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6.5 swap - Best turbo upgrade for off road use?

What kind of offroading? If low speed either of the HX turbos are a good choice for good spool up at lower rpms. The Ateam is nonwastegated so it doesn't really start lite till around 2000 rpms but once spooled is suposse to flow a crazy amount of air. Its a good turbo for towing and such. I'm going to be running an HX40, seems to be a good choice for what I'm going to be doing. Which is mostly daily driving and lite four-wheeling.
 
Max - Thanks, I probably should've figured that out hehe

Kirs - We get a little bit of everything up here... Rocks, mud, snow, the majority is fairly slow but need the low spool RPM to get up and over when I need to.

Might just try out the stock GM3 FWIW and go from there. Add a mech wastegate so I can get rid of the vac pump altogether, might add a second alt for winching.
 
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Well if you happen to already have the GM3 turbo, then yes run it. While not perfect it will work pretty good in the type of wheeling you say you're doing. If you have to buy one, I'd get either an HX35 or HX40. Either will take a little bit of fab work to install but will work far better then any of the GMx turbos. I haven't installed my HX40 yet so I can't answer what all has to be changed.

That is the biggest advantage to the Ateam turbo, its like 80% bolt-on.
 
Don't listen to this guy about the expensive adaptor. He's an engineer of sorts & is just being cheap. Lol
:flipoff10::flipoff10:
Matt even knows what a 3+3 is Scott!!!:whistle:
 
GWeakland620 said:
So, how's this one going?
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Parts are in, in the middle of building a garage so will wait for the swap until that's done for sure which will only be a month or so. That said, my 6.2 runs well, so I might wait until it starts getting cold so I don't have any downtime on the ol girl in prime wheeling season. :D

On the other hand, I have an OCD when I have parts I need to install them. So I'll keep you posted hehe
 
GWeakland620 said:
Still thinking the GM3 turbo?
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Probably. I was asking the question now to start collecting all the parts if there was a better option. But as was suggested, might as well run the gm3 for now to see if i like it. Can always source another later.

Drove the k5 to work today, which i can now say is not the best option. Getting in and out of this thing without splitting the pants of my suit wasn't easy. :haha:but the real challenge is the dump truck tranny in traffic! Can't wait for that 4500...
 
scottystills said:
Probably. I was asking the question now to start collecting all the parts if there was a better option. But as was suggested, might as well run the gm3 for now to see if i like it. Can always source another later.

Drove the k5 to work today, which i can now say is not the best option. Getting in and out of this thing without splitting the pants of my suit wasn't easy. :haha:but the real challenge is the dump truck tranny in traffic! Can't wait for that 4500...
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Isn't the gear split in the 4500 pretty much the same as the 465? The O/D should be nice when you're on the road, but I'd think it'd be about the same when you're in traffic. :dunno:
 
campfire said:
Isn't the gear split in the 4500 pretty much the same as the 465? The O/D should be nice when you're on the road, but I'd think it'd be about the same when you're in traffic. :dunno:
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You're absolutely right! But you're forgetting how much smoother the 4500 shifts and that it comes with a fancy hydraulic clutch.
 
scottystills said:
You're absolutely right! But you're forgetting how much smoother the 4500 shifts and that it comes with a fancy hydraulic clutch.
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I will confess that I haven't driven a 465 truck yet. But I have enjoyed the NV4500/6.5TD combination. Which is why I'm contemplating a 4500 swap into my truck. So my truck might end up like yours someday.
 
campfire said:
I will confess that I haven't driven a 465 truck yet. But I have enjoyed the NV4500/6.5TD combination. Which is why I'm contemplating a 4500 swap into my truck. So my truck might end up like yours someday.
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The gearing on the 465 isn't fun on the road but it's awesome on trails. Cruise in 1st then drop to low when something comes up. Usually only need 4lo for steep climbs and rocks. why I'm looking forward to the 4500! Same benefits less drawbacks. The 465 shifts like a dump truck...
 
scottystills said:
The gearing on the 465 isn't fun on the road but it's awesome on trails. Cruise in 1st then drop to low when something comes up. Usually only need 4lo for steep climbs and rocks. why I'm looking forward to the 4500! Same benefits less drawbacks. The 465 shifts like a dump truck...
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Is this just due to the mechanical clutch (There are hydro 465 clutches, ya know...)? Or is the dump-truckishness found inside the gear box? :dunno:
 
The shifters on a 465 have a long throw and they don't like to be shifted fast really either,the mechanical clutch adds a bit of misery as well.....
The non synchro granny low 1st gear is nice for rock crawling,but sucks when you'd like to pop it in granny low when it starts lugging in 2nd gear..it can be done with skillfull double clutching,but its easy to shell the gears if you dont do it "just right"..
 
campfire said:
Is this just due to the mechanical clutch (There are hydro 465 clutches, ya know...)? Or is the dump-truckishness found inside the gear box? :dunno:
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Gear box.

diesel4me said:
The shifters on a 465 have a long throw and they don't like to be shifted fast really either,the mechanical clutch adds a bit of misery as well.....
The non synchro granny low 1st gear is nice for rock crawling,but sucks when you'd like to pop it in granny low when it starts lugging in 2nd gear..it can be done with skillfull double clutching,but its easy to shell the gears if you dont do it "just right"..
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Ya it doesn't like going quick that's for sure. In traffic star in 2, and that 2-3 shift sure isn't quick when you combine the long throw of the shifter with the mech clutch. The 2-3 isn't guided, so when you try to shift quick it sure likes to clip low if you're not careful.

Overall though, 465 is a great tranny. Fairly bulletproof and as long as you manage your expectations that you're not going to be drag racing lol
 
I had 2 SM465's ,one came factory in a '71 K5 I had--other one I swapped into my '72 K5 after I got tired of its TH350 taking 5+ minutes to go into forward gears --the colder it was,the longer the delay..once it went in gear I could drive it anywhere and it shifted great,no slipping..

But I always wanted a manual trans,and after my boss threatened to fire me more than once for being late ,I decided to buy a setup from a wrecked '72 K5 ,the flywheel,bellhousing,pedals & linkages,tranny & T-case and spent a week of 6 pm till midnights installing it all..it was a LOT more work than I had thought!..(the pedals sucked the most to install)..

The 465 was a bit of a dissapointment for me..I knew they were balky shifters,but with 3:08 gears my once peppy K5 had now become sluggish --it seemed to lack any balls till you got it over 40 in third...you could use third up to 70 mph for passing!..taking off in second was OK unless you were on a steep hill,then you needed to use granny low to get it moving...I hated the large gap between second and third..

Shortly after I installed the 465,I ended up having to replace not one,but two defective Borg Warner rebuilt clutches,the 12" 3 finger pressure plates both failed and wouldn't let the clutch release..(I ended up using an 11" Hayes diaphram clutch in the end--much less pedal effort and it grabbed just as good as a 12" would..)..

Then not long after the clutch was fixed,I started getting an annoying rattle in the drive train..it turned out to be the splines on the output shaft of the trans were worn badly,and it chowed the drive sleeve...(it was a 10 spline type 465 ,with a NP-205)..

I put in a new drive sleeve and I put Permatex bearing and stud mount "quick metal" on the splines,and it was silent for about 2 months,then the noise returned--it never failed though,despite some decent abuse..was annoying but not going to break easy either..

I sold the '72 after a few years with the 4 speed in it...I swore I'd never swap a manual in place of an automatic again...but if I had swapped in some lower gears in the diffs I probably would have been much happier with it..

A friend had his 465 start popping out of third gear when you let off the gas,and after awhile you couldn't hold it in third under a load like climbing a hill...the snap ring broke that held third gear on the main shaft,which was not an uncommon problem back in the 70's and 80's..

They were a decent transmission,but I wouldn't say they were completely free of issues by any means...the later 32 spline ones seemed to hold up better than the old 10 spline ones..
 
diesel4me said:
I sold the '72 after a few years with the 4 speed in it...I swore I'd never swap a manual in place of an automatic again...but if I had swapped in some lower gears in the diffs I probably would have been much happier with it..
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I'm running 3.54s and i feel the pain. Nice to be able to do highway speeds without the engine screaming though. Getting up to them is the trouble...

X2 on swapping the damn pedals. I'm pretty confident saying getting the pedals in and out took as long as the rest of the swap combined. Now I've got to swap them again for the hydraulic setup. Knowing that's ahead of me is the thing that'll keep me putting this project off...
 
The other '71 K5 I had with the factory 465 in it had 3:73's ,but someone swapped a 3:08 rear axle in it before I got it...drove it a few years that way in 2WD,then finally swapped in a 3:73 rear axle,and it was a world of difference as far as acceleration and hill climbing power in third gear!..but it made it very thirsty ,and at highway speeds ,65 mph sounded like 85 did when it had 3:08's in it...but at least you could boot it,and get it up to 65 a lot faster,merge more safely with oncoming traffic..

It was a toss up,I lived in a hilly area and liked the better climbing power,but I also commuted 65 miles to work every day for awhile..but I also used my '69 GTO that had 4:10's to commute too,so it wasn't much difference as far as gas costs..you just felt like you were still in third gear instead of 4th at higher speeds..and were wearing out the engine faster..

If I had kept the '72 I would have been wise to swap in a pair of 3/4 ton axles with 4:10's ,back then they were dime a dozen,and you could live with the higher revs at highway speeds more by using larger tires..
 
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