Just finished the thread. What an awesome endeavor! I’m sorry you have dealt with these issues and I hope they are behind you. I’m rooting for you.

This build intrigues me for many reasons but the main reason is pushing the limits with innovative ideas and that reminds me of my H3 journey.

Not to go on a tangent but rock crawling is dominated by Jeeps and Toyotas. I have spent thousands of dollars and hours modifying my H3 to handle big tires and big abuse. After 14 years and many stock axles, modified stock axles, custom homebuilt axles, etc. I have learned one thing. Some ideas work flawlessly, some worked after many renditions and some were scrapped. As a whole the H3 is an underdog and I see that with the 7.3 when compared to modern day diesels.

Modifying and improving the underdog is fun, but not always cheap or easy but it forces you to learn and improve and when it does work out, it’s flat out cooler then anything else.

With all that said I appreciate you taking on this project and feel you are doing the same with your truck. I will watch it closely so I can mimic what works. With my F550 I am not as willing to take the chances of being a test mule. While I take chances on off-road vehicle projects the whole point of my F550 is to get me home. The truck is only used for off-road trips over 300 miles away from home. Most trips are 1500-2000 miles round trip. I can’t afford a failure in the middle of nowhere Nevada. I want more usable power (when pulling 20-30k GCWR) my mind has been racing on compound turbos, VGT turbos, ways to get more gearing options, etc. but I remind myself that slowing down a little at the expense of getting home is worth it.

I have an Irate T4 kit and this VGT turbo seems to give much more usable power across a wider rpm range which makes me want it. The exhaust brake is an added bonus too.

I hope the new parts work long term and if so I will probably follow this mod.

I do have one question though, do you tow? If so, what kind of weight are you towing? I’d be curious how this setup does towing.

 

Thank you for your kind words sir. It is true I do like to stray from the beaten path. I am glad to have a kindred soul in you @Hvyhaulr .

I used to tow a race hauler but that was before the Turbonator/SXe. That trailer with car and paraphernalia came to about 10k pounds. That got towed while the truck had a GTP38R with a RiffRaff billet wheel in it. Unlike most other 38Rs with billet wheels on them, that one stayed in one piece and I even managed to sell it. I will be towing another race hauler again next week after many years so we shall see how she performs.

 

@brokestroke I found the guy on Diesel power sources YouTube page with the 7.3

he’s got 180/30s and a 363 turbo with the Turbonator.

he hasn’t mentioned any turbo issues yet with the 363. I’ll try to get him here or ask questions to him on instagram

 

I think with the 30% injectors you could run the 363/68/.91 without issue and help that 1800rpm dead spot. I have yet to see it “run out of air” in the upper rpm. But I am on stock injectors.

 

As some of you might have read in the Morning Coffee thread, I had an issue with the turbo to hot side CAC pipe boot. The wimpy Vibrant transition boot kept burping a lip out from under the clamp. I replaced it with a beefier transition boot today.


Both of them are 2-1/2" to 3" transition boots. Original Vibrant boot on the right, new Pegasus Racing boot on the left.


Vibrant boot wall is way thinner than...


... the Pegasus Racing boot. Wall thickness measurements are in millimeters. The wall of the new boot is almost an entire millimeter thicker.


The thicker walls made it a bitch to shoehorn the CAC pipe into the boot. I hope this one holds up or I'm going all Adel Wiggins on this joint.

 

I'm interested in how this works for you, but I question your choice of measurement units.

 

Any update from your recent trip towing the trailer?

 

I have not towed again since replacing the boot. Sorry.

i will be towing first weekend of October though.

 

No worries.

im so tempted to pull the trigger on one with my 364.5 and this video explains it all. I feel I’m under the turbo below 2100 rpm or so. Being below the turbo comes with EGT issues when towing. Being a 4 speed the downshift puts you near redline. So your stuck below the turbo or screaming.

This video shows it will move a crap load of air (because of the power gain) solving my conundrum above. This problem isn’t an issue all the time, mainly pulling steep grades. I like this comparison though. It shows the exact same turbo setup with a fixed AR (like mine) vs the VGT

lastly, I have been contemplating an exhaust brake before finding out about this VGT setup so it’s like killing 2 birds with 1 stone

 

Have you thought about swapping out the 73mm turbine for a 68mm turbine? Easy swap, and relatively cheap compared to other options. After all you are just battling an incorrectly sized turbo, at 2100rpm that thing should sound like it is about to come out of the hood. An S364.5/68/.91 (or.83) will move enough air to keep EGTs down below 2100rpm. My S363/68 has no problem pushing 30psi at 2100rpm with egts around 1000.

Also remember that "Real" VGT turbos have much thicker turbine blades that can handle the extra abuse that a VGT puts them through. SXE turbines are much thinner in comparison.

 

What kind of clamps are those? Any reason you used them over T-bolt clamps?

 

I will have to do some research on swapping smaller turbine. I have never done that before.

thsys a good point as well that I did not think about. How does a VGT put the turbine through more hell?

 

When the vanes of a VGT close, hot, pressurized, high velocity gas is forced directly into the blades of the turbine. This causes an area of concentrated heat and pressure on the blade tip. VGT turbine wheels take this into account so they are made heavier and thicker than a non-VGT turbine to handle the abuse.

Here is a 10 blade turbine for a 2016 Powerstroke VGT turbo. You can see the thickness throughout the entire turbine.




Swapping the turbine wheels from 73 to 68mm is pretty easy. If your turbo is in great shape you may not even need to rebuild it, when I swapped to 68mm I didnt rebuild. The turbine wheels are also component balanced so balancing is not a necessity.

Simply unbolt the compressor wheel and remove it. The old turbine will slide right out of the turbo. Carefully transfer the oil seal from the old turbine onto the new with a dab of oil. Slide the 68mm into the housing making sure to seat the oil seal. Reinstall the compressor wheel, tighten until snug then ~1/4 turn more. Reinstall into the appropriate sized .91 housing

 

sorry, I’m not trying to derail the thread last question here! Lol

do you have a link of turbine wheels?

I know the diesel world is infatuated with billet but I’d be curious if a billet wheel or titanium wheel would hold up to the added abuse

 

My apologies for my tardiness. I have been out west for the last few days.

The fact that it moves so much more air is what attracted me to the Turbonator as well. You are treading down pretty much the same road I did. The increased airflow has solved my EGT problem. The need for inscreased airflow also broke my S366 but that was a minor bump in the road.

Those are the ones that came in the CSD kit and I'm too cheap to swap them for t-bolt clamps since they still seem to work.