A turbo is the single biggest power increase you can get from a NA diesel by a very large percentage.

Do this and that tweaking everything possible, at best you may get a 10% power increase.

Install a turbo, a 30% percent increase is not hard to get.
Do all the tweaking and close to 50% is possible.

 

i realize that but its the money issue lol for 500 i could completly rebuild my whole motor

 

if you do it yourself... to have it done is around 2k. but rebuilding your engine is still not gonna give you the power a turbo will.

 

i know it wond but that the point i can have a fully rebuilt motor for less than 500 cause im fully capable of doing it myself id rather have a new motor than a turbo lol

 

Not to be calling you out, but I doubt you can do a complete overhaul for only $500. Maybe new rings, bearings and gaskets with just a quick deglazing and a middle shelf rebuild brand, but thats not really a full rebuild IMO.

I got my ATS088 turbo kit for $200 (or was it $250? can't remember) but it was not complete. Still had to make the downpipe and cross over pipe and since I used SS, that was not on the cheap.

What should be mentioned here is that its very unlikely that a lightly loaded IDI will get better MPGs when turbocharged. The fuel economy gain is almost exclusively when loaded moderately or near maximum. For light criusing around empty, you will not see a significant improvement. That doesn't mean it will hurt fuel economy, but be aware of what your truck can reasonably deliver and don't expect a 3 MPG improvement if you are already getting the high teens. The MPG improvement seems to be proportional to how heavy the engine is loaded when making the comparison.

All of my high MPG (anywhere from 18-22) trips are with the boost gauge holding steady between 0.5 and 1 lb of turbo boost.

If it wasn't for the fact they I work my truck and do a lot of towing at highway speeds, I probably wouldn't have bothered with a turbo, but it also kina dropped on my lap with the seller being only a 10 minute drive away. As it is now, the truck would probably cruise just fine empty even with no turbocharger, but having that extra power on tap does come in handy and offers an extra safety net when traffic gets more challenging.

Whats ironic, is that now that I am experimenting with hypermiling, my speeds are now below what they were before I added the turbo LOL!

 

I wouldn't spend a nickle on a turbo!

I've never minded sluggish hill climps and being passed by cars and newer trucks when pulling, heck ain't that what a loaded truck is supose to do? Ain't a loaded truck supose to be abit slower in hills?

Ofcourse not, people always want more POWER! Folks just wanna fly right up hills pulling a 20,000 pound trailer on cruise control. Just look at the new Ford 6.7 that's ridiculous power/torque for a pick-up truck!

What ever happen to revving up and downshifting?

Oh yea..... automatic transmissions do that for you.....

 

i agree with john

 

sure john, loaded trucks are supposed to be slow... But when your goin 25 up a hill and almost causing wrecks cause trucks are tryin to get around you while cars are flyin up the hill. There's a point where YOU become the issue and the unsafe one.

 

I've never been up hill slower than 45mph at any grade.

Most big hills have passing lanes.

 

Heehee, I gave him a hard time about that once too although more of a joke in my case. To which John replied, "least you could have done is give me a push up that hill! - or something like that

Truth be told a good running 6.9 non turbo can deliver up to 180 Hp in some cases and thats more than enough to hold speed in all but the most loaded situations. Empty, you are going to likely run out of RPM long before you run out of power on flat ground.

Turbos also add complexity to the engine and make them harder to service depending on which one you get. So they're not for everyone and not everyone really needs them even if they can afford it. If it were not for a 70 MPH speed zone in my area, I probably wouldn't have bothered. Smaller side highways are posted between 50-55 MPH and the truck drove just fine without the turbo or even the 3.08s for that matter.

 

pulling just 12k up a 6% grade I could get over 30mph. That was with 35ls and 4.10's. Turbo kicked me up to a safer speed of 45. And yes, there are passing lanes. That's where the rigs have to go to pass me, and nearly cause wrecks from there. Especially with all of the blind curves.

 

for me the turbo is mostly about keeping the exhaust clean and not losing power, using the truck for roadtrips on the west coast I can go from 500 ft to 5-6thousand feet in a weekend.

she did great pulling my jeep through the rockies this trip not a bit of smoke, I wish I had stopped when I noticed the oil was gettin feul in it

 

I won't argue whether or not a turbo is worth it. I'll just say that after the invention of turbo's, NO diesel should have been let out of it's cage without one. Diesel's and turbo's go together, they are made for each other.

A diesel engine will never see it's potential without the air it needs to run like it should. Without a turbo, might as well stay with a gas engine.

 

500.00 rebuild? Man where is this gold-mine of cheap parts? I spent nearly 400.00 on just gaskets/o-rings to reassemble mine!

I went with a turbo for help with towing power and my Y pipe was rusted out anyways.

 

$500 won't go far when rebuilding an IDI, Don't think you can get rings, bearings and gaskets for that just to do a ring and bearing job... A LONG ways from a rebuild!

-Enjoy
fh : )_~