Dodge Diesel - Diesel Truck Resource Forums

So after a long time lurking on this and other diesel forums, I finally decided I should be a contributor. I had been eyeballing the Fleece Cheetah VGT for some time now as a good mild upgrade to the factory setup when I stumbled across an ad for the BD Diesel Screamer turbo that was recently released. Specs being similar, I decided to look into it a little more. The Screamer, although a bit more expensive, does have slightly larger wheels at 64.5/70 vs a 63/?? for the Cheetah, and comes with a brand spanking new VGT actuator rather than a reman unit. This was the biggest kicker for me as I've had nothing but problems with reman actuators in the past. Better flow, new actuator, quality company....how could I go wrong?

Now I know, the "popular" thing to do is to do a 2nd Gen swap and do away with the whole VGT thing. Being that I already had all the deletes, CAI, and tuning, I honestly just wanted a drop in turbo that would at least be a mild upgrade to the stocker and retain my factory exhaust brake as I tow through the mountains of the PNW most of the summer and let's face it....it's **** handy. As we all know, one big downside to the factory turbo is the drive pressure, which BD claims is reduced with their Screamer turbo. Looking at all the options, I decided to bite the bullet and to make a long story short, I ordered one of these up around the 1st of the year and had it in hand shortly thereafter. During my research and lurking, I found very little information on any upgraded HE351VE, so for all you people out there in my same shoes, it's your lucky day! Here's how it arrived, very impressed with the molded foam packaging and that it came complete with all seals and gaskets for installation.]

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Installation......
Removal and installation is fairly straightforward really, and I really didn't need anything in the way of special tools as I've read elsewhere. Some tips though, remove the battery, battery box, and inner fender. It's just way easier and you'll end up cussing a lot less. The oil drain on the bottom of the turbo can be accessed from underneath if you bend the little heatshield out of the way. I couldn't get the drain out of the block, but was able to get the turbo out and back in regardless.

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Now for the all important pictures that everyone wants to see.......

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Installation was simply reversing the removal. I had to have a buddy give me a hand with all the heavy lifting as I recently broke a rib and couldn't really do much!

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INITIAL RESULTS.....
This thing rocks! It spools like stock, and exhaust brake seems to work better than it ever has. I haven't had much time to ring the thing out, but did run it up to the low 30psi range and the back pressure was still in the 30s as well. Roads are pretty sketchy around here lately with patchy ice so more thorough testing will come as soon as I can. A quick trip across the pass to Seattle last weekend yielded good street/highway manners on all the box Mini Maxx tunes and mileage seems to be the same as the stocker. EGTs appear to be down about 100 degrees across the board I'd say as well. So far, I'm giving this thing a big thumbs up. I'll be updating this thread as time goes on with some videos if anyone wants to see them showing boost and DP numbers.