In Line or Turbo Mount BD exhaust brake ?

[JRensel]

I have been told that the in line BD exhaust brake is either:



1) better as it interferes less with exhaust gas discharge than the turbo mount and flow is more laminar down there. Similarly it is said that the turbo mount is pushed cause it is an easier install and causes increased temperature compared to the in line.



or



2) worse, as you have to do some welding; it is exposed to more water and dirt (not probably an issue with most paved road and gravel road use on a 4x4); it takes longer to kick in due to its position further downstream, it is less effective than at the turbo in producing braking power.



I used a turbo mount BD for 5 years on my 1998. 5 24 valve and loved it. It had more than enough braking power, never needed any adjustment, worked flawlessly. Never even knew about the in line unit until Bill Heath (Turbomaster in Ellensburg) recommended it.



The BD rep. hemed and hawed when asked about this, and Dave at Oregon Fuel Injection (very helpful guy) suggested that the Turbo mount was the better choice.



It would be nice to have some real data, few folks have had both I would guess.



Opinions or experience with both?

 

[Deezul1]

If I had it to do over I would buy an inline 4" brake and neck it down to the right size which would allow for exhaust upgrades later at miniumal cost

 

[Joseph Donnelly]

The 4" allows for exhaust and turbo upgrades later. The stock HY35 allows for minimal hp uprating, and many of the bombers will be replacing it. DD has a nice custom turbo for example, which uses 4" exhaust and does not work with the stock cast elbow.

 

[JRensel]

Thanks, but I thought the 03 and 04s had larger exhaust to begin with, that is, 4 inch? Several BD dealers told me this isnt an issue and there is no restriction issue with the BD for these models. Yes I agree that it could have been an issue for the 1st and 2nd gen trucks.



I believe Turbomaster folks told me that too, but I will check again. They are highly knowledgeable about upgrades and like Oregon Fuel Injection, very friendly to deal with. The darn truck costs so much, I doubt I will want to change the exhaust anyway, but different strokes. I primary reason to buy a 2004 for me was to get the HO diesel, which has more than enough power for my needs.



Wish me luck, I go to get the new one this PM after they have replaced the clutch disk. I am buying it off the lot, so I can walk if they dont fix it right because I havent put out a dime so far.



My advice to other buyers, try to find a truck off the lot, if your order one, you are more or less stuck with it. There have been issues with this in the past for friends who never got stuff fixed correctly, just patched up. In several cases they got the order wrong and they had to go through the whole build process again.