Turbocharging my 1996 5.0L 2wd 4 door

[ccmoore11]

I was curious as to if it is possible to turbocharge an Explorer for a reasonable price. I understand I would have to have my motor rebuilt and put performance pistons and other parts on it. Would even a twin-turbo be possible? How much boost could I run on a rebuilt and re-enforced motor and be safe without runnin down engine life? Any other mods recommended or required other than motor work to my X if I got somethin like this?

 

[section525]

From what I hear turbo charging is very very expensive. Due to a lot of custom work being involved. Why not just supercharge it?

 

[james t]

depends on what you consider "reasonable". if $5000-$10,000 is reasonable, then go for it. with forged 8:1 pistons, beefed bottom end, etc. and a big intercooler, you can get by on 12-15lbs. and have some longevity. you will have to have headers hand made. if you do no work at all, plan on $10,000 being a blessing...

 

[Alec]

Yup, look at the $10,000 range, at least by the time you do all the motor and fab work. Probably more like $12-15k.

Yup, why not just supercharge it?

 

[ccmoore11]

Man, thats alot of saved up lunch money! How much am I lookin at for supercharging it and what kind of power increase can I get safely? Keep in mind I have about 70,000 miles on my current motor.

 

[DarkFox1]

who in the world would pay $20k for like 90hp? turbos from what i've read are weak and only boost when you're already moving pretty fast. Superhcargers work in all ranges. So.. if you're rich as all the other people on this forum and can throw $4500 into 90hp, more power to ya I'd go super.

there is an issue I read on an earlier post about superchargers not working over 60k miles.. which would put you and me both out.. but, unless the charger would near triple my HP (170 RWHP) I wouldn't even think about spending near $5k on it. just my $20

 

[Magicfan25]

Turbos are weak?!? I think you've been reading from the wrong places. A properly sized turbo will NOT have lag. With a good exhaust setup and the proper size turbo it will spool just as fast, if not faster than centrifugal S/C. Turbos are also much more efficient, producing more HP and TRQ at lower boost levels than an SC.

In example, the Lightning 5.4 with the factory Eaton makes 8-10psi. Thats around 350hp and 400 or so ft lbs at the wheels. A turbo at 6psi puts over 500horse to the wheels and 600+ft lbs......

 

[DarkFox1]

well it doesn't matter for us anyway cs they cost 5x what a supercharger would.

I don tlike the idea of using my exaust to increase my boost, it just seems like a bad idea, produces so much heat.

 

[X24]

So spend more and put an intercooler on.

 

[Alec]

I did post a little hastily and forgot that we were talking about a 5.0. In that case, there are Mustang kits out there that could be adapted to fit, but it's much easier to go with an s/c kit that's made for the X.

As far as the longevity of the motor, the 5.0 is very stout, and I'd say that 70k on it isn't too bad to throw an s/c on there, as long as it's in good condition. If the top end is stressed more and the motor eventually needs to be rebuilt, that's just another excuse for more gofast goodies

 

[DarkFox1]

uhm, turbo/SC kits for mustangs dont fit exploreres, they have ot be made explicitly for the exploer.. which means they cost 2x, 3x as much

you have a lot of faith in the ford 5.0, I can see the engine lasting well beyond 70k, but the 4R70W transmission... has to be the most god awful drivetrain limitation ever made. If anything ITS the problem with our trucks and the lack of avalibility of mod parts, because the tranny is too much of a burden to get any real power anyway.. well that kinda spacy, but thats as best as I can tell.. horrible transmissions severley limit the 5 X

 

[james t]

from what i understand, the mustang kits require TOO much adaptation for the X. Troll talked about it awhile back, and said he could build one for around $8000. the main problem is the lack of room underhood, and the headers wont work (just repeating what i heard here). i would not hesitate 1 second to supercharge a 5liter with 70k miles. 5.0 fords have a very well built bottom end, and i have a friend with a 5.0 stang with 140k on the bottom end and 8lbs. of boost. as far as the tranny, its not that bad, unless your gonna run big hp. put on a big cooler, a shift kit, and synthetic fluids, and your good to go. that is, until you get around 475+ on the motor, then its time to look elsewere...

 

[DarkFox1]

god.. thats just so expensive.. perhaps I was wrong.. I talked to a guy about a turbo not too long ago, he said adaptation would take about $5000 to make it fit, (thats with a custom made header and everything, not to mention moving a lo tof things around, I agree james, I'm suprised even a SC can fit under our hoods) but he told me it'd only give 1hp for every 10 pounds of boost, or something like that.. when he worked it all out it came to about 50hp.. maybe he was just some crazy import jockey.

What kinda power gains can you expect from a turbo? a super? HP/TQ that is.. and could the 5.0 totally stock really handle even as high as 9psi w/o problems with gaskets and/or pistons and such? I know you gotta get a bigger in tank fuel pump.. which reduces overall fuel mileage. whicih is a problem since the 5.0 gets an avg of 9mpg.. but hey, I guess you can't accelerate nominally and get any sort of gas mileage.. just get used to filling up 3 times a week

 

[Alec]

With any decent s/c kit, you can usually expect an instant gain of around 40-50%. Add other parts and do some tuning, and you can really get up there in power. Mine is running about 180% power from stock. A good rule is around 15hp per 1lb of boost, but this changes with RPM, heat, etc.

As for mileage, a properly driven s/c motor shouldn't decrease mileage horribly....until you really step the power up or drive with a 100lb right foot. Stock I avged about 16 mpg per tank, about 18-19 highway. Now I avg about 13 per tank, about 16 hwy. I've gotten as little as 6mpg, and as good as 30mpg over the years in various driving conditions.

EDIT: as for mileage, keep in mind I have a huge roof basket with a windscreen, 33" tires, and lights that really pile up the drag.

 

[leenjen]

Originally posted by Magicfan25
A properly sized turbo will NOT have lag.

actually i prefer to have some turbo lag. it's not a bad thing. if you can spin your wheels on a launch then you already have more then enough low end torque to get moving. on the explorer i wouldnt want the turbo to spool until at least 3K rpms. that way you get a great launch (instead of traction problems). and when you are racing, you keep the rpms up anyway. so the turbo will be spooling and putting massive amounts of boost. if you know how to tune right, you can build your explorer to pull way past 7K rpms safely.

i am in the planning stages for turbocharging my mazda 626 V6. and after that project is done, i might try the explorer. right now my mazda pulls hard to 7500 rpm, there are a few guys that are revving to 10,000 rpm and higher with the same engine tuned properly

 

[DarkFox1]

13mpg on a 6.. ok so the 5.0 gets 9mpg.. so with the charger it'd get..... 1 or 2... it'd be sucking gas like its going out of style, filling up 4, 5 times a week

perhaps thats a bit extreme.. but you gotta consider worst case scenario all the time or you will get screwed over by things.

40-50% over flywheel? you can consider a 20% loss to the RWs, so the 5.0 has 170RWHP stock, putting it at about 221 (taking 20 from 50 to get 30) at the rear wheels.. so for $5000 I can't even break 300hp.. man this is depressing... again.. this is worst case..

I NEED a job!! god, my cars so slow right now, and theres no way to make it faster without spending a ton of money, and whats more I just found out tonight one of my fog lights is out!

when it rains.. it pours

 

[X24]

Those fogs are worthless. Once you get water or dirt in there, forget it. Hope you got $15 or $20 for a new bulb

 

[danniexp]

9 mpg??????

how is it that you are getting 9 mpg in your v8? I get around 17 and i drive pretty aggressively.... thats city mileage by the way... and got close to 20 on a cross country trip... in my view, gas mileage can be a good indicator of your engines performance.... done a tune up lately ?

 

[4LF]

Turbos are good

Both turbochargers and superchargers have their ups & downs. The thing that gets most people with turbos is the amount of tuning it takes to produce ungodly amounts of power. With a T4 turbo, a 4cyl car can make upwards of 500 hp to the wheels. With a fuel computer and a good buildup of your engine components, the possibilities are endless. Superchargers do offer power with no lag (although as mentined before, the proper turbo has very little lag) but they also aren't adjustable. With a boost controller, a turbo can be set from 7 pounds of boost to 20 pounds of boost in a matter of seconds. If you have the bank and the knowledge, I'd say turbo all the way. If you just want to do what's easy and much cheaper- go for a supercharger.

 

[DasFrem]

Turbos are also cool because they give boost only when you need it. Therefore you're not putting excess strain on the motor at all times like a S/C. That's why, when my 4.0 on my street truck is on its way out, I plan on doing a Dead Link Removed swap. First off, the exhaust note would be killer: dual BOV (Blow Off Valves) blowin' in unicin, and on top of that, it all coming out of the back of an X. I still drool when I think of it. Not to mention, big V8 power in the weight of a small v6 (aluminum heads)