Thinking about installing a turbo charger for towing on my 2006 f150 xlt. 5.4 3 valve. I see prices from 2 grand and up then I come across this one on ebay for a few hun? What gives? Is this any good?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...m=160582272272

I mean I know they are basically an exhaust driving fan that rams air into the engine, but can a decent one come this cheap?

 

From what I've seen, the price of the base turbocharger will be the least of your worries, considering how much work it would be to assemble a working system

 

Ebay turbo's are junk.. Budget turbo's can be had, but like 04 said, the price of the turbo itself is very little of the cost of a system. Figure 5-6k all told, possibly more, depending on your ability to do things yourself.

 

^ agreed.

 

I installed ebay turbos on my audi... they idled fine for 15 min... after they got up to temp the seals went. coolant out the exhaust. Do yourself a favor and get a garrett or blousch... Turbo swap on my car involves a motor pull.
the manufacturing QA controls do not appear to be in place for many of the ebay turbo companies. I was left with $800 paperwieghts.
start reading hear and you will get a better understanding of how turbos work and how to select the best one for your application.
http://www.turbobygarrett.com/turbob...o_tech101.html

 

I wouldn't think a turbo be very suitable for towing, or maybe they are. All I can tell you is that you need to get it done professionally. If you skimp on some areas, you might grenade your engine or burn up the turbo. As far as I know, there aren't any plug and play kits for the F150 besides maybe an STS, but the turbo lag on one of those could make it useless for towing.

 

A proper turbo setup would be benificial for towing. What do all tractor trailers run? Turbo diesels. Turbos work by recycling heat energy that would be otherwise wasted and turning it into more power. More efficient than N/A. If you don't know what you are doing, definately enlist the help of a good shop. If you want low end grunt use a smaller turbo that will spool faster and give you a nice flat torque curve. Many times you can see peak torque at 2.5k to 3k rpms on a moderate turbo setup.

 

Makes sense, but would a smaller turbo produce enough power and torque to justify the cost or would a Roush/Saleen/Whipple supercharger be a better investment?

 

For all the trouble it is to install a good turbo setup, just to install a small turbo for peak tq at 2.5k rpm i would probably just install an s/c. Probably half the price and will yeild roughly the same results. If you want all out power with crazy pull like you've never felt get a Big *** Turbo. Non linear acceleration is my favorite.

What is the generally accepted power level at which a stock 5.4 2 valve engine will throw a rod or some other nonsense?

If not building the motor to surpass this point it would be tough to justify the cost of a good turbo setup vs. an s/c... cost not being a factor though, I would always pick a turbo over s/c.
Also check out turbo compounding, big with the diesel guys... launch at 50psi and run low 10's to high 9's with a 7,000lb truck.

 

I am a big turbo fan, my FX4 EB will be the 4th turbo gasoline vehicle I will have owned. My experience tells me that S/c just dont get the low end torque that a good turbo system would yield. Just like the EB engine, a couple little small turbos would be awesome on a 5.4, and the 5.0s. Just making sure the engine is stout enough for your power goals. I know the Mustang guys will throw turbos on the 5.4 Shelby and get some crazy numbers on relatively stock engine. At the very least you would need a Boost a pump to help with Fuel and some good tuning, there has to be someone out there that has done a setup like this.

Best of luck is thats what you decide to do.

 

Do it!

 

http://www.f150forum.com/f4/diy-turb...r-video-85442/