Turboing a 5.2

MikesRammin · Oct 19, 2011

Now a few months ago I remember watching an episode of trucks where the turbod a mid 90s Ford Lightning and they placed the turbo back behind the cat. I was thinking about turboing my ram for some little extra ponys and a cool factor. Now I don't have any experiance with turbos but I have a general idea of what I need. I know I need the flange for the turbo to weld to the exhaust. I wanna weld a piece of steel to the flange and then to the frame for support ducting up to the engine for the air. I'm gonna just run a straight pipe for the exhaust an oil line to the engine a boost gauge. Now do you guy have any idea what PSI I should run on it? I want to run as much psi as I can without having to do any tuning on the computer. Also what typer of turbo should I get? Any of you guys out there ever turbod a gas ram?

Mopar1973Man · Oct 19, 2011

Well the little tidbit from the diesel relm...

I know I'm comparing apples and oranges but...

I know the 24V Cummins is 16.3:1 ratio (or 17.0:1 for HO). But static compression pressure is right around 450 or so. So now you add a turbo charger and 35 PSI boost the cylinder pressures will rise up to 1,100+ PSI

Now there is another problem your going to have to deal with.

From Wikipedia about Autoignition temperature...

The autoignition temperature or kindling point of a substance is the lowest temperature at which it will spontaneously ignite in a normal atmosphere without an external source of ignition, such as a flame or spark. This temperature is required to supply the activation energy needed for combustion. The temperature at which a chemical will ignite decreases as the pressure increases or oxygen concentration increases. It is usually applied to a combustible fuel mixture.

So adding a turbo will cause preignition for a gasser so you'll have to look into different fuels that have a much higher octane level to prevent pre-ignition from occuring.

I'm not saying it not possible but a lot of factors change when adding a turbo charger.

KGBIGCOUNTRY · Oct 19, 2011

I have not looked into it much for the 318s but I know on the 5.7s you open up a large can of worms. Most gassers on stock internals top out at 10 psi at the most and thats pushing them normaly unitl you go fordged. You will also have to drill and tap the oil pan for the turbo oil lines, change around the intake system and modify the exhaust. The 2nd gen guys will chime in though knowing they have possibly already looked into this route.

Badger · Oct 19, 2011

It's not worth the effort. If you want more power check out Hughes performance. Save the turbo for diesels and ricers.

wermbang · Oct 19, 2011

Found this on the interwebs *NOT MINE*
This is the mock up on my cuz truck. He wanted more power to pull 35" tires with 20" wheels. It's a t-60 turbo from a STS kit. The turbo flange pipe and wastgate is from the STS kit that was on my HD.
24# injectors and reflash by PPH. We're not lookin to get craze, so boost will be set at 5psi.

KGBIGCOUNTRY · Oct 19, 2011

The computer is the main thing for this to work, same as Michael stated its gonna want to knock bad.

wermbang · Oct 19, 2011

being a 94 the computer would need to be flashed if I am not mistaken, but I usually am

KGBIGCOUNTRY · Oct 19, 2011

I figured it would either have to be sent off or contact a person who would make a replacement. Being that year would it be easier to come by a doner 2500 with a CTD and do a swap?

The Assassin · Oct 19, 2011

If I'm not mistaken, I think the STS kits are 6-8 psi.

KGBIGCOUNTRY · Oct 19, 2011

You can change the psi by swaping the waste gate spring

MikesRammin · Oct 19, 2011

KGBIGCOUNTRY said:
I figured it would either have to be sent off or contact a person who would make a replacement. Being that year would it be easier to come by a doner 2500 with a CTD and do a swap?

If I put a diesel turbo on there would that work better for my application because its set to kick in at a lower RPM? Since the most RPM it will ever see is probably around 4500. Also would that work better since its coming of 5.9 so I think it would be more around the correct size since its a little bit more cubic inches than my 318. Also what psi is the cummins turbo set at? I would like to run a set up thats all internal in the turbo so that way I don't have to fiddle with the exteral waste gate blow off valve and such.

MikesRammin · Oct 19, 2011

Badger said:
It's not worth the effort. If you want more power check out Hughes performance. Save the turbo for diesels and ricers.

See I would like to be able to buy from hughes but I'm working on a very limited budget so it would be cheaper for me to piece together a turbo kit.

Turboing a 5.2

MikesRammin

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Mopar1973Man

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KGBIGCOUNTRY

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Badger

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wermbang

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KGBIGCOUNTRY

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wermbang

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KGBIGCOUNTRY

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The Assassin

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