Turbonetics/Edge ball bearing Turbo installed

[pwerwagn]

So Ive had this turbo sitting around for a long time. Never had a reason to put it on my 04. I had one on my 98 and had good luck with it. Finally decided to give it a try.



Im posting because its hard to find any info on these other than the first "blowing up" batch. I like it better on my 04 than I did on my 98. It works well with the auto. Normal daily driving spool feels nearly identical to the stocker to me. Its at 5psi nearly instantly, and I can make 15psi at 1500 rpm with the right load.



With my smarty TNT on 1 (~100hp?), my peak boost is around ~28 psi (we are also at 5000+' elevation). So far I cant make it surge even trying. We will see what it does towing, but my impressions of it so far are no drawbacks over stock, and seems to have knocked EGT down by 100* or so empty WOT. Towing will be the real test. It pulls a LOT harder from ~2600 up than the HE351 ever did (obviously).



Again... Ive had other better turbos, just had this lying around, and someone else "needed" the turbo I had on my 04, so I decided to give it a go. I also realize this isnt some 600hp turbo like it was once touted, but it did manage to support (albeit very hot) 604 at the wheels on my 98.



--Jeff

 

[Shadrach]

Keep us posted as to how it performs Shad

 

[pwerwagn]

The main reason I posted is because these turbos can be found cheap. I've came across a few for 500$ lately.

 

[pwerwagn]

Just a little update for future reference, then i will probably stop adding unless someone is interested.



Did some WOT pulls this morning. 50-90ish in 3rd gear, 27-28psi with the smarty on 1. Max EGT was right at 1300, MUCH better than my HE351.

~55 (right about where my converter locks)-100 mph in OD easing into WOT to keep it from downshifting, ~1325* at 100mph. Again... far better. My HE would have been well over 1500*. Towing will be the real test, so hopefully it helps out some there.



Also, this is a used turbo that I bought new from Joe Donnelly for a friend about 4 years ago. He upgraded to a 64/71-14 recently. This turbo has been on a 3rd gen with 100hp sticks, smarty TNT, nitrous, etc for over 100K miles and is still going strong. This particular one has the edge compressor housing, all my others had the turbonetics housing. They have proven to be reliable turbos for me.



Anyhow, Ill leave it at that. If anyone ever runs across the thread searching and wants more info, Ill update then.



--Jeff

 

[AH64ID]

What are the spec's on this turbo?

Do you monitor drive pressure?

 

[pwerwagn]

Its a T58 (58mm) compressor wheel, Q trim turbine. I forget the size of the turbine at the moment, I want to say it was a 68 though, Ill have to double check. There was a LOT of info flying around about this turbo years ago when Diesel Dynamics first designed it for Turbonetics/Edge. It was originally touted as a 600hp turbo... but after much debate, turbonetics/edge wound up saying 450hp. Edge doesnt even sell it anymore. When DD went out of business, lots of them got sold cheap (Ive never paid more than 900$ for a new one... and even got one new for like 550 off ebay a while back). They arent wastegated, and have big turbine housings. I want to recall... 16cm ish. DD called it the ball bearing jammer, edge called it the jammer, turbonetics calls it the stage 1. Turbonetics has them WAY overpriced to sell any, IMO.



I do not monitor drive pressure on this truck. But on my 98 I did with this turbo. Its been a few years, but I recall being excited that it was in the ballpark of 1:1 at certain points. I removed an hx40 hybrid with a 14cm wg housing and put the turbonetics on it and the drive pressure dropped like crazy comparatively, and top end hp increased dramatically. Hp went up as well, from 546 to 604... but the dodgezilla was way way way too small for 546hp, and the TN was still to small for 604... still had egt probs at WOT. But with as much as I tow, I couldnt afford to go much bigger, especially on that 12V. Even at 604hp, being non wastegated... I dont think I ever saw over 36psi on that setup. The one I have now never saw over 38psi even when that truck was spraying.



All in all... I doubt the compressor flows much more than the HE did on my 04, if any at all. Im guessing all of my improvements came from the exhaust side being opened up. TN will upgrade it to a "stage 2" with a 61mm compressor wheel for a decent price. If this turbo works out almost like I want and I dont have to do twins (doubtful)... I might try the 61 to see if it winds up being what the Dr ordered. We shall see.