Need Advice on Supercharging

Anyone have any experience on supercharging the 5.0L? After all the intake and exhaust work I have done and and tuned by Henson Performance (Thanks
James) my little motor still strains to push 2 plus tons down the road. I guess I should clarify that once I'm up to speed it perfoms great. The engine is strong and the truck will go faster then I care to(again thanks to James at Henson Performance for removing the speed limiter). I'm just looking for more power off the line(Damn Civics) and supercharging seems to me to be the best option. I don't want to tear into the engine (thats for another day). So I thought I would ask you all about doing this. I have been researching and can pick up an Eaton M90(rebuilt) for a decent price but the question I have is since I have the internal EGR is this an option? I have seen the one (weiand?) on explorerexpress and it wont work with the internal EGR and there is no way I could afford the $3800.00 anyway. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Highroller]

What's wrong with the ford racing unit? Since it is a Powerdyne, can't you upgrade the head unit if you need more? Why fabricate something that exists? Just my thought!

 

[CDW6212R]

The two made for Explorer kits are low power designs, there is no future growth potential. Point being, if you pay $3800 for the EE kit, know that the 275-285 hp is going to be the limit. Those superchargers are undersized for a 302, thus you can't bump the boost from 6/8 up to 14psi or so. If that EE kit was based around a KB 2200, then they would have sold 10-20 times as many.

The vast majority of all 302 Explorer supercharged trucks have fabricated systems on them, for more power.

 

[rocket 5979]

What's wrong with the ford racing unit? Since it is a Powerdyne, can't you upgrade the head unit if you need more? Why fabricate something that exists? Just my thought!

The BD-11 head unit that you will be receiving in that kit is garbage in allot of ways. Some have worked ok for a while before needing a rebuild. More often then not, they will need to be rebuilt at least once a year. It will probably be hard to step up to a XB-1A head unit because they weren't even very numerous back in Powerdyne's "heyday" let alone now. The XB-1A's were some pretty decent units but the common BD-11 was a piece of junk.

 

[CDW6212R]

Well thanks Robert for that important information, that should help many people who might read this. Regards,

 

[Makahveli]

Any recomendations or towards 4.0L engines?

 

[rocket 5979]

Any recomendations or towards 4.0L engines?

4.0 OHV? Build the transmission and baby it.

 

[pjenkster]

Does anyone have a turbo or supercharger

does anyone have a turbo or supercharger for a 1991 ford explorer 4.0L?

 

[reserved50]

The supercharger has been discontinued for a while for those year Explorers, BBK had one. If I was to put one on the 1st Gen Exploders the min I would do is change the head gasket and if the cyl heads are cracked upgrade to the 94/95?(last year of production) heads. The early heads cracked about 90% of the time even when overheated just once, I had a shop miss the cracks on mine twice and had ended up with a mysterious coolant loss for years .


99% of what your hear about the BD-11a is just hearsay. Yes they do #### up quite a bit but when they do all you usually need is 100$ or so in belts and bearings. I have about 5000 miles on mine and went from a 3.1"? pulley to a 2.7" and shift at 5200 with a "green" Dayco belt not overtightened. I was getting about 1-2 PSI befor the pulley upgrade, Im up to about 6 now, when I upgrade the impeller I hope to be around 8 or so.Dont pulley it down to get over 9 PSI, that much stress on the belt will just cause the belt to break and bearings to overheat. The only 2 advantages to this kit I see is not tapping of the oil system and the lower intake temperatures due to no oil entering the head unit. I dont plan on running anymore boost with this block anyways, Im pretty sure it'll split down the middle.

I think most of the units that failed early are from using a pulley too small, belt over tightening or over revving, but do expect to rebuild them. If I had a choice though i would get a Vortech , procharger etc unit anyday if they made a bolt on unit for these things

 

[rocket 5979]

99% of what your hear about the BD-11a is just hearsay. Yes they do #### up quite a bit but when they do all you usually need is 100$ or so in belts and bearings.

While I do agree that allot of people operate way too much off of hearsay and the "Well I heard...." approach, the BD-11 is a pretty weak setup. You are correct that it can easily be rebuilt. The problem there is that depending on how many times you have to rebuild it that $100 per rebuild can add up quick. Then factor in the additional cost if that person pays someone else to rebuild the head unit and the BD-11 starts looking allot less appealing. It can work ok, but not very cost affective in the long term.

 

[chriswells78]

Those superchargers are undersized for a 302, thus you can't bump the boost from 6/8 up to 14psi or so. If that EE kit was based around a KB 2200, then they would have sold 10-20 times as many.

It's a shame they won't just sell you the lower intake and the associated bracketry and allow you to put your own head unit on it. I searched high and low for a 5.0L roots style manifold only last year and came up empty. I did find some other innovative things that people have done to put a roots style blower on a 5.0. Probably the most interesting was a mustang with the AC unit removed and an Eaton in it's place set up kind of like a centrifigural unit.

 

[justin146]

It's a shame they won't just sell you the lower intake and the associated bracketry and allow you to put your own head unit on it. I searched high and low for a 5.0L roots style manifold only last year and came up empty. I did find some other innovative things that people have done to put a roots style blower on a 5.0. Probably the most interesting was a mustang with the AC unit removed and an Eaton in it's place set up kind of like a centrifigural unit.

With a little creativity and fabrication, you could make the Kenne Bell kit work that replaces the upper intake manifold. It bolts right up to the GT40 lower intake.

 

[chriswells78]

I saw one where someone had taken an additional lower intake, cut the top 1" or so off of it, flipped it upside down and welded/fabbed a sort of sheet metal box where the blower would sit. It was very creative but I don't have the means to weld aluminum.

 

[reserved50]

Im just saying for whats out there sure go for it, but if you own a Mustang, Camaro etc PLEASE do not buy a powerdyne unless you paid next to nothing for it , there are much better units out there.

While I do agree that allot of people operate way too much off of hearsay and the "Well I heard...." approach, the BD-11 is a pretty weak setup. You are correct that it can easily be rebuilt. The problem there is that depending on how many times you have to rebuild it that $100 per rebuild can add up quick. Then factor in the additional cost if that person pays someone else to rebuild the head unit and the BD-11 starts looking allot less appealing. It can work ok, but not very cost affective in the long term.

 

[chriswells78]

Several of the Mustang guys I know swear by thier Powerdynes. Two of them are turning 11's.

 

[rocket 5979]

Several of the Mustang guys I know swear by thier Powerdynes. Two of them are turning 11's.

Given the alternatives, there are much better options out there. I see people who also swear by VT Engines but look where they are now.

I think Reserved has a good point in his last post. If you have other realistic alternatives then go for those rather than the Powerdyne BD-11 blower. If you do not have any other centrifugal options then it will be a judgement call.

 

[reserved50]

I dont know, the PD kits look like someone was pumping these things out in their basement, everything in it is subpar, not what you would expect from something mass produced. I think I modified more than half the kit, pulleys, brackets, idlers,tensioner, intake plumbing, air-box etc etc, the low quality fuel lines that deteriorated after a few weeks was a nice touch...if you like engine fires. My 4500lb truck hits low 13s with it, I still dont think its worth the money I paid for the blower though, overpriced for what they did, but i was just looking for a "bolt-on".

 

[tmcphail]

If it were me and intermediate and cheap option for this would be a solid wet nitrous kit. This could gte you thru your HP jones now until you sort out the permanent option next.

 

[rocket 5979]

If it were me and intermediate and cheap option for this would be a solid wet nitrous kit. This could gte you thru your HP jones now until you sort out the permanent option next.

I am a big proponent of nitrous, especially wet systems, but it seems that allot of people here are wary of doing that. Most aren't comfortable enough doing that.

 

[tmcphail]

Me too. Set up correctly you can make good power safely for a long time. As long as you understand the fundamentals and respect it you won't have any issues.

 

[chriswells78]

I don't know if it is still made, but I believe it was Zex that made a wet kit with a solenoid that would only kick in the spray when you were at WOT. That to me would be the safest route to go if the kit is still around and of good quality. I have no experience with Zex nor do I know anybody that has but the concept sounds feasable.