Turbo Charging A Tundra!

Maybe they’ll make an upgraded tensioner for us.

 

In regards to building a DRAG truck with it. I am sure with the right combination of options on our turbo kit, we can match pretty much any goal from 500-1000HP and up really, as there are a lot of new turbo options in the T4 frames that push the limits of power up and over 1500HP mark. I am sure you have all seen the Tundra from the Middle East, he's spooling a Large Garrett 94mm turbo at launch.

In reality, our focus when developing a turbo kit, is first and always the end user, self-installer type, that wants an easy / simple way to add boost and HP without having to back it all up with a huge and expensive build list. So the Stage 1 and Stage 2 kits, as you see them, offer a straightforward installation of 125-200+ HP, at mild boost levels, with amazing response, great towing capabilities (as proven by BFlooks and some of our smaller tows), tons of fun and performance on tap when you want it and all while keeping stock-like drivability. As we continue to build these, we will no doubt get into some more advanced builds and options to satisfy all sort of uses.

That is also where the 2016 comes in. Now that we have the kit developed and duplicated on multiple Tundras, we will rinse and repeat on the 2016 and this is the one where, as much as we wouldn't want to, we don't care if we toast a motor or get all neutrals from the trans, LOL. The 2016 is where we start pushing the limits of our "bolt on kit" to really see where the platform can go with it.

Hope that makes sense... As always, back to the crawl, walk, run, and now sprint in our development plans.

 

Oooh...is that for the 4.7L whipple kit??

 

To reiterate on "right combination of options". There are TONS of amazing top shelf turbos coming on by multiple manufacturers, if someone wanted boost from 1000RPMs, we could size a turbo for that, if someone wanted all top end, we could size a turbo for that. Need more boost control / exhaust flow. Add a second wastegate. Turbo systems are so amazingly modular, you can start at A and end at Z pretty easily with the base bones of the kit.

 

I’m the wacko looking for 6psi at launch even with my incoming 5.29s so I can put the hurt on an unsuspecting raptor, and if the 5.29 gearing does what they say (33% increase in wheel torque) maybe even a TRX…at least hang even with one.

 

Lets do it

 

We're going to send this thing when it is ready, so who knows... maybe it will deliver above and beyond everything I was hoping to get. I won't say no to it, but if I had to choose, my choice is towing. If it becomes a raging asshole anywhere it wants to be, then who am I to stand in it's way?

 

You do it with the turbo, I’ll do it with the SC and we can see who does it better. Then I can decide if I need to spend another 7k.

I haven’t reached the bottom of the SC boost tunnel yet, lots of mods still on the table from larger TBs to smaller pulleys. I think I’m already at the max power level that is sustainable on the stock engine and trans. I’m hoping the gearing change puts the performance over the edge to where I’ll be satisfied.

 

Deal!

 

Here we go!!!!

https://youtu.be/v2AC41dglnM?feature=shared

 

Not sure what it is

 

@24% DC...

 

The 9 PSI run was technically at 28% SCG1 Boost control duty cycle... But still a huge difference from the lighter spring.

 

The jig says UZ SC Tensioner, I wonder if it's engine-specific or if the engine family shares the same mounting holes? Cool stuff, always love seeing someone bring another product to market for our trucks.

 

I messaged them they may have a billet tensioner in the works for us.

 

Damn it. Now I owe the SC guys one beer and some Dixie cups to share it. I'll buy you a beer, too, for misrepresenting.

 

Says UZ SC Tensioner. Hoping that's 2UZ-FE. That thing looks pretty!

 

@Jego - what's your status bud? This thread has been far too quiet and I'm uncomfortable.

I'm waiting for Dyno availability before I can post up about my experience driving the Stage 2. Until then, I'm just doing truck things with Jesse's stock 2016 Pro, which reminds me how much I love 5.29s.

For whatever reason, his stock truck chirps the tires with the tiniest but of throttle. It's almost embarrassing. A little throttle, even with the trailer attached, and it just barks up a storm. It def needs a Power Trax before it gets built.

 

On hold. Working with some home projects. My free time is non existent. My next chance will be in the last 2 weeks of December. Let's see.

Same here doing truck things. Few trips to Home Depot curbside pickup. Also went to pickup the christmas gift for my kids.



Jesse "stock" truck

My status:

Completed so far:

• AEM Water/Meth kit install (Also good progress in a detailed video about the install WIP)
• Gauge install
• Fuse box and harness relocation
• Model and 3D printed a frame for the upfitter switches
• Wire relay/fuse box
• Purchased the exhaust cutouts

Upfitter switch with 3d printed frame


New relay/fuse box

 

Just spoke to Jesse @TurboKits again this morning. While it has been quiet on this front, it has been anything but in back channels. Quick summary of where we are at:

Truck has been driven for a few weeks and he's been working the tune throughout. Sounds like it is as dialed in as it is going to get on a road tune. It hasn't been to the dyno yet because of an occasional #1 cylinder misfire that only shows itself in the 2-3 upshift and only at specific combo of RPM and boost level. Higher or lower in RPM or Boost and it doesn't happen. He's triaging that now. Borescope and compression tests say there is zero wrong with the cylinder. Once the weather breaks he'll be seeing if the issue follows the plug or not. If not, then it'll be tested for restriction further downstream (similar to what @nags dealt with back in 2022 in the SC thread).

This is the only thing between the truck, the dyno, and me. He didn't see this issue on his 2014 and he has the exhaust from that truck, so we have a chance to test apples/apples and to see what's up. Best case is that it is just a plug issue, but we have the ability to test a trusted baseline of parts if it isn't. I may very well find that I can't run a 21" muffler and that is the trade-off of making more power. I have a 21" because my pretty little ears don't like all the noise while towing.

I'll leave it to Jesse to fill in any blanks and to clarify or add details as needed.

I will say that I appreciate his commitment to delivering a perfect vehicle. Maybe I'd notice it, maybe I wouldn't, but he's making sure that isn't left up to chance. We couldn't have planned this any better, either. With this effort, he's effectively been able to test Stage 2, on a different baseline than his shop mules, in practically all season temperature ranges (New England has had a record setting fall season). Seeing Nags' issue confirms we're not in unchartered territory and that we're just experiencing things ourselves in a much more condensed timeline, which means we're on the right track. Not that it is a linear process in real-life, but getting to 8-9psi and getting up to issues identified only in 2022 in the SC thread is pretty awesome and reflects the truth behind FI is FI after the delivery method. That SC thread is a huge wealth of knowledge!

 

Interesting to hear about the big Bertha exhaust.

 

In what sense? That I have it, or that it's something we're looking at? It's been enjoyable to have it since the regear, but we just went seasonal for 2025, so if it needs to get rowdy again so be it.

Given he didn't have any issues with the Stage 2 2014 before he sold it, we're starting with the most obvious variable, which are the catback systems and then we'll move forward from there. I'm still hoping it's just a plug but we won't know until he can test, and after 5-6" of snow today and subfreezing temps all day tomorrow, it may not be until the weekend when he can get some logs.

EDIT: I do need to caveat the fact that we are simply speculating and still testing. We'll know soon enough what is going on. The muffler size may not be a variable at all.

 

I have the DD big mufflers, 5x22 Just wondering what they find. If it's a hindrance or he finds more power.

 

Matt Smith was the one to diagnose this for me when no one else could. He had come across the issue several times before. The second we took that cat out the issue was gone for forever.

 

I did reach out to Keith to confirm that even the "towing systems" are still flow thru vs chambered and he said everything he builds is flow-thru and shouldn't be a restriction. We'll know more once testing resumes. Nags' issue ended up being restriction due to clogged cat(s) but we're running a brand new GESI and we're not making 8-900HP, so... I suppose it could be bad from the box? He'll figure it out. Again, I'm really hoping he finds that it is a bad plug, but we'll see. All part of the journey.

 

I appreciate you responding yesterday. The idea of a restriction was floated and then I searched and found your scenario supporting the theory. It's a logical path to follow and we'll certainly make sure the result is posted up.

 

Every exhaust we saw on the market, at least from the Main name brands, Magnaflow, Flowmaster, aFE, etc... All listed about 50-70% Flow increase. We found the Banks Monster and it boasted a 114% flow increase with a 76% reduction in back pressure. So we selected that. Since our turbo kit goes straight out of the turbo with 3", we got rid of the driver side dog leg and went right from our downpipe to the Banks exhaust. It was silky smooth and flowed amazing. This is the exhaust Brian is talking about. It's a shame that Banks has discontinued it and it's not for lack of trying. I offered to purchase 10 sets if they would bring them back from the dead, but they told me they already scrapped the jigs...

I read through your timeline with it. Glad you figured it out!

 

As Brian stated, we are deep in figuring this out and will 100% report back once we have conclusive results. So far, we have on tap; new plugs (stock and 1 step heat range and will test different gaps), 3 new coil packs; AFEs high power, Ripps High Power and a Plasma one from Japan. If it's not in the plug / coil / or firing juice to the plug, then we will move onto downline restrictions.

As stated above, our take on the Banks exhaust, it really was the best we found at the time. Brians exhaust is perfect for NA and sounds low and smooth towing, but this is done with 2 mufflers and only a single 2.75" ID pipe to the tip. Thats a pretty small ID to try and pump 500WHP through. Since Cyl #1 is the furthest away from the exhaust tip, it may be losing out on scavenging, allowing a dirty charge to stay in the chamber. Normally in revs, this cleans itself out and we do not see any issues with it, especially with the turbo forcing the fresh, compressed air in, but during a 2-3rd shift, where it unloads for a second, it could be stopping / slowing the fresh air from getting in.

While Brian and US want nothing more than to just make all of the changes and get his truck back in his hands. We also want to only change one variable at a time, and confirm our theories. Kudos to Brian for not only being just a cool dude, but being a solid partner in this and all of the testing he has done throughout this whole process!

We are off to PRI next week, but have this weekend and Monday to do some more tests. Hoping for the best...

 

UPDATE: 12/09/24

Lots of testing this weekend. We started with installing a factory heat range spark plug at stock gap, figuring if we needed more spark energy, then let's rule out the 1 step colder plug and the tightened gap. This did not change anything. We then swapped out the #1 coil pack for a RIPP Mod high power coil pack. This again, did not change anything. We then swapped out for one of the aFe high power coil packs. Again, no change. The misfires were intermittent and would still tend to happen between a 2-3rd shift at full rip.

Ruling out spark energy issues, we then tested a few more maps, mostly with the I/E cam timing, to see if there was a way to force out the dirty charge we suspected was causing the misfires. Unfortunately, with the issue happening intermittently to begin with, it was hard to say if one change helped over another.

We then switched back to our NO VARRIBLES map. The next step was too see if freeing up exhaust restrictions would help. Since we leave for PRI early tomorrow AM, I figured a good, initial and quick test, would be to rotate the wastegate to the ground and block off the recirculation pipe. This essentially allows the exhaust, that the wastegate bypasses the turbo with, to dump straight to the ground, removing probably 30%+ of the exhaust flow from the CAT / CAT Back exhaust.

Good news, no misfires, super smooth after multiple hard runs over the course of about 30min. So it does seem like our theory of exhaust restrictions may hold true. The next step is to remove the current CAT Back and install the extra Banks system we have from our 2014 onto the 2019 and see if that keep the results moving in a positive direction. We will not get to that step until we return next week. Then, if all holds true, we'll hit the DYNO!

PSA: On a side note, and I have never bricked a computer with HP tuners on the Tundra yet (knock on wood). I had an odd thing happen when flashing the NO VARRIABLES map back on. When I started the "write" function, it started like normal but then "time remaining" shot up to 14-15min, mind you a 2019, writes 2 portions and they are usually about 1:30-2m in each write. It got through the first write after almost 15min and started the second, but failed about 30% in. So now I'm sweating.... Is this ECU going to brick right when I need to run a quick test. I tried again, watched almost another 20min and it failed again, truck would not start... Oh no, it bricked!! The whole time I had Matt from VF Tuners voice in my head "If a flash fails DO NOT disconnect the battery to try again, this locks the ECU into flash mode and "bricks" it". So I tried a 3rd time and after almost 30mins, the write completed, and the truck fired up. I let it idle for a bit as I recovered from my mini heart attack and then pulled the negative terminal to attempt a flash again. 2 reasons, I wanted to make sure the map was written and working and I also wanted to confirm it was flashing normally. Sure enough, both writes took the normal about 2min each and I was down the road testing. The PSA portion is basically this: "If ANY weird flashing issues arise when you are writing a MAP to your Tundra via HP Tuners (or any software), DO NOT disconnect the battery. Just continued to try and write the files until it completes."

Off to PRI shortly, we'll give a fresh update when we have more info.

Thanks!