Well, the time has come to replace the woefully inadequate stock turbocharger on my 01. The turbo that is on it at the moment has no problems and there's nothing wrong with it, but the truck is used for hauling and we all know what these turbos do while hauling. So, the turbo is getting replaced.

Sure, I could have done it a little less expensively, but I figured that I've got almost 100K on this thing and a few hundred extra bucks isn't that big of deal when my heavy hauler is in question.

Here's my reasoning for replacement:

1. Surge: terrible even when the truck is running stock or no chip at all.
2. Incredibly high EGT while towing: also when in stock mode...ugh.
3. Truck's got 100K. Why not replace with new.
4. Was going to get rid of the EBPV anyway...got the 3.2" "power outlet".

I have the non-ebpv pedestal sitting in front of me as well as the GDS Ball buster w/1.0 hsg. and a set of o-rings. The pedestal is $119/free ship from LIDP and the o-rings are from ebay $8/free ship.

So I'm going to take a boatload of pictures and probably do an "article" on the replacement as ANYONE can take the turbo off of one of these..it's just whether or not you want to lay across the engine for an hour and twenty.

I'll do the install and drive it loaded with my 18,500 lbs. GCVW and let you know how it goes.

 

Good deal, I've run the TN turbo, works great! If you feel like its lacking in spool call Brian at Black Widow Diesel and get the .84 housing. Makes a world of differance with stock injectors.

 

Isn't it the small exhaust housing that makes the EGT so high in the first place? The .84 would make this investment useless, IMO.
Cleatus I'm interested in hearing how this works. When I tow, it's heavy as well and it would be good to know how much of a difference this would make.
I have stock turbo with WW so no surge, but it's not hard to drive the pyrometer into the red zone.

 

You can do again what was already done here.




https://www.ford-trucks.com/article/...tallation.html

 

Dan, those are my thoughts exactly...which is why I didn't opt for the .84 housing. It's what I already have and at that point I might as well just have bought the ATS housing.


Ok....initial review before turbo has been broken in. This thing stops nearly immediately when the engine is shut down, so I know that there is some restriction to rotation at this time. It should "loosen up" some as the miles get put on it.

I have roughly 100 miles on this thing so far. Had to drive to Billings to pick up 20 fencing panels on the flatbed trailer...probably only about 3000 lbs. worth of trailer and panels. Not much.

I will say that yes, at this time, the turbo does spool slower. However, it is not a whole lot, but it is noticeable. I can put my DP Tuner on "6" which is the 120 HP tune and peg the throttle and HOLD IT there. Never was able to do that before. 70-95 MPH never exceeded 1150 degrees at full-throttle. I did like that.

There is one thing I did notice that may be a negative but I won't know until I get a few thousand miles on the turbo.....the EGT is roughly 100 degrees higher than the old turbo under the same operating conditions while cruising at light load. With the old turbo, I would usually run 3-4 PSI and about 600 degrees at 73 MPH. With this turbo, I am at about 700-750 degrees at 2-3 PSI. I realize that the lower boost may have the effect of higher EGTs under light load.

There is NO SURGE!! WOO HOO!!!

This turbo is NOISY!!! I removed the foil on the intercooler pipe and have the 6637 filter. I'd say it's nearly as bad as my old 94 Cummins...slightly lower pitch to the whistle though. I don't care about the noise. That's what the stereo is for.

I'm going to fill it up tonight and drag the horse trailer with it to see how it does there.

 

That's normal for the bigger turbo's....although the numbers you posted are marginally higher than I'm used to seeing. May improve somewhat with a few more breaking miles.

 

The differance is the compressor side of the turbos are much larger then the stock, this makes up for the smaller exhaust side. Drive pressures are what you need to look at, with the .84 housing I still saw 1 to 1 drive pressure to boost at 25-28 psi, starts to get higher from there. You can run the .84 housing and still run 100-200 lower EGT and not have the slower spool issue.

With this turbo throw out everything you know about the stock POS Garret. Pull the compressor side off and look at the wheel, its 30% larger the the garret.

 

Yeah, if everything is bigger then it should breath a lot better.

 

The results are in! I LOVE THIS NEW TURBO!!!

Took it out Sunday evening to go climb some hills with the horse trailer attached and once again Monday morning for breakfast. Had to take the trailer to breakfast just to make sure there was no fluke with the previous night's experiment.

Truck and trailer, GCVW empty is about 13.6K lbs.



This thing absolutely RIPS getting on the interstate. It's possible to just stand on it and let 'er fly. The old turbo took some serious foot massaging to keep the EGTs in check..even on the stock setting. Surge used to be totally out of control with even the slightest hint of throttle application. I pulled a 2-mile long 6% grade at 75 MPH (on 60 Tow) all the while keeping her in 4th and EGT below 1200 degrees. The backside of the hill (which I came up later that night) is a quite a bit steeper and I ran 65 MPH....downshifted into 3rd...but the EGT was at about 1000 at the top. Dang truck usually struggled to manage 55 up the hill....that was because of the overpowering surge and subsequent high EGT.

The stock program will not supply enough fuel to run more than about 15 PSI boost (at 3000 RPM)...it's kind of funny. Turns the check engine light on. HA HA HA But flip the switch to 20 Tow and she wakes right up and pushes you into the seat. I LOVE IT!!!

Oh, and thanks to Kris for shattering my dreams of becoming a journalist. That was a WAY better writeup than I had....besides, I didn't have any of the tools in any of the pictures.

 

Is this the same thing as the Turbonetics drop-in replacement aside from the exhaust housings?

 

Yep, even made by the same people.....Just went for the best price.

 

Sounds like a great setup!

 

Cleatus,

It has been over a month with the new turbo how is still doing? You call this the "ball-buster" is it made by GDS? I'm looking at the same issues you were originally talking about I had pretty much talked myself into the garret ball bearing turbo but then I came across the GDS ball-buster and beside the info they provide the price was very attractive! almost scary. Did you install it yourself? Thanks for anymore insight

 

Oh man! I love this turbo. I've been meaning to awaken this thread from the dead and let everyone know how much of a .....um.... yeah, this turbo gives me every time I drive.

Ok, Cookie was right. The more miles I put on this thing, the lower my EGT gets during cruise. I am right at 600 degrees at 72 MPH with 3 lbs. of boost. The ungodly noise has subsided a bit....or I'm just getting used to it.

Since installation, I've racked up about 2500 miles on the new turbo. I've realized that it is near impossible to get EGTs above 1200 in any setting while empty...I just don't drive that fast. Secondly, I can haul 13K up a 6% grade in 60 Tow 3rd gear with my foot to the wood and top out at 1100-1150 degrees....and gain speed while doing it.

Still no surge. I can't make this thing surge. I've tried. But then again, I don't usually hit 15-18 PSI anymore while driving...not unless I give it the onion.

Gradual acceleration yeilds a little higher EGTs ONLY because there's less boost. The EGT actually stays lower if you get on it while accelerating.

Maybe I'm a little disappointed in my lack of peak boost. I've said it before, but there's absolutely more power there than with the stocker....just not as much boost. More air in and out I suppose. I guess it's better to run a max of 25 PSI and make more power than running 30+ constantly. Sure wish I knew what was going on there, though.

I've given two other guys rides in my truck with the Ball-buster....they want me to install theirs too when they order 'em up!! Cha-ching.

Yes, I went with the GDS ball buster. Steve was really good to work with and I would do it again in a heartbeat.


Other than that, I guess I have a few things to haul in the next week:

Free '58 2wd
Free '73 F250 4x
Mother-in-law's 3 horses in my heavy-**** trailer.

I've had a hankering to haul some heavy stuff. I'm happier than a pig in slop. Gives me an excuse to USE my truck.

 

Glad to hear it! I understand why you wanted a new turbo but what made you pick the GDS ball-buster? I so far have only found one other thread talking about the GDS ball buster and they didn't talk kindly of it. Is the article on replacing the turbo pretty much on? How long did it take you? Really getting the itch to add this since I should have my truck back next week with a new BTS transmission.