How much turbo fin wear is normal?

[AVA]

I have a '99.5 with 175k miles on it and I'm going to check out the turbo wheel tonight for play, wear, etc. A year or so ago while I had my intake hose off I quickly glanced at it and noticed the edges were shiny and they had some tiny, tiny nicks out of a few of the blades. How much wear is normal for that many miles? About how much clearance should there be between the outside of the blades and the housing? Finally, does anybody have any pics of what normal wear and excessive wear would look like?

Just FYI, turbo spools up fine and has been putting out the same amount if boost for the 3 years I've owned it so I dont suspect anything is wrong but I want to check it out anyway.

[Ditty]

In all actuality, there should be zero wear on the compressor wheel...that being said, everyone is going to have SOME wear. Clogged air filters, K&N filters, loose intake hoses and oil seepage will cause wear to the compressor while spinning at 10,000+ rpms. How many miles do you have on your truck? I just rebuilt my stock turbo and installed a WW and an 1.0A/R Exhaust housing with a WG and EBPV delete. There was VERY minimal wear on the compressor fins and very little shaft play on the turbo shaft. If you have some play, it would be benificial for you to tear it apart and check in compressor housing for rub-wear from the compressor wheel. And, while your in there, replace the compressor wheel with a WW. You'll love the whistle and lack of compressor surge.

[BadAss01F250]

hey ava...check out my garage i just posted some pics of what the turbo should look like and what it looks like with some damage

[BadAss01F250]

sry it messed up when i tried to upload them but heres a link w/ the same pics and some info that should answer ur questions....http://www.forddoctorsdts.com/publications/7.3L%20Turbocharger%20Guide.pdf

scroll down to page 2 for the pics

[AVA]

Hey, thanks for the link Badass. My wheel looks most like the far left in that .pdf you linked to so thats good news. I pulled off the intake and there is absolutely no play in/out or side to side of the wheel.

Here are a few close up pics of my wheel:
Turbo wheel #1
Turbo wheel #2
Turbo wheel #4

Do those look pretty typical for 175,000 miles? The reason I'm asking is because I can only hit 16lbs stock with a 6637 intake and free(er) flowing exhaust and I've heard it should be a bit more.

[Performance Oil Products]

16-17 psi is about right for the mods you have without a tuner:burnout

[BadAss01F250]

to my knowledge, u should be good to go

[payne5757]

Well, if u want to replace that wheel, I just replace mine with a WW and my stock one was immaculate for 96k. Its just sitting in my garage now. LMK if u want it.