Turbocharged Explorer

[upssoldier]

Does anyone on this entire message board have a turbo charger in their ford explorer. If you do, are they easy to blow up, or have you blown one up before. Anyone else have an opinion on turbo charging a ford explorer?

 

[410Fortune]

You need to talk to Jake Flemming (more)

He lives here in Denver. He started by turbo charging his 2.9L. Never worked right. So he swapped a 4.0L into his 86 Ranger. It is now turbocharged. He also has a wicked intercooler on it. He's only running 2-3 # of boost but it could do more.

Email me and I'll put you in touch with him.
It's a totally custom job, very crowded under the hood and you had better know what you are doing. The exhaust work is amazing!

 

[mike91]

You can just about turbocharge anything, but you need the $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$. With all the custom work and all, why not just consider throwing in a Paxtonsupercharger? That is unless you are real good with engines/tuning or have a good friend thats willing to do the turbo. Would be nice to throw one on our truck though - you'd be unique for sure.

As far as servicing (which I think you intended), once the spool goes - you are out of luck. I heard that a small piece of dirt or tiny pebble could do the trick. On the other hand superchargers are capable of being repaired and serviced.

 

[SteveVB]

cameron cameron where are you?

Cameron on the site has been planning one, and until 410 said something he was the only one that had contemplated it. I bet he will be interested to speak/hear from 410's friend!!!

Didnt add much here but am interested in the subject. So Im tagging it.

 

[Cameron]

Damn straight Steve,

410Fortune, if you could put me in touch with the guy in Denver I would appreciate it.

Upssoldier, one thing I can say for sure about turbocharging a normally aspirated engine is that it ain’t cheap. So far (and mind you, I’m doing almost all the labor myself and I have friends doing most of the custom fabrications) I’m estimating it’s going to cost me over $10,000 for the motor alone. That includes 2 turbos that cost over $1,800 each. That’s not exactly true. My brother-in-law is giving me the turbos so I’ll save about $4,000.
Turbocharging is defiantly not the easy way to go and is far more complicated and expensive then I first thought. Unless you are very familiar with turbo systems I would recommend you purchase Maximum Boost: Designing, Testing and Installing Turbocharger Systems by Corky Bell.

Here is my plan:

Start with a 1996 4.0 V6 OHV
Forged pistons
Forged connecting rods
High performance head components in a stock head with a 3 angle valve job
Balanced crankshaft
Relocation of battery, windshield washer and various other components to back in a custom built container where the spare used to be.
Custom exhaust manifold coming up and to the front of the engine compartment
Two Turbonetics turbos plumbed to two custom intercoolers
The two intercoolers plumbed into a single throttle body
True dual 3" exhaust through high-flow cats and Maxflow mufflers
MSD (or other manufacturer) fuel management system with timing control
Viper NOS direct feed system
Injectors (30 lb/hr)
Custom hood to allow more air circulation
There are many more components involved such as blow off valves but this gives you an idea.

And as far as your question “are they easy to blow up?” Hell yes! That’s why it takes a lot of planing. There are many variables to take into consideration when you install a turbo. Fuel/air ratios, timing, temperature control, back pressure reduction (turbos don’t like back pressure) lubrication requirements, fuel delivery, spark (air is a natural insulator for electricity. Therefor, the more boost the stronger spark is required) electronics covering all of the above and so on. Just move slowly. Do tons of homework and ask tons of questions.

Peace.

 

[flyguy]

Whats the deal with turbos around here? After reading up on both...it still seems to me that a supercharger is better. Although... the one that seems best is the vapor BBK one... oh well. also... can you have a supercharged turbo?

nick

 

[Cameron]

Superchargers and turbos do the same thing. That is, they compress the incoming air before it goes into the intake manifold. And as you may or may not be aware, the more air you put in a cylinder, the more powerful the explosion. Hence more power. Superchargers are belt driven and turbochargers are exhaust driven. Superchargers are typically a cheaper adaptation to a normally aspirated motor then a turbocharger system would be. A turbocharger system is typically more powerful and durable then a supercharger system. Also, it is easier to tune a turbo (as in dialing up or down the boost). If you looking to add a 40% increase in power quickly and relatively cheaply, go with a supercharger. Believe me, when you go from 170 HP to 238 HP (assuming no other mods were made) you’ll really feel it. But if you want huge power increases and have a lot of time and money, go with a turbo.

 

[RobbieJ]

Hey Guys My Brother is running a 2.3 turbo in his 88 ranger the turbo is off of a 84 mustang SVO. It hauls as. It put out around 12 to 15lbs of boost.

 

[Cameron]

Amazing what a turbo can do isn’t it?

 

[Kampy]

Fly guy, quick answer to your question yes you can use blowers and turbos together. Detroit diesel has been doing it for 25+ years.

 

[SeanM]

So...Tell me....Which is more powerful? Turbo or Supercharger? If you say Turbocharger, then what about the "turbo-lag" that is so commonly associated with Turbochargers at the low-end of the RPM range? This would slow the 0-60 time, would it not? I know little to nothing about super/turbo applications, but I want to know which is better(and more powerful) because I wish my 0-60 times to be around 5-7 seconds(preferably right in the middle). I've heard that superchargers sort of wuss out at high speeds and thus are better for race applications that require speeds above 85 mph or so. Is that true? Help me out here. Bring some knowledge to the table for me. I just need to know if turbos will make my 0-60 better than superchargers. I am planning to install a supercharger, but now I'm thinking about a turbocharger. Help me out here, guys. Thanks a lot

Sean
_____________________________
'95 XLT 4dr 4.0L V6 OHV Auto
Flowmaster 40 series Cat-back
K&N FIPK
Bosch 4+ Platinum plugs
Splitfire ignition wires

 

[Tony91Sport]

I cant emphisize Camerons point enough. Read read read. Not only could you blow the turbo, but you could blow your engine. Remember also, turbos dont make horsepower, they make torque, thats why we have turbo lag. I could put a set of turbos on my Explorer, but im getting a new one. Theres a guy around here (St Charles MO) with a turbocharged S-10. The guy is literally a turbo genius, his truck is setup all offroad. 33's giant roof rack, completely modified engine, spare fuel tanks, its crazy. Although i heard turbos arent great offroad.

I got a plan for ya. Ill get a newer 5.0 Explorer and buy a mustang twin turbo system. Im sure it wouldnt be that hard to adapt it to an Exlorer. And heres an interesting fact. Did you know the 5.0 Explorers use a detuned cobra intake, and GT40 heads? Furthermore 98+ 5.0 heads have more reworking than 96-97 heads for more horsepower. Consider all options, and make the best decision.

 

[Cameron]

Sean

In a nut shell here is the main differences of superchargers and turbos:

Of the energy released in the combustion process, approximately one third goes into the cooling system, one-third becomes power down the crankshaft, and one-third is dumped out the tailpipe as heat.

A supercharger uses some of the one-third going to the crankshaft to produce more power.

A turbocharger uses most of the one-third going through the exhaust that would otherwise go unused. That’s not to say turbos don’t drain power because they do. But the amount of power they use depends on the size. The bigger the turbo the less power it uses. But the bigger the turbo the higher the lag. Smaller turbos spool up fast (little to no lag) but cant deliver huge power. The larger turbos produce huge amounts of power but require longer spool up times. The trick is to find the turbo that is sized for your motor and your particular needs. 0-60, quarter mile, or all around performance.

Turbochargers are capable of producing considerably more HP then superchargers as demonstrated by looking at 1988 era Formula 1 race cars (last year turbocharged Formula 1s were allowed) with top fuel dragsters with 500 cid engines of the same era. It is estimated (estimated because no one has a Dyno that can handle these kinds of HP) the top fuel dragsters produced 5000 – 6000 bhp, which calculates out to around 10 bhp per cid. Compare this to the 90-cid motors used in 1988 Formula 1 cars producing 1300 - 1400 bhp. That works out to 14 to 15 bhp per cubic inch.

The reasons turbos are better then supercharging are complex. Essentially it boils down to efficiencies. The power output potential of any supercharger is measured by the amount of airflow the device creates after factoring out the power required to drive it and the extent to which it heats up the air while creating the flow and pressure.

And although turbochargers have the potential of producing considerably more power then superchargers, to do so will be much more expensive, and much more complex. Unless you intend on spending lots of money and lots of time, stick with a bolt on supercharger system made for your motor. There currently are no turbocharger kits for the 4.0 so it’s all custom fabrication.

I hope this helps.

 

[oreokid220]

Anyway you could get me in touch with Jake Flemming 410fortune. I would love to see what he has got on his truck.

Jed

oreokid220@aol.com

 

[aldive]

Camron, thanks for the excellent explanation.

 

[Cameron]

Any opportunity to share the information I have learned with my fellow Explorer nuts, is my pleasure.

I can’t tell you how much money I have saved by talking with people on this site who have done whatever I am planning on doing.

Although I am no expert, I have spent hundreds of hours researching turbochargers, superchargers and other performance enhancements.

I have dropped the idea of turbocharging my Explorer due to cost / benefits but I am currently building up my Mitsubishi 3000GT VR-4. It’s twin turbocharged, all wheel drive, all wheel steering, active suspension, active aero, the works…

 

[Explorer_2196]

You can twin turbo a 5.0/5.8 with TurboCoupe turbos.
I can't remember where the site was that showed how to though. Maybe if you search Yahoo...

 

[turbojeff]

Man unless you have big dollars go with a supercharger! u will have more aggravation getting everything to work where you can buy a system thats all done pretty much. as in a previous reply on this is finding the right one for your application (this is where the $$$$$ comes in also)Im going with a supercharger on my 5.0 mountaineer.I have a 2.3 turbocoupe running 23# boost 300 rwhp

 

[Rick]

Klowns turboed his Ex: http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=63216

 

[2000ExpSport]

turbo or super charger for my ex

I have a 2000 explorer sport with 70k on the motor, i run 20- 50 synthetic oil in iyt and i just had the tranny done about 5 months ago. the motor is a 4.0 ohv. i just wanted to know what would be better to make this thing haul some butt. i have some money but i just want to know what im looking at replacin or adding and if its possible to do this without toasting my motor or driveline.
Any help is greatly appreciated and will help me on my attack of this job. thanx