LB7 Drop-In's

CHEZELTINE

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Dec 16, 2013
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BOISE, ID
Ah the age-old question, which turbo is right for me? Stock ihi took a crap after 222k mi. I've been reading and researching for the last week, that being said, time to turn to the experts! I'll preface with, I have stock fuel and Id like to stay as close to stock driveability as possible. Id love to go to a 366 but after buying everything for install and turbo, it's out of the budget. So I'm looking at drop-ins. I'm really leaning towards Mark's 63.5 stg2 reman but I'd like to talk to everyone about what I have on my mind and gather more info before I pull the trigger. My biggest concern is getting egt's down because my truck has recently become a garage queen/weekend warrior and with the new camp trailer, it sees 14k gcvw often and I get into some pretty nasty hills here in ID. So DT and Ryan's Diesel Performance in Wisconson both use a larger turbine housing and 10 wheel turbine. Mark and Brent's turbos use stock turbine housings and wheels. Ryan's and DT use adjustable wastegates where Mark and Brent's are solid and Mark still runs a boost valve. I do like the fact that all 4 are still liquid-cooled, one reason I'm kind of steering away from the Cheetah. So if anyone could chime in with any helpful info or real-world experience, I would greatly appreciate it. I would turn to Russ but it sounds like he has left the turbo game. Speaking of Russ, another question that comes to mind is, I'm not sure if any of these 4 turbos have polished compressor housings. I haven't looked into HiTech yet, but I will here in a bit. Also, the reason I'm not just throwing a stock charger back on it is because like I said before, I want lower egt's. And, the truck will never see over 500hp.
 

CHEZELTINE

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Dec 16, 2013
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BOISE, ID
Just looked at the High Tech ProMax. Its a 63.5 billet compressor and says nothing about the turbine side so I'm assuming its stock. I guess what Im actually trying to figure out is if someone knows if the 10 wheel turbine will actually lower egt's significantly over a stock wheel? What about drive pressure and placing extra stress on the shaft?
 

Chevy1925

don't know sh!t about IFS
Staff member
Oct 21, 2009
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honestly, you are better off with compound twins. the larger turbine wheel to match the larger compressor wheel is the better way to go imho as it will decrease spool up time in comparison to the stock turbine wheel with the larger compressor wheel. Neither will spool as fast as stock from a no boost situation and converter locked. this can be worked around with trans tuning (changing kick down points and so on). compounds means you get the spool up of stock as well as a big egt drop while on a larger tune than stock. Plus the fact it will flow enough air up top that its like a big single.

with the constraints you stated, i would go DT or Ryans IF you do not want to go compounds.
 

CHEZELTINE

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Dec 16, 2013
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BOISE, ID
I would love to go twins, win the lottery and not have to be an adult as well hahaha. Unfortunately, real-life exists and the wife put me on a budget so I have to stick to a drop-in. I still have a trans build in the near future as well, the wife is thrilled haha. Anyway, thank you for the info. Will the bigger turbines create less egt when pulling?
 

DAVe3283

Heavy & Slow
Sep 3, 2009
3,681
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Boise, ID, USA
EGTs come from the fuel to air ratio. The more air you move for a fixed amount of fuel, the lower the EGTs will be. So any turbo that moves more air will result in lower EGTs. Tuning plays a part too, as advanced injection timing moves some of the heat from the exhaust to the coolant/oil and retarded timing (and very large PW) puts tons of heat straight out to the exhaust.

Compound turbo setups will typically have low EGTs due to the massive amount of air, but low EGT doesn't always mean efficiency. Having a ton of extra air can be wasteful, as it takes more HP to move all that air. So it is a balance act, especially with a single turbo. Compounds cheat a bit here because under light loads the big turbo really doesn't do anything or take much HP to run.

I tow reasonably heavy on a big single turbo (S371). I see 1300-1400°F sustained on steep hills, and my turbo is only oil cooled. The turbo seems to be lasting fine (at this boost level). I would not be able to happily drive/tow with this turbo without the looser torque converter and trans tuning.

What kind of EGTs are you seeing? I believe around 1350°F sustained is considered safe for the stock turbo. If your EGTs aren't far off that, you might grab a good used stock turbo to get back on the road then either do a single or compounds down the road. That would let you get the trans done a bit sooner too, I imagine.
 

CHEZELTINE

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Dec 16, 2013
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BOISE, ID
Im always OK with a bit of work HAHA. I looked at that option as well. It would be my first time into an IHI so I'd definitely need instructions and Russ' thread handy. Mine is just worn out, the bearings are shot and above 4 psi the compressor wheel contacts the housing. So far, Mark's is the cheapest to my door by about a hundred bucks. Brent's new(no core) 63.5 is the next closest then the rest go up from there.
 
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Bdsankey

Vendor
Vendor/Sponsor
Feb 1, 2018
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Neenah, Wisconsin
Another option is Dan's Diesel. His drop in units have proven to be quite good. I know the last customer's truck I tuned with a Dans 68mm 3794 based charger drove quite well on stock injectors.
 

CHEZELTINE

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Dec 16, 2013
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BOISE, ID
I forgot about Dan's, good call. I am pretty set on staying with a 64mm. I just looked on their website, I really like how his 64 stg1 is a new turbo and doesn't require a core as well as comes with a LIFETIME WARRANTY. That's the first charger I've found in my research that comes with a lifetime warranty.
 

Mpsoldier

That just happened!
Mar 10, 2010
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In my House
I have several different companies drop in turbos, we use to do our own but too busy to keep going at it. my two top turbos for drop in are Danvilles stage 2 or dans diesel performance both spool amazing and we have pushed so serious power through both, great customer service on both as well. the stage 2 64mm spool fast and will kill the tires off the truck, all while still towing great
 

CHEZELTINE

Member
Dec 16, 2013
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BOISE, ID
Finally pulled the trigger on a turbo, going with Ryan's 64 drop-in. I also got a WCFab hot side kit because of the amount of oil and aluminum in the factory hose/pipe(I have no interest in scrubbing that crap out). I'll keep the thread up to date with info on the charger.
 

CHEZELTINE

Member
Dec 16, 2013
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BOISE, ID
Truck has been back on the road for about 2 weeks now. Pulled the camp trailer(about 14k gvw) into the mountains last weekend and it ran really well. I installed an egt probe for the edge when I swapped the turbos out. Pulling up a 7* grade for almost 4 miles at 65 in 4th gear never saw over 1130's. Granted it was right around 70* outside. Summer will be that true test. So, needless to say, I don't have anything to base previous temps off of. I do know that pulling the same hill with the stock ihi I would have to run about 3/4 throttle to maintain 65, now it's just barely over 1/2. I haven't changed tunes either. As far as the turbo itself, I did have to play with the wastegate to get it where it needs to be. The truck drives just like it did with stock ihi. The exhaust note is much more prominent now and resembles an old 7.3 powerstroke with the choppy whistle in the lower rpm range. The compressor side is very close to a vgt now, it whistles quite a bit. Definitely not the same but close. Anyway, just thought I'd give a first impression and maybe more info to someone looking for a drop-in. Also, the turbo has the same compressor and turbine specs as DT's drop-in 64.
 

Chevy1925

don't know sh!t about IFS
Staff member
Oct 21, 2009
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Phoenix Az
i really wish these "turbo builders" would actually put the time in to produce a turbo map...