ZF6 Billet Compressor Wheel Blade Count
 

In my E99 I had the WW2 and really liked it but the truck was an auto. In my 2000 CCLB 4X4 I have the ZF6 and am looking into upgrading the wheel and rebuilding the turbo while it's out. SPX has the 5X5 blade wheel and the upgraded 360* rebuild kit for $200 shipped while the WW2 is $229 alone. For that reason I am leaning towards the SPX but had a few questions before pulling the trigger.

The SPX is a 5X5 blade wheel. Riffraff offers a 4X4 and I have seen others with 6X6 and IFRC even a 7X7. So the question is with the manual transmission which blade wheel would offer the best low rpm boost? I tow a camper and care nothing about whistle (actually, the less the better) and I'm not into racing anymore. The truck has gauges and a F5 with the 60E, 60 tow and 80E. Walker 3.5" straight thru RV muffler and an AIS intake.

Thanks for any input.

I bought the RR 4/4 because it was said to be a bit quieter than others. I am very happy with the wheel and have a similar setup as you.

I have also heard very good things about the SPX wheel. As a matter of fact, I bought the complete rebuild kit from them when tearing down my turbo. Great customer service and support.

Z31freakify did a post a little while back with a review of all the different billet wheels. Do an advanced search with his name as a criteria and you should find it in no time.

Thou I haven't used the riffraff 4/4 wheel, going from a stock 5 blade design aka "whicked wheel 1" spool time increase dramatically with the SPX, (I have an obs and the exhaust housing is a 1.15 ar so takes longer than your .84 housing, imagine what it will do to your .84) it is loud if you have an open filter (6637) but not overwhelming, in addition you will have reduced egts faster spool time and increase in boost (still need a gauge that reads over 30psi:-X03 ) either wheel would be an upgrade over the stock one:-X22
Forgot to mentioned mines auto.

I got the riffraff billet wheel, a 360 rebuild kit, and a 1.0 ex housing on my ZF6, and am very happy. I tow a horse trailer a lot and am planning on doing the turbo on my other truck the same way. I can't comment on any others, I have never run anything else besides stock.

Thanks for the replys guys. I'm not sure which way I am going with this but my wallet keeps pointing me toward the SPX wheel/rebuild combo. I have heard nothing bad about the SPX wheel but I was amazed at the difference the WW2 made in my E99. I will post my results when I get which ever one I decide on installed.

The truth is that you will probably be happy with any of the wheels you choose, although only you can make that decision because it is your truck and your money.

Keep us posted on which way you go, and pictures are highly encouraged.

My wallet won and I ordered the SPX 5X5 wheel and upgraded rebuild kit for $199 shipped. I just hope with the AIS is will dampen the whistle when towing the camper. At 65 MPH the WW2 could barely be heard until climbing a hill then it became more prevalent. Get to 70-75 and you could hear it as boost climbed north of 20 PSI on a hill. Get the boost to 25-28 PSI and I would have to listen the it and my wife complaining at the same time.

I will post some pictures and results when I get it installed.

I bought another dash bezel ( the cover that snaps over the instrument panel and radio) from a 2004 and it had the key switch for the passenger side airbag off. I cut into the pigtail that came with my 2000, which was not being used, and wired in the light to my glow plug relay so now I have a indicator light for when my glow plugs are on.

Got the wheel and the kit in the mailbox today. Have to work tomorrow but maybe find some time on Super Bowl Sunday. I really don't have a goat in the race anyway so I probably won't watch much of it.
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...20a310bc4.jpeg

You'll be happy with the new wheel, I just towed with it on my obs and was shocked on how well it controlled my egts. You have an AIS so the noise wont be loud:-X22
Also make sure you leave your review on the "SPX, Riffraff, Barder compressor wheel review" thread:-wink

Looks very nice, I think you will be happy with your choice. Be sure to let us know what you think.

I will post results on the other thread also.
Question: I had the turbo out and disassembled 2years ago to fix some stripped threads in the exhaust housing. I had sprayed the bolts down for a couple of days with the acetone/trans fluid mix and everything came apart nicely. I'm driving the truck today so the earliest I could spray them down would be about 6:00 PM today. Do you think I will have a problem breaking them loose with a 20 hour soak? I probably only have 10K on the truck since the repair.
Thanks for all the replys

Nope, I don't think it will be tough at all. It certainly won't be as hard as it was when you did it 2 years ago. Just make sure you are using the right socket.

^^^^^. What he said. You you'll be alright, thats not a whole lot of time to have trouble removing them.

Sous,
I notice you use yours primarily as a tow pig as do I. How much are you towing fully loaded? We are considering moving up to a fifth wheel.

I do mainly use my truck for towing and then the odd run to the lumber store like today. We tow our 2008 Springdale that weighs in around 9,000 lbs loaded, but I always average up to 10,000 lbs just for ease of remember and keeping my story straight. We towed it from GA to Seattle and back this summer before all of the major upgrades and the truck did very well. The parts I put on over the holiday season will only help keep the truck running efficiently and easily. I was looking to get the same amount of work done with less effort on the trucks part.

I think I have hit that mark and am very, very happy with the truck.

We will be moving up to a 5th wheel in the next year or so. I am looking at around 35-37 feet in length, then the lighter of the 5th wheels like Montana High Country, Open Range Roamer, Mesa Ridge, Cougar, etc...

We really like the Montana 313RE, Open Range 347RES, and a few others. I look for ones right around 36 feet in length and 10,500 or so in weight unloaded. This gives plenty of wiggle room for water and stuff in the trailer.

One of the best things we bought/installed for our truck is a 45 gallon auxiliary tank for the truck. We bought the 45RBR from ATTA which was a bit overpriced, but the product and kit was of high quality and 100% complete. This allows us to fill up when we want instead of when we have to. Having that freedom and 75 gallons of fuel (750 mile range with trailer/1350 mile range without trailer) is a very nice thing to have. It did very well during our nearly 8000 mile trip across the country and back.

Hit me up with any questions or concerns you may have.