Turbo options

Nero

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Hey all, been browsing this forum for years, but apparently forgot my old login information....

I have a 1990 F350 crew cab, I swapped in an engine from a 1988 F250 with only 93k miles on it.
I use this truck primarily to haul my in-bed camper and either flat tow my Samurai, or pull my boat. Otherwise it sits most of the time unless I need to drop camper for household projects.
I have been wanting to do a turbo install for a while, at one point I had a first gen Banks kit, only to find out the pedestals are different between the autos and manuals.... So back to N/A I went, due to having a zf5 and the pedestal was for a E4OD.

I've been eyeballing the complete refurb'd kits that Classic Diesel Design offers, and see they offer a few turbo options, intercoolers, ect.... and not sure which direction to go.
Mainly my goal is to be able to maintain speed on small inclines and better merging onto freeway capabilities, I'm not looking to roll coal or be a street racer in this pickup. I also do NOT have head studs, and do not intend to put them on, also plan on running stock pump and injectors, may do one flat up on the pump after a turbo is on. Dunno yet.

Open to opinions and advice.
 

Cubey

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Hey all, been browsing this forum for years, but apparently forgot my old login information....

I have a 1990 F350 crew cab, I swapped in an engine from a 1988 F250 with only 93k miles on it.
I use this truck primarily to haul my in-bed camper and either flat tow my Samurai, or pull my boat. Otherwise it sits most of the time unless I need to drop camper for household projects.
I have been wanting to do a turbo install for a while, at one point I had a first gen Banks kit, only to find out the pedestals are different between the autos and manuals.... So back to N/A I went, due to having a zf5 and the pedestal was for a E4OD.

I've been eyeballing the complete refurb'd kits that Classic Diesel Design offers, and see they offer a few turbo options, intercoolers, ect.... and not sure which direction to go.
Mainly my goal is to be able to maintain speed on small inclines and better merging onto freeway capabilities, I'm not looking to roll coal or be a street racer in this pickup. I also do NOT have head studs, and do not intend to put them on, also plan on running stock pump and injectors, may do one flat up on the pump after a turbo is on. Dunno yet.

Open to opinions and advice.

My 85 RV most likely has head bolts (7.3 didn't exist yet, after all) with the very primitive ATS 085 turbo (probably installed in 1985, or not long after). Keep it around 10-11 PSI max and you should be ok.
 

catbird7

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I put a factory ATS on stock 7.3, no studs, factory settings on turbo / waste gate. Runs around 7lbs. Night and day difference. Been driving this setup and hauling an old slide-in camper all over the northeast with zero problems for years. If I remember correctly she gets around 17mpg empty and around 12 with the camper loaded. You do have to watch the pyro on steep mountains.
 

Nero

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Thanks for the replies everyone. Man, checking bolt torque? Now that's a first. I work on semis all day long, never heard of head bolts working loose.
Guess it's time to invest in a good pyrometer and boost gauge, along with a turbo kit. Thanks all!
 

Cubey

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Thanks for the replies everyone. Man, checking bolt torque? Now that's a first. I work on semis all day long, never heard of head bolts working loose.
Guess it's time to invest in a good pyrometer and boost gauge, along with a turbo kit. Thanks all!

I doubt it's ever been done on my RV, and it's fine still. Take that as you will. But, it came with high quality boost and pyro gauges with the kit, so they're in here.
 

frankenwrench

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As far as turning the ip up one flat, every instruction manual I've seen with ats or banks states u need to turn up two flats to be able to spool the turbo. Not an argument, just something to take into consideration. I live in Texas so steep grades are few and far in between. I get 21 mpg hwy and 16 city no load. 23 hwy and 16 city with my goose attached and don't go above 17k total combined weight lately. Cdd intercooler, cdd 110 ip, cdd stage 1 injectors, cdd 3582 turbo, arp studs.
 

Black dawg

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The factory kit is a pretty good match for the power band of these engines. And with the pump turned up a couple flats and boost adjusted in the 12 ish range, just a rock solid setup, that performs good and will do so for a very long time.

Head bolts are a NON issue on the 7.3
 

Nero

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Yeah it's been a minute since I read the installation instructions for a turbo (like 8 years roughly) so I couldn't remember if it was one flat or two. I do remember 12ish was the max you could go without head studs. Not trying to make it a rocket, but just better.

Does the ATS kit work with both autos and manuals? I fired off an email to CDD asking the same thing, haven't heard back yet.
 

IDIBRONCO

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Does the ATS kit work with both autos and manuals? I fired off an email to CDD asking the same thing, haven't heard back yet.
From what I remember seeing, only Banks had different kits for auto VS manual transmissions.
 

cozinsky

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As far as turning the ip up one flat, every instruction manual I've seen with ats or banks states u need to turn up two flats to be able to spool the turbo. Not an argument, just something to take into consideration. I live in Texas so steep grades are few and far in between. I get 21 mpg hwy and 16 city no load. 23 hwy and 16 city with my goose attached and don't go above 17k total combined weight lately. Cdd intercooler, cdd 110 ip, cdd stage 1 injectors, cdd 3582 turbo, arp studs.

What gears are you running? I have the exact same setup in my truck with 3.55 gears and a ZF and I know my mileage has dropped compared to what I was getting before the turbo. I'm not getting anywhere near that kind of mileage and I'm not driving it any differently than I was before.
 

frankenwrench

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I'm running 3.73 gears in an 01 SD rear end with 235/85/16 tires. Westgate vaccume open to atmosphere and wastegate arm threaded all the way in. I also rarely run over 70 mph. Mostly 60-65. I have a zf5 as well.
 

cozinsky

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I'm running stock valve springs so I don't want to push my boost too high. My wastegate is connected but I have it set to open at 15 psi. I rarely ever hit the limit, most of the time it stays under 10 when pulling loads. I still barely manage 14 mpg empty on the highway.
 

Nero

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@cozinsky whar is your gear ratio? Mine is 4:11, so I expect fuel eco to probably remain the same.
 

cozinsky

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I have 3.55 gears. I expected fuel economy to improve since the engine doesn't have to work as hard to make the same amount of power, but I have yet to see any gain no matter how conservatively I drive it. Its actually worse. But the truck has tons more power, night and day difference.
 

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