I agree with John, but don't think I am one of the "cool kids". Like John, I made the best choice for my money, application and goals for the truck. For me, it was the best bang for the buck, but for many others it is either too difficult to install, too costly, too much change, too much much and much... I don't think making the right choice for my application makes me part of the "cool kids" club, it is just a different part bolted up to the top of the 7.3L cool kids club. We are all in the same club, we just have different color trucks, different configurations, different fuel capacities due to auxiliary tanks, different stereos, different lights. Why should the turbo be any different (pun intended).

This is why I posted some KC turbo threads in my original reply earlier in the thread. Charlie at KC has made a lot of improvements over the past few years since he did have a lot of problems with his turbos. Although, there are inherent advantages to going with a T4 turbo that you just cannot get with the Ford/OEM exhaust configuration. Borg Warner is a massive company with turbos and parts in billions of vehicles. I went with the SXE because I only had one shot to get it right and I absolutely made the right call for my money, time, effort and goals for the truck. People will argue that the cost of the KC is a fraction of SXE/T4. Yup, and if done right they are not that far apart which is obvious in my parts list above. Sometimes you truly do get what you pay for and I am damn glad I paid the extra couple hundred dollars.

Install difficulty... Well, anyone that has messed around with exhaust or IC tubing can install the SXE. It is unbelievably easier to install any day of the week than a Garrett style turbo. But, I understand that changing down/up pipes and IC tubes is scary to some people. Just like the weapons (rifles, shotguns, handguns) I have in my house are scary to some people, but very useful to me.

I will turn this over to the FTE community now as I think I have spoken enough about the SXE and my impressions of it over the past 11 months since I installed it.

Time to go buy some beer to restock my supply...

 

Never said reverse rotation is the issue, I just said that our trucks have reverse rotation turbos, they could’ve been standard rotation and kept everything else the same and it wouldn’t have made a difference, just saying the turbos our trucks came with are the restriction in the design changes KC makes. For a long time I was gonna get a KC until I realized I didn’t want to mess with turbos anymore and spent a bit more coin and got something that I know I’d be happy with.

 

I'm changin' nuthin' unless you tell me what your favorite beer is.

 

Well you made it sound like it was the handicap in the design and based on age whereas T4/T4i turbos have been around much longer. For some reason, no one can ever point out what the "restriction" in the design actually is besides the .84ar housing, but the 1.0 housing seems to make little difference in terms of performance.. Anyways, KC has already got the larger shaft of the S300 fitting in the GTP38 center section. Recast the turbine housing based off a true s300 housing and AR match the compressor housing and they will likely get a true 1:1 product. They are surely already doing business with a foundry that casts all their turbine wheels.

 

As for the discussion between a T4 set up and drop in turbo. The OP mentioned a EBPV pedestal delete as well as adding a larger down pipe. These items are standard in a T4 mount kit.The OP mentions the truck is stock, I am guessing stock leaky up pipes as well. Again this is included with a T4 kit.

When you add up the expense of the above items purchased separately the cost of the drop in turbo begins to climb. Personally I knew my truck had all stock 20 year old parts that would need to be replaced, so I choose the T4 route, sawzalled the old parts off and throw them in the scrap pile. I realize everyone’s goals are different, mine was to keep EGT’s in Check and replace old worn parts. I accomplished those goals and received a nice performance increase as well.

I certainly am not telling anyone else what to do with there vehicle as that is there choice. As far as answering the OP’s question, do your research and you will come to your own conclusion as to which parts will need to be replaced and the expense which will lead you down the road that is best suited for you.

 

Do you have proof of the 1:1? I’ve always known them having a ratio of 1:5:1 at the top end.

 

I just wanted to clarify my comment regarding being part of the cool kids. Sous, I wasn’t calling you anybody a cool kid...sorry. I was referring to the mentality that some people have where they just follow a group any group. It’s human nature to want to belong to something, my point was, don’t just follow, Think for yourself and decide what is the best decision for you and your needs. If it’s a T4/SXE great, if it’s a KC 300X great but make that decision off your needs not because someone else said you should or because someone else did it.

Y’all have a great day...

 

Well,i'm sort of an Black Sheep here at FTE with my 63.4 inducer Custom stock turbo..
I like to think that it compares to 363 sxe,in performance..?
Just wanted to do it My way..

 

You my friend, are stubborn.😉 As I told you, I'm fine with the deal. And just so you know, I like beer.

 

If it was a completely stock truck I wanted to go a little wild with and I knew then what I do now, I would just go straight to a T4 and not put any money into the stock setup. It’s a decent value in the long run and has come down in price. That being said I am not unhappy with the modified van turbo I built and have no intention of replacing it at this time. (Plenty of other things that actually need fixed to spend money on LOL)

 

This thread got a little off topic but my plans for the truck is to get more high end power as a street truck. I don’t do a lot of towing and when I do it’s for short periods of time which I can switch to my tow tune and it should be fine, I will be doing exhaust manifolds and up pipes before I get a turbo but I will be keeping it the stock v-band setup. My truck has 132k on it, would it be considered “ok” to get a larger turbo and wastegate that was a direct fit and turn the boost up with a new tune and adjust the wastegate to 40lbs? I’m going to be getting an aftermarket wastegate sooner than the turbo so another question is what is the max I should set it to on the stock turbo? The pillar reads 30lbs on the stock setup right now. Thanks for all the attention everyone

 

All right all right. I'll stop pestering you.

 

Stock injectors? I would take a look at the KC300X 63/73 drop in.

 

There were a lot of opinions and facts shared in a short time, but most of it stayed on topic. People are passionate about the turbo system because a lot of us have made decisions in the past that you are now looking at making. We do our best to help people down the road to success, even if their road is not the same as ours.

A few years ago I made the choice to upgrade everything I could including the up-pipes, down-pipe, exhaust, turbo high flow outlet, billet wheel, turbomaster wastegate controller, pedestal delete, Hydra tuner, etc and it was not a mistake because I learned a lot, but sometimes I do wish I had skipped all of that work and thought put into it.

DD7.3, this is your best bet if you want to keep the truck mostly stock. You may also consider a stock turbo with a KC turbine wheel and a billet compressor wheel since your goals do not involve towing and to retain a wastegate.

Let us know what you decide and your thoughts on the results!

 

That’s the turbo I decided on for my truck, as I posted in my thread, I’ve been very happy with it so far. I had already done new bellowed ups, a modified the stock turbo, being an E99 I didn’t think my used parts would be as “sellable” as the L99 stuff. If I hadn’t done that work and spent the money I may have considered the T4 turbo.