Ford Powerstroke Diesel Forum banner

Turbo question

13K views 114 replies 25 participants last post by  ajdoug 
#1 ·
I'll try to keep this short and sweet. I have a 05 with 200,000 miles roughly. Just did the delete and studs and updates, etc. Straight pipe, sct with looney wild for a every day drive tune. I want some more power. Kind of like a street rod sleeper. I'm about to do a bigger leveling kit with toyo Mt 35's when I need tires so this is a every day driver. I hardly ever tow and if I do it's seriously four wheelers and small stuff. I am wanting to try and keep it under 550 though. I don't want to blow my trans if I don't have to. I take good care of this too. I am wanting to do a turbo. Later on I will change to 155 or 175's. I'm trying to keep it around 1300 max on price. I have a brand new in the box stock turbo I'm debating on sending to mtw for a tweaked stage 1. Or I could go pmax and I'm sure there are others. I need real world experience on turbos. What works. What don't. What makes a big difference. What don't. Etc. I plan on trying new tunes with the upgraded turbo FYI. Thanks in advance.

Sent from AutoGuide.com Free App
 
#46 ·
stage 1.5 turbo inbetween stage 1 and stage 2.
 
#47 ·
#49 ·
This is what James from Barder sent me should help you guys out.

The stage 1 is a 63.5 billet compressor side with a stock 13 blade
turbine
side. That turbo is $950 with good core. Fully rebuilt w/ 360 thrust
bearing.
>>
^^^>>>> The stage 1.5 is a 63.5 Billet compressor side with a 66mm 10 Blade
Turbine wheel, like the 03-04's and Powermax turbos have. All and all
the
turbo is built from a stock turbo into a Powermax with a billet wheel w/
360 thrust bearing. That turbo is $1150 with good core.

Stage 2 is a 64.7mm billet compressor side with the 66mm 10 blade
turbine
wheel. Built from a stock turbo the cost is $1450 w/ good core.

Same specs as above (stage 2) built from a brand new Powermax turbo with
new VGT solenoid is $1550 with upgraded 360 thrust

ALL turbos come with a 1 year warranty and are assembly balanced by me.

The best thing to choose the right one is :

What injectors?
What do you do with the truck?
Do you have plans on going bigger / more power later on?

Thanks-- James
 
#50 ·
didn't mean to one up ya matt but this one has more of the MM specs
 
#52 ·
Well i want to one up someone :rofl: this is just in case someone does not understand spec numbers. I will not mention the 360 bearing or the balancing because that would get redundant but from what I understand bts uses all 360 and does a low speed balancing (which is actually standard on all turbine and compressor wheels straight from the factory, my turbo builder here says that 95% of all turbines and compressor wheels need 0 balancing when they try to balance them after already being balance from the manufacturer)


  • bts stage 1 is a copy of the mtw stage 1
  • bts stage 1.5 is a copy of the powermax (but it will not have the same inducer height and/or the vane height of the powermax/03 10 blade unless he is switching out all internals on the turbine side which would be hard/expensive and not likely or you would have to start with an 03 turbo/powermax core)
  • bts stage 2 is a copy of the mtw hybrid with a 10 blade turbine (same thing on the turbine side as stage 1.5 on the turbine side)
  • bts stage 3 is a copy of the elite powermax HO
 
#55 · (Edited)
His stage 1 is a option and in all honesty he doesn't even want to build it nor has he.
His stage 2 can't be a copy of a hybird cause the turbines are different
His stage 3 does not have the same comp wheel or size either. It's bigger.

He offers a built right turbo and won't let anything go out in clapped condition. And balances and puts a bigger thrust in all of them. I personally don't give a rats *** who he copied or any of that crap. The guy has my business from here on out
 
#53 ·
That means I have a 1.5( brand new power max w/ wwII billet wheel )built by James !!
 
#56 ·
Update your sig with current dyno numbers. I'm excited to see what numbers my 175/stock puts out with the bts stage 3 compared to yours.
 
#59 ·
Good choice !!! I'm very pleased w/my purchase 3 day turn around mostly shipping time !!!
 
#62 ·
That's what i was afraid of getting into With MTW everyone i've talked to on here tells me to get one but there's alot of info out there aswell to steer you away from one. As i decided to go with BTS seems he knows what he is doing and everyone has just raved about theirs! im hoping to get mega mileage out of mine.
 
#63 ·
When 4-5 people on this thread alone have shelved, returned or modified their other turbo and went with someone else's, you made a good choice.
 
#65 ·
i am stoked lol
 
#79 ·
This information is not correct. The Stage 3 uses a gt4094 billet wheel. Identical to the billet wheel that has been used in the MTW Stage 3. It is 67.8 x 94 with extended tips to 100.5.

His stage 3 does not have the same comp wheel or size either. It's bigger.
Barder's Stage 3 has the exact same compressor and turbine dimensions as the Elite Powermax HO. The sole difference is the Billet wheel that Barder uses, while Elite still uses the Cast wheel, since they have spent no resources on R&D for 6.0 VGTs in probably 5 years.
 
#71 ·
6 yrs??? I thought he was only 22??? so he has been building turbos since jr high :rofl:


Thanks for the info on the comp wheel... I wonder why it did not just get posted ealier :dunno:


I have his number and I plan on calling him to ask questions... but many people don't like the kinda questions I like to ask :nod: Although I have heard he is very informative and very helpful
 
#73 ·
I went with BTS due to the short turn around time he was offering and the fact that he had great results right out of the gate. I wanted a company that could rebuild by turbo in a short amount of time and have a quality product. I was on the fence about the MTW turbos for many months, I was eagerly awaiting for MTW to post that he got all the bugs worked out of his turbos and he was damn sure he was building a great product right out of the box. Well that day has not come and here we are a year later and the reviews are so so.. We can throw numbers around here and there about wheel size, a/r ratios etc... but at the end of the day people these days want a great product, don't want to pay a lot, and want it yesterday and if you can't do that then you will get swept under the rug because there are four or five other companies right on your heals. By no means am I affiliated with Barder, I'm the end consumer not a sales man just telling how I see it. I love my stage two so far, it more than cleans up my 155/30 injectors daily driving and keeps my Egt's in check for the most part running my race file while towing.

Just my .02
 
#91 ·
Turbo will be here Tuesday :banghead:
Lol. Seems ups takes a different route coming to me than going to him lol. Either way I can't wait to get it and install it. James has been AWESOME thus far to deal with. Very helpful and answered all my stupid Newby questions and wasn't in a rush to get off the phone. The hard part isn't waiting for it to get to my house... It's going to be waiting from Tue afternoon until Friday afternoon.... Unless yall think I could do it when I get off 5ish? Just don't want to be broke down because I can't get parts and have to be at work at 7 the next day.... What should I do...
Either way I can't wait to get it on and hear it scream with 4" straight pipes!!

Sent from AutoGuide.com Free App
 
#92 ·
Well if you've never done it I might say wait. But once you do it and learn tricks its quick. I can have mine out and in just under an hour. But my first time was a couple evenings working here and there with flashlights in the dark lol

Sent from AutoGuide.com App
 
#94 ·
First time I pulled a turbo and put the other one in it took my like 3 hours. I went slow and struggled with a couple of bolts. Now I cheat because I take short cuts and left out a couple of bolts. I can pull and swap in a turbo in about 25 min if the truck is cold.

Here are a few tips:

  • lay something down like a thick blanket over the top of the motor so you don't ruff up your front side while laying down
  • Find a good spot on the motor to lay your toobox so you don't have to get up and down 50 times to grab tools
  • MAKE SURE THE ENGINE IS COOLED OFF (it makes things so much easier)
  • Don't over tighten band clamps (but dont leave them too loose :rofl:)
  • band clamps are there to hold things in place, not squeeze them closer. Make sure it is lined up before tightening
  • IMO don't bother putting the third back bolt on the turbo if you ever plan on swapping turbos again
  • hairspray goes on the inside of boots, outside of charge pipes and is supposed to help from blowing them off
  • power tools, u-joint sockets, and ratcheting wrenches make things much easier
  • If turbo supplier did not give you one then you need the little gasket that goes in between the oil feed line and the turbo
  • I know it sounds dumb but try not to break anything while you are in there... like other sensors, plastic clips, chaffing wires, etc...
  • head light flash lights (that straps to your head) can make life much easier when looking for stuff in low lighting


instructions:

go to post number 9 and download pdf
http://www.powerstroke.org/forum/6-0l-problems-forum/92554-removing-turbo.html


good luck
 
#95 ·
Wow great post bro. Thanks. Yea it's supposed to come with a install kit that has the gaskets and what not. I've got all the tools I should need and have a buddy who builds mustangs helping but I can't let it get cool then do it... It would be late and I have to work so...... Saturday it is... Probably better anyways. After the sun sets, our state bird (mosquito) takes over and makes things miserable lol

Sent from AutoGuide.com Free App
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top