Cameron, sorry to be the voice of dissention here, but the connections on the Vortech system will eventually leak no matter what you do. This is especially the case on a truck that is 4wheeled VERY hard. We are talking the slow, 4.0-5.0 rockcrawling trails. The engine is torqued hard a great deal of the time. While it did not happen real often, it did happen enough to be annoying.
Believe me, I know how to do something as simple as install a supercharger. However, before you lay blame on the install, perhaps you should take measurements on some of the pieces from Vortech. It was not possible to have more overlap of tubing and rubber connectors than what I had...... or it would not have fit. While the unmetered air problem only occurred about 5 times in the 40,000 miles I ran it, this is still deemed unsatisfactory.
Since you wish to talk about only one aspect of my post, I guess I need to make myself more clear. My complaints against Vortech do not start, or stop with the air leak problems. Also, with the compressor that is/was (may have changed since then, was a V1 compressor) shipped with the Vortech kit, you will make about 4.5-5 lbs of boost. If you get the smaller 6-rib pulley offered by Vortech, you will get about 1 pound more. If you have a custom 6-rib pulley made, you will get 2 pounds more boost than stock. However, if you get this custom pulley, you will overspin the compressor. This will cause the bearings to blow out in about 20,000 miles ($495 fix, from Vortech only, as the bearings are not available on the open market)
So lets begin with the problems:
1) Kit was not shipped with the oil return hardware. Would have taken days..... thus, a quick trip to PepBoys solved this problem.
2) The plastic positive side discharge hose would not clear the master cylinder. This was a major problem, probably (I hope) due to the early production of the kit. To solve this one, we needed to shim the master cylinder at an angle and grind the corner off of it.
3) This same plastic positive side discharge hose would not stay on the compressor. Hard plastic trying to fit on 1/2" flange with no connecting hardware (can you say piss poor design). This was also a major problem. This was solved by using a diesel truck turbo elbow (since this was the only thing that would hold up to the pressure). The elbow was cut, as was the plastic tube, and they were put together. This solved the connecting problem.
4) This same plastic positive side discharge hose collapsed 2 times. Needless to say, this caused a massive driveability problem. Got another one from Vortech, but had to wait (could not drive the truck).
5) The people at Vortech are a$$holes. They wouldn't just admit there was a problem with the parts. You would have to argue...... and argue...... and explain..... to person after person, who didn't have a clue about the kit you were talking about. Nor did they know anything about the engine it was being put on.
Now, don't get me wrong, the Vortech supercharger kit would probably be wonderful in a street driven truck. Also, it works great in the 5.0 Mustangs. However, I took a major loss on it, JUST TO BE RID OF IT.
Hopefully Vortech has corrected those early problems. Hopefully they have hired some people who are not so condescending and arrogant. Hopefully they looked up the term CUSTOMER SERVICE, in the dictionary. Of course, maybe I was just the lucky one in dealing with them, because I am a girl who has a clue.
Enough of that.
Yes a turbo is alot more efficient. They are also a ***** to design a kit for. My significant other is a turbo man, and has the right connections to get it done right. However, I would still like the BBK. Instant boost down low. I do not have any desire to play drag race woman.
Just my personal experience.
)
