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Intercoolers..

Old Jul 22, 2009 | 09:10 AM
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Intercoolers..

I don't think I've seen a thread on here regarding intercoolers.. Do some trucks have them and others not? Wouldn't it be a good upgrade over stock (spearco)? Just curious..

B.
 
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Old Jul 22, 2009 | 09:43 AM
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Trucks have intercoolers, vans do not (not enough room). I don't know about the 6.0L guys, but some 7.3L guys put old van turbos on because they have bigger housings.

You can upgrade, but it is not cheap. Spearco and Banks are the two big names I can think of, but you're looking at $1700+ for a kit from those guys (plus Banks doesn't give the 7.3L guys much bang for the buck). A common upgrade for 7.3L's is to get a 6.0L intercooler from one of you 6.0L guys when you upgrade to a Banks or Spearco!

If you are looking for something specific, you might want to post in the 03-07 6.0L forum.
 
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Old Jul 22, 2009 | 09:53 AM
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I was just curious.. I'd figure this would be a one of those big tip or how to items for increasing performance..
 
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Old Jul 22, 2009 | 10:54 AM
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Originally Posted by silly34
I was just curious.. I'd figure this would be a one of those big tip or how to items for increasing performance..
The 6.0 intercooler is a fairly good intercooler. Spearco has good materials, but it isn't as thick as the banks. If they would come out with an intercooler that had the materials of spearco, but the thickness of Banks, then that would be an intercooler that I would get in a heartbeat.

As to performance, an intercooler is a supplemental mod by itself it isn't going to net you much performance gains. It's not something that I would do(and am not doing) until the stock one goes bust.
 
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Old Jul 22, 2009 | 12:12 PM
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I picked up a 6.0L intercooler ('06 I think) to put in my truck. As good as the 7.3L is, the intercooler and tranny cooler are WWWAAAYYY small. If I were to do some major upgrades (programming, injectors, turbo) I would look into a brand name intercooler to take advantage of the jump in power, but there are plenty of things to put your money towards before that...
 
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Old Jul 22, 2009 | 12:24 PM
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This is very surprising.. so the factory IC in the 6.0 is good enough.. Has any testing ever been done with this?

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Old Jul 22, 2009 | 01:22 PM
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Originally Posted by silly34
This is very surprising.. so the factory IC in the 6.0 is good enough.. Has any testing ever been done with this?

B.
Considering the mods that I have done, pushing 508 hp and I'm still using the stock intercooler, I would say that it is good enough for about 90% of the 6.0 owners out there.
 
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Old Jul 22, 2009 | 02:30 PM
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So you don't believe any more gains could be made by upgrading? Or are yall just looking at it as not being needed to replace until you reach a certain hp (kinda like keeping the stock air filter)
 
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Old Jul 22, 2009 | 04:29 PM
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I don't think it's a question of gains. Any improvement in cooling or flowrate will mean more colder, denser air in the cylinder, which will mix with more fuel, which will provide more *bang*, which will provide more power. The question is if it adds enough to the bang for the price...
 
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Old Jul 22, 2009 | 04:35 PM
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Gotcha... so have has anyone seen any dyno comparisons? I found one for 1499 for a spearco.. not looking to upgrade but maybe in the future but the gains would have to be worth it!!
 
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Old Jul 22, 2009 | 05:14 PM
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Originally Posted by brian42
I don't think it's a question of gains. Any improvement in cooling or flowrate will mean more colder, denser air in the cylinder, which will mix with more fuel, which will provide more *bang*, which will provide more power. The question is if it adds enough to the bang for the price...
Unfortunately, that's only half the equation. Without adding more fuel to the mix to mix with that colder denser air, you're really not going to gain anything from it.

That would be like adding 205mm^3 injectors and keeping the stock turbo. You're going to be dumping massive amounts of fuel in the chamber, but without a bigger turbo to induct more air, you're not going to get much benefit from it.

At the very least, "you're" going to need to run an even more aggressive then normal tune to compensate for an intercooler.

The only tangible benefit of an intercooler is if the environment you live in is damn near a desert or worse.
 
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Old Jul 23, 2009 | 12:07 PM
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I agree, if you're not putting black smoke out before, you won't see much improvement.
 
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Old Jul 23, 2009 | 05:48 PM
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Originally Posted by brian42
Trucks have intercoolers, vans do not (not enough room). I don't know about the 6.0L guys, but some 7.3L guys put old van turbos on because they have bigger housings.

You can upgrade, but it is not cheap. Spearco and Banks are the two big names I can think of, but you're looking at $1700+ for a kit from those guys (plus Banks doesn't give the 7.3L guys much bang for the buck). A common upgrade for 7.3L's is to get a 6.0L intercooler from one of you 6.0L guys when you upgrade to a Banks or Spearco!

If you are looking for something specific, you might want to post in the 03-07 6.0L forum.
7.3 L vans don't, 6.0 vans do. It's not prety under the hood either.
 
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