's really hard to say though on the technology aspect of the trucks, I have a buddy who owns a multi million dollar oilfield hotshot company that puts his Duramax/Allison combos through a life a 7.3/4R100 would not last more than a couple months in. I know guys with 6.7 PSDs that are having similar luck when cared for and the pedal not held to the floor at all times.

Much like 7.3s and PM rods, many never missed a beat, others puke on the highway at the worst time.

It's all about what you can, want or have to run. It could be worse we could be discussing this on a Dodge forum 🤣🤣

 

https://www.dieselworldmag.com/diese...harder-cooler/

Quote:

"We are proud to offer turbos that spool faster, pull harder, and run cooler than anything else on the market. Our turbos literally scream POWER!"

PLEASE!

 

Charlie at KC should be commended for his tireless efforts toward improving the 7.3 platform, but he has played it smart and I cannot blame him. He stuck with the drop in format because he knew and knows he cannot compete with the juggernaut of the turbo would (gas and diesel) Borg Warner.

So, the quote above is not true, but it is true at the same time. I bet if we were at a press conference and Charlie said that, we would have said FAKE NEWS!

Then he would have clarified himself, but stuck with the quote. The KC is better than anything on the market, on the "drop in" market. They do scream power louder than the GTP38 and GTP38R, but only under optimal conditions and with proper custom tuning. The "cooler" part, well I suppose that may be true, but I don't doubt that is under the same optimal conditions.

The Garrett turbos that he is comparing his product to in the charts are 20 years old and somewhat of an easy hill to conquer. Not to take away from the engineering and fabrication that went into the KC line, but look at a Mustang from 2000 and one from 2019, not even close...

The part of the article that raised my eyebrow was the graphs. During testing they were able to get the stock turbo up to nearly 390 HP and 940 TQ?

That right there proves my earlier statement about optimal conditions. That turbo must have been red hot and screaming STOP!

In addition, who would run those injectors sizes with a stock turbo in anything other than a testing environment. A fool, that is who.

This FTE community is tiny in comparison to the un-community (made my own word) and people think if they read it in a magazine or someone with a name tag says it, then it must be true and accurate.

We know the SXE turbo us leaps and bounds better than the KC in every way at any task. But, the fear of changing bolt on parts out in order to install the T4 kit scares people. The up front cost is a factor as well, but that can be overcome.

Anyway, I cannot blame him for saying what he did, but I can say it should have included "drop in", but whatevs... If I could change what people have been quoted saying, Charlie at KC would be toward the bottom of the list.