DIY .72ar Stage 1.5 turbo upgrade

[KCTurbos]

Just FYI... we will be soon be offering a 100% brand new stage 1.5 turbo. It will be sporting the same options as this: 63.5x88mm 11 blade single plane billet wheel, .72ar race compressor cover and backing plate, but with a 100% brand new turbo that features upgraded higher flowing billet vgt vanes, upgraded stainless steel unison ring, and a bigger upgraded 13 bladed turbine wheel. It is only in testing phase right now but it should spool as fast as a stage 1 turbo(maybe faster) while being able to flow just as much as a stage 2 turbo (maybe even more)... (their I go with the stage crap again... sorry)...


There will be no core required for this new turbo but we will give discounts to anyone wanting to get rid of theirs.


Stay tuned for more details... we are hoping to release it by the end of this month

 

[FaSSt9602]

Here are some quick crappy cell phone videos. Don't mind the factory boost gauge. That thing is not accurate whatsoever...

First video is a straight mash to the floor from a dead stop, as is the second (dash view), the next couple quick ones are a mash of the pedal while holding a steady 30mph just to show how quickly it lights and cleans up (important for me on the street).

I'll have some better go pro videos in my actual review thread.

YouTube Video

 

[KCTurbos]

Your tranny does not look happy in those videos

Also it is weird that your truck shifts so early... is 3400rpms normal?

 

[Rob D]

Sounds like it should be a stage 2.5 then lol

 

[FaSSt9602]

Your tranny does not look happy in those videos

Also it is weird that your truck shifts so early... is 3400rpms normal?

Normal? No. But had started doing that right before those videos, as did the horrible shift flare.

But, the good news is that I decided to screw with it some tonight. First on the list is figure out why my factory boost gauge was off, and I had my sneaking suspicions! Found the tee tapped into my map sensor line (used for a wastegate on an old non vgt setup I was testing) had cracked and left me with a bit of a boost leak. It apparently wasn't enough to notice a difference when pushing 30+ psi on a race file, but I had less than stellar results with a stock or tow file. I questioned if it wasn't the cause of some other weird paranormal activity my truck has been showing...

Fixed it up, left the stock file in (I seemed to had "lost" 5th gear driving on the freeway a couple days ago so I loaded the stock file to limp home. Which it did, and shifted fine through all gears in what I thought was a limp mode. I couldn't build boost or get over 3000rpm) and took it for a spin. Not a huge surprise, but I was able to build more than 10psi, effortlessly built 25, and ran just like a stock truck, with a touch more pull. Got it back home, loaded my race x from Eric, and took that for a spin. Didn't get on it too hard, but the transmission is shifting much harder now (in a good way) and seems much more confident on the shifts. Overall truck seems even more responsive than it already was. Could the pcms lack of a good boost reference affect the transmission that much? I'm not holding my breath that I am out of the woods yet. I'll let the transmission learn for a few miles and see if I get any 3-5 shift flare.

I'm not sure if that leak leading to the map sensor (and in turn the pcms boost reference) could cause all those issues, or cause the truck to go into some weird limp mode with no cel or anything else.

On top of all that crap after installing the turbo, I attempted a boosted 4x4 launch and it wouldn't engage (no light on the dash when switching to 4x4). Suddenly, now it engages like nothing was wrong... Go figure.

Hopefully I'll have some good high def go pro videos tomorrow and get back to doing my full review!



Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk

 

[djberg]

very interested in this setup, waiting to see what all comes of it, number wise and what not.

 

[KCTurbos]

I will make sure to get some guys to post up reviews.

We are actually looking for a couple more testers if anyone is interested. Tester does not mean free... but we will give you a great deal.

Send me a pm if you are interested

 

[dezert7]

Hopefully the stage 1.5 has good results. I like the idea of a DIY kit. Interested in the setup.

 

[ford rules]

Any other results with a stock injector truck?

 

[FaSSt9602]

My trans is still limping along, but I LOVE this charger for stock injectors. I am running a stock file now until I have time to get the truck back in the shop for the trans, but it spools quicker than with the stock charger, but has way more pull throughout. I have had stock, powermax (stock), and a "hybrid" and between those, this runs WAY better than anything I have tried....

I really want to get this transmission worked over so I can have more fun with it on my race file. :fustrate:

 

[KCTurbos]

Well we have been getting a lot of interest in these DIY kits and we wanted to update everyone...

Most of the testers have been very happy. The install was very easy. Turbo performed great. More power. Lower egts... Etc... there are a lot of tester out there that are not on this forum and some that are not on the forums at all. 90% of the testers have had no problems.



Unfortunately we had a couple of guys that had some issues. It is hard to determine exactly what went wrong. Building a turbo is not like changing a tire. It is more like doing body work. Every situation is different and requires a different method. It is easy to install something incorrectly. We were hoping to minimize these problems by providing enough parts and good instructions/help... but... 10% of the testers had issues getting the kits to work. Even after multiple attempts at sending new parts. Every compressor wheel, compressor housing, backing plate, journal bearing, bearing housing, etc... they are all slightly different. This sometimes leads to needing oversize bearings, opening up the compressor housing a little bit, sending back bad compressor wheels, custom fit piston clips, etc. Assembly balancing is also a must. Even building brand new turbos requires a little bit of finesse. I deal with these small issues day in and day out while building turbos. These are not things that can be done efficiently with a DIY kit to the average Joe who is hoping for a quick easy bolt on mod



We have not completely scrapped the project and we will still make sure to take care of all of our testers. (all of our testers have been great and very helpful) I just think we are going to be going a slightly different route with the kits. This is going to be more of a tool for shops to use to be able to make their own turbos and for the DIY lover who really wants to build his own stuff and is willing to take some of the liability that comes with it. THESE KITS ARE NOT MEANT TO JUST SAVE MONEY INSTEAD OF BUYING A TURBO. If you are interested in these kits just to save money, you have no idea how to rebuild a turbo, and you are going to be pissed when the kit needs a few tweaks or when your bearing housing is bad... THEN THESE ARE NOT FOR YOU.



I hope that does not come off sounding harsh or mean in any way. We just don't want to mislead anyone. We were hoping for a 100% success rate with zero issues and zero problems but that is not what we found.


We will continue to keep everyone updated.

 

[RJTX]

So is there any update on this? how good will it work with 170/70 injectors and custom tunes?

 

[FaSSt9602]

Charlie can probably chime in with more information, but this charger will work with those injectors, but it won't clean them up at all. Charlie is like me, I like a clean running truck, so I would tend to lean towards having a little more air for that size injector.

This charger is going to flow more than a stock powermax, and while I don't understand how or why, people have run that with 200+cc injectors. It all depends on how clean and cool you want the truck to run. If you want it to be clean and cool, stick with stock, 155's or maybe bump down the nozzle on those 170's to a 30% nozzle.