I haven’t been around in a while. I got pretty burned out on Excursion work and the buckzooka ran out of rounds.

Problem is I still have a pretty good leak I traced back to the turbo/pedestal. I lose about 1qt of oil per 150 miles and have an Exxon Valdez-like oil puddle under the truck anywhere I stop. I’m of the buy once, cry once philosophy (parts AND labor) so would like to only pull the turbo once.

What else should I look at doing while I’m in there? My thoughts so far are: pedestal delete with high flow outlet, 360 turbo rebuild kit, and Dorman bellowed uppipes. I don’t have a tuner, and per Mark K’s advice don’t plan on getting one. Would a billet wheel of any kind make sense without a tuner? What else am I’m missing?

The Excursion is mostly a weekend tow pig for our 8000 pound trailer. I’m just trying to get this done before the summer towing season.

Thanks!

 

Hey Eric, I went with SPTURBO 5x5 in the truck without a tuner initially and it made a huge difference over the WW that was in there. I did NOT have good luck with their o rings and after pulling it 2x I went with Garette o rings and no issues. If you’re building a tow rig from my research either a 4x4 from Clay or SP’s 5x5 wheel...

 

Skip all the stuff you just said and put the cash towards an SXE T4 setup and enjoy your tow pig....like you said, buy once cry once!

 

+1 for Clays billet wheel and diesel O-rings products.

 

There’s no way I can swing the SXE T4 right now, and I still need to stop my leak.

Ok, now the stupid question: what’s the difference between 4x4, 5x5, 6x6 etc? What are the advantages/disadvantages for a non-tuned rig?

 

Even the 50.00 w.w. will cure any foreseen turbo surge...got them both in my rides..
Pay attention to the hpop hose fittings. Found 1 of mine to leak and filled valley fast and leaked out

 

yeah I would do the billet wheel. It will help even on stock tune.

usually the rebuild kits come with a few extra 12 point bolts in case you snap one getting it out. Make sure you soak those with PB blaster overnight (or a couple) especially the ones touching the exhaust housing before even trying them. Personally I just ordered enough to replace them all with new ones. Also the big o-ring that seals the compressor housing around the edge of the backing plate is usually not included. And also the fat o-ring that seals the compressor outlet to the intake spider is not included but should be replaced. The old piston ring that sits on the turbine wheel side is difficult to get off without scratching the shaft. Try to snip it off with cutters. (The new one is easy to put on by comparison). You can clean and paint the cast iron parts if you want to get fancy.

I would also replace the two big bolts that hold the turbo to the pedestal. Riff-raff sells them loose. Recheck the torque on those also a couple times after it is all back together until you are satisfied they aren't backing out. I torqued them carefully to 18 lb/ft and the front one came loose and allowed a little oil seepage which pissed me off. So I hit them with ~20 and have rechecked them a couple times.

Lemon goo-gone and a lot of rags will clean up the mess in the valley.

 

I put in new HPOP hoses and fittings a while back. No sign of leaks there.

 

When I spoke with spturbo he stated that the higher blade counts were geared more towards DD and higher end power. For a tow rig he adamant that the 5x5 was his choice based on what he offered...

 

So your not for buy once cry once?!

 

$2300 for a SXE T4 is a far cry (intentional) from a rebuild, billet wheel, and pedestal at ~$500. I just don’t see myself going that far down the rabbit hole. My PMS has already cost me too much already. The Army just doesn’t pay enough.

 

I sent you a PM

 

Before installing my T4/SXE, I was satisfied with the RR 4/4 wheel. Although, I also had 4" exhaust, high flow turbine outlet, turbomaster wastegate controller, EBPV delete pedestal, 360 bearing kit, full turbo rebuild with all new bolts and good tuning via a Hydra.

Set your goals, make a plan and achieve your goals by not moving the posts. My goalposts moved after having the modified stock turbo on for a few years. I tow cross country though, so I set new goals and am very happy to have achieved them with the SXE.

AKCooper9 is right, the SXE is far superior to anything else out there, but you are right too by sticking to your budget and your own goals for the truck/Ex.

Keep us updated and feel free to post your shopping/parts list once you get it gathered.

 

That’s how I broke the buckzooka before, by not following that sound advice.

 

After reading a bunch of forum posts, emailing vendors, and getting PM’s from helpful FTE members, I’ve plotted my way forward. I dusted off the buckzooka today and started ordering parts:

Riffraff: 4+4 billet wheel, RRD brand blank pedestal and high flow outlet, and ICP sensor and pigtail (I’ve had oil in the connector since I first checked it over a year ago).

SPTurboost: 7.3 360 rebuild kit.

Diesel o-rings: extra 12pt bolts, turbo outlet oring, EBPV resistor.

Rock Auto: Dorman up pipes.

Should keep me busy here in a week or so. I’ll update my build thread over in the Excursion forum as I make progress.

Thanks for all the helpful advice!