How much is too much? I just killed another thrust bearing and I am not in a position to upgrade at the moment, so I am going to rebuild it and throw my gated 1.0 housing back on.
I have a turbomaster wastegate so I can set it to open whenever. Just looking for opinions on that magic number that gives you all you can have without crossing the line.
Exhaust back pressure is not what kills thrust bearings. Excessive boost pressure (and/or surging) is what does them in.
Those turbomasters are a joke. It's advertising Bull$hit at its best!
Wastegates are designed to control boost pressure and over-speeding of the turbo, NOT limit, control, or reduce exhaust back pressure. If the wastegate is set correctly, and working correctly, your turbo will make full boost...at least up to what the turbo was designed to do (or more, if you set it as such). The turbomaster effectively eliminates the wastegate's true function. The wastegate is not designed to be blown open by exhaust pressure. It it designed (when properly installed and set) to hold SHUT against high exhaust-side pressure, and then open when boost reaches the pre-set limit, thus slowing the turbine and lowering (controlling) boost.
Again: a wastegate was designed to LIMIT TURBINE SPEED and PREVENT OVERBOOSTING beyond what the turbo was designed for, nothing else.
Loose the turbomaster, get a properly working and set, boost-actuated wastegate actuator, and you'll probably stop puking thrust bearings. OR, get a BB turbo (but still don't use the turbomaster). The BB center section is MUCH tougher. Also, as much as I (like many) dislike Banks stuff, their "BigHead" wastegate actuator is a well engineered piece that DOES work. Loose that POS "turbomaster" and install a BigHead (or similar/equivalent unit), adjust it correctly, and your thrust bearings will likely live longer.
So, just out of curiosity: How much BOOST are you running? What's the highest steady-state pressure you can make?
Cheers,
