Turbo Charging Question!

skeezer81 · February 3, 2009

hello

im thinking on turbo charging my silverado. i have searched this forum for other threads but none seem to answer my questions. ive looked into many different posibilites like super charging vs turbo..i was wonderin if there was anyone on these forums ever down this mod and if they have had any other problems i.e. reliability...ive tried to list the pros and cons but im not that great when it come a/a motors...any or all help would be greatly appreciated....

thank you

Trevor

Schmids5.3l · February 3, 2009

Do you want to do an intake manifold swap or run some piping? What kind of power do you want and were. What are you doing in the future.

Schmids5.3l · February 4, 2009

I recommend http://www.trickperformanceproducts.com/tu...tpage_intro.htm with the intercooler kit.

Spurshot · February 4, 2009

Reliability problems?

As they say; "There's no free lunches"

If you want increased horsepower, there is a longevityand maybe reliability bag that comes with it.

How much power increase you want, how often you use it, etc, will determine the effect on longevity and reliability. You're not going to take an engine factory rated at 300 hp and pump it up to 400 or 500 hp and have it last as long. The higher the output the shorter the life, and it's an ever steepening slope of shorter life as the engine is pushed harder. Might be fun while it does last, though.

jbannick18 · February 4, 2009

If i were to ever turbo charge i'd go with this

http://www.ststurbo.com/

but i'd never turbo charge, no return in the investment unfortunately but sure does sound cool!

skeezer81 · February 8, 2009

this truck is my daily driver...driving back and forth to work and such....but do play around on the weekends so im lookin for the happy medium...the trick flow suggested seems to be the cheapest ive seen..been also throwing the idea of a supercharger..but hate the 6000$ drain on the bank account....i know hp aint cheap but damn!

Trevor

ATMINF · February 8, 2009

As others have stated there are second and third order effects by adding a power adder. I put on a ProCharger 7-10lbs kit on my 1995 Z28, and it ran great for years, ( i did spend money to get the trans properly rebuilt) but when the FMU went bad it leaned the motor out and broke #1 & #7 ringlands. I was lucky because even though I had to do a rebuild I knew people that helped me out and I was able to rebuild the motor for about $3000 total, this was back about 5+ years ago. And I have sold that car about 3 years ago. So with that here is my advice:

1. Get a good kit(be it supercharger or turbo)

2. Get the largest intercooler possible

3. Get a proper tune/PCM tune etc. (dyno tune/with PCM updates at the time cost more but the longevity that it brings is priceless along with the most reliable horsepower)

4. Beef up the Trans(get it built up properly) be it shift kit + stronger Sun Gear etc, look around there is alot needed to properly beef up the 700R4/4L60/65/70 series of trannys.

5. Get a bigger radiator/ biggest you can fit.

6. Plan on a engine rebuild(start saving for it as soon as you get the setup running) The engine on stock parts will give up the ghost, just when all depends on luck, and how much you hammer it.

7. Its always going to cost more and take longer than you think, even if you do it mostly yourself.

8. If your truck is you only ride, plan, plan , and plan to have alternate means of transportation, see note above.

9. Save money also for tires!

After all is said and done, the blower was great! It made my Camaro that much more fun to drive and drive hard. When the blower was at full boost and at the higher RPMs it felt like the hand of God was pushing the car! Also the blower whine/whistle was great, I told guys that would ask that I just had some pete jackson gears in it and would smile! Hope this helps!

skeezer81 · February 8, 2009

thank you...i appreciate it...maybe i have second thoughts bout all this and do some other intake and cam and stuff...still dont have a full exhaust yet or a really good tune so i have others to play with right now...thanks again...and if there are any more suggestions like nice bolt ones it would be great....thanks again....happy motoring

Trevor

Schmids5.3l · February 8, 2009

Have you ever considered nitrous?

Z71kris · February 8, 2009

Have you ever considered nitrous?

cheap easy..good bang for the buck!

grimmysnr · February 8, 2009

Although each person has their own preferences but here is my experience with this kind of thing.

The thought of turbo and super charging sounds really cool and the thrill of it all when you first put everything together is pretty awesome. But after I had my turbo on my project car for a few months I started to see where it really wasnt as cool as i thought.

1. When you add more power to your vehicle you will want to exact that power at almost every stoplight and kid in a hatch back mustang. This netted me a nice 200 dollar fine, 4 points on my license, and obviously feeling like an idiot becuz once the race was over....I lost more than i gained. I am a 26 year old man in the military with quite a future ahead of me. This was not one of my brighter moments.

2. Reliability is a huge factor. If this thing is your daily driver then you will be required to spend a ridiculous amount of money to make it reliable and keep it that way. If you are like me, I am kinda OCD when it comes to me vehicles and the slightest quirk thats out of the norm gets me worried. For example, motors are designed to take quite a beating from different elements. Transmissions on the other hand are designed for a certain work load and nothing more. The first thing that went was the differential. When you peel wheels, if you dont have a good solid LSD or even a locker YOU WILL BLOW YOU DIFFERENTIAL in due time. The next thing that went was most of my seals and then eventually lifters. When you add compression past what the stock seals are designed for, leaks and vacuum leaks will show up quickly.

Also if you have quite some miles already on the motor, you can probably count on piston rings and bearings being next on the list. My car only had 42k.

3. The initial cost and support costs will catch you by surprise. When I saw my kit for my car I was sold. $4k for 200hp??? Sign me up. Well then you better calculate getting a tune for your location and elements. When kits come with a tune the manufacturer will most likely upload a blanket tune that seems to work for just about everybody. But motors are different, gas quality is different in some areas, elevation, and supporting mods.

To make more power that means more air in and more air out. So intake, exhaust, tune and tires. You cant quite beat that kid in the v6 mustang when you spinning wheels everywhere you go right? Well this was also a problem i ran into. I was making almost 300hp but I couldnt transfer that power to the ground for shit. That means you better start looking into another $1,500 in street racing tires and wheels. Also, gas being low right now is only temporary. When your in boost you will burn three times the amount of gas you normally would. So, might as well keep the debit card out becuz with a big ol truck motor you will be hitting up the gas station every 5 blocks.

By the time I would beef up the tranny, buy tires, exhaust, tune, gauges to monitor everything, and all the things that had to be beefed up due to age....I was atleast another $4k over what I had spent for the kit.

I am not gonna lie though, I had a lot of fun working on the car. I had some friends over to help out every once in a while. But after a while I just started wondering, why do i need this thing? What do i have to prove? I lead a good honest life, im not some punk teenager anymore...this is not worth the time and money I could be giving to my wife or other things. I still had the need for speed but i went with my sport quad and a dirt bike for the wife...still go fast and no tickets. Plus to trick out an ATV is a dirt cheap compared to cars.

Everybody has their own preferences, but you live in the US (or Canada) so this isnt the Autobahn. There are speed limits, there are police who enforce those limits, and you are just fooling yourself thinking you going to outsmart them. If you want a turbo for Off-Roading, goodluck, but unless you drive a diesel your results will vary.