y5mgisi
1 ton status
On ebay! You can get them brand new for around $300! Im afraid they could be in my not too distant future...
CK5
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Turbos are cheap!
- Thread starter y5mgisi
- Start date
Those ebay turbos are made in china........ so buyer beware
y5mgisi
1 ton status
For as cheap as they are and as cheap as ls's are, i'll just buy them by the bakers dozen!
lol well as long as you know that going in........
4xcrazy
3/4 ton status
You mean those vacuum cleaner motor blowers?? 
herkdriver007
1/2 ton status
What are your plans?
turbos can be cheap, but all the other things to make em run right and save the engine, that cost gets up there
Buy as many as you want, but, after the first one let's go and sends pieces of itself inside your engine, the rest of the bakers dozen you bought won't help much
Seriously though, lots of threads about these "china" turbos on the diesel forums.......they are junk and i wouldnt chance it, you get what you pay for is all I'm saying.
Stomis
Professional Amateur
Car quest has rebuilt OEM units FYI.
y5mgisi
1 ton status
So If I wanted to buy a good turbo what would I buy (brand) and where would I buy them. Plan ultimately would be to run 8-10 lbs of boost on the 5.3 in the burb.
Jessie James
1/2 ton status
have you ever turbocharged an engine before? If not, before you do any buying I strongly suggest you read this book:
http://www.amazon.com/Maximum-Boost...7&sr=8-1&keywords=maximum+boost+by+corky+bell
There is a reason why people spend $4k on a kit that is designed for the engine already. Engine management is the make-or-break (and I'm not kidding here) issue. Without proper engine management, you will likely get a boost spike and encounter catastrophic failure.
If you do go turbo, be sure you get an intercooler. If you do a single turbo (instead of twin) except major turbo lag/spike on an engine that large. Of course, get a ball-bearing turbo to reduce that.
If I were you, I'd get a supercharger kit.
http://www.amazon.com/Maximum-Boost...7&sr=8-1&keywords=maximum+boost+by+corky+bell
There is a reason why people spend $4k on a kit that is designed for the engine already. Engine management is the make-or-break (and I'm not kidding here) issue. Without proper engine management, you will likely get a boost spike and encounter catastrophic failure.
If you do go turbo, be sure you get an intercooler. If you do a single turbo (instead of twin) except major turbo lag/spike on an engine that large. Of course, get a ball-bearing turbo to reduce that.
If I were you, I'd get a supercharger kit.
Stomis
Professional Amateur
Jessie has a good point. A vortech centrifugal super charger will boost all across the board and is way more predictable and easy to manage. I believe they also have twin screw kits for the LS motors that look like a roots blower but are way more efficient and have a water to air intercooler in the lifter valley.
y5mgisi
1 ton status
In all reality whatever I do is years off anyway... This all started when I had a dream the other night of driving and towing with my turbo burb. So I just started wondering how much they were. Turns out you can get them cheap. Or, you can get a good one for a little more money. I like turbos alot more than supers from a efficiency standpoint. That's not to say that I haven't thought about some kind of super. Maybe even one of the cool new edelbrock units. Anyway, if I were to boost anything, it wouldn't be for a long time yet and wouldn't be before tons of research.
Stomis
Professional Amateur
Do tons of research then. The 5.3 LS motor is an excellent starting place for a boost ontop of stock bottom end application.
Indeed. I've had plans to build one in the pipe for a long while. The more I read about the China turbos the more I want to play with a set. I read the other week that they're quality is greatly improving, and I dont doubt that there are hundreds of them being flogged without problem. The 5.3's are cheap and plentiful. Here's an article from Hot Rod.
http://www.hotrod.com/techarticles/...53l_gen_iii_small_block_for_3252/viewall.html
