So after years of research I finally pulled the trigger a month ago.
After a 2 week wait for Top Gun coatings in Calgary, finally got them installed last w/end.

The timing was right with the Cdn dollar near par, plus I had other things to pick up in Montana, plus ATS gave me a pretty good deal.
I gave the Canadian ATS dealers a chance (Peak in Vancouver & Snow West Dist. in Edm) but they were not close.

This thread helped my decision also: http://www.cumminsforum.com/forum/3r...ou-decide.html

ATS, despite their purple colors (my turbo's are NOT purple, I won't be installing purple parts on my truck ever), has really refined their kit & fitment over the years.
I have an extremely complex exhaust system with my remote BD exhaust brake, cat, 2 straight thru mufflers. The ATS kits bolt right up to the stock 4 inch turbo elbow & exhaust.
In fact, I could bolt on my stock turbo & manifold & go back to stock very easily.

I was not looking at race twins. My truck will never be a high HP truck & I have no idea what it will even dyno when I get them dialed in.
I was just looking for a nice towing twins, where I didn't have to drive by my pyro at all times.
I looked at nearly all the off the shelf twins kits.. From DDP, Wicked, Source, BD, MPI. Used twins kits, stock turbo twins kits, etc, etc..
MSRP on the ATS is the highest but when it came down to the final purchase price, they were not the priciest & they included shipping to Montana.



Specs:


The stock HE351 is a 60/60/9. There are twins kit that retain this turbo as does ATS to save significant dollars but that wasn't my preference.

BD towing twins: 57/65/14 over a 66/71/14. While this kit is great for towing most guys quickly out grow the small primary (bottom) & upgrade to the R700's

BD R700 twins: 57/65/14 over a 71/74. Many great reviews for this kit.
ATS 3000/5000: 59/65 over a 71/74. (ATS doesn't publish the exhaust housing sizes.)
The 2 kits are nearly identical in size.

I didn't take any install pics but only a few mods were required. Had to carefully bend the A/C lines on the passenger side which is common for nearly all twins kits, plus had to grind a small amount off the pass side motor mount.

I ordered the ATS twins kit with black powder coating instead of the lame purple. The exhaust manifold, cast iron intermediate pipe & both turbo exhaust housings came with black ceramic coated.
I took the 12 exhaust manifold bolt spacers, the turbo exhaust flange, turbo elbow & the downpipe to Top Gun coatings to for ceramic coating.
It took them 2 full weeks to do this which was too long.
But the work was very good quality & now worth it.

ATS shipped the kit in a huge box bolted to a wooden pallet. It was totally overpacked & not a scratch on anything.
This kit fit really well & is of extremely high quality. It's tight but clears everything & looks really good.
I ordered to kit to fit an aftermarket intercooler with 3.5" inlets but my intercooler is still back ordered. So I had to purchase a 2nd intercooler boot from ATS to fit my stock intercooler. ($US40 + shipping)

So far so good.. No leaks, no barking, no weird noises. The truck sounds identical, just a little more whistling.
ATS recommends taking it really easy for the 1st 500 miles. I have about 600 very easy km on it since installed on Sunday.
Only running Smarty on level 2 so far, haven't gone over 30 PSI or 900 degrees yet. Breaking the turbos in nicely plus this helps to cure the ceramic coating.


Pics...

Picture005.jpg?t=1286984675


Picture001.jpg?t=1286984668

 

Looks really nice. Cant wait to see it in person!

 

Congrats, looks good! What brand/model# air filter?

 

Glad everything worked out for you----probable surprise a few when pulling the 5er though some BC grades.

 

oooooo very snazzy

 

So are you gonna see what they do on Saturday?

 

wow! cant wait to see!

 

Very Nice I was Going to Ask you what you were Up to With that Montana Run

 

Haha i see you made your mind up joe. when i talked to you a year ago you werent sure if you were going to go for power or stay on the stock side. I've been looking pretty hard at either building twins or buying a set but didnt want to start asking about it till i learn a little more. Would you be so kind as to PM me a price?

 

Joe, have you hooked up any gauges onto the primary? Drive pressure? Sweet set-up buddy. I curious to see how you make out with the new twins. Congrats, on joining in buddy... took you long enough..

 

What did you do with your stock turbo?

 

yay, finally, it'll be interesting to compare the design and fitment of the ats kit vs my ddp kit this weekend. I see my setup is actually quite a bit larger than yours on both the primary and secondary. It will be interesting to see how it handles your trailer. It sure looks like a decent setup, congrats

 

Thanks guys & Daniela !!

Bumped up the Smarty to level 4 (90HP) tonite & easily got the twins up to 45 PSI with no issues. So far it's still good.
It's so nice to see the pyro move slowly rather than matching the tach previously.
I was using my exhaust brake & I don't notice much if any more delay than before. No exhaust leaks anywhere with the brake on at idle, which is nice.
I had trouble with pre-brake exhaust leaks when I 1st installed it 4 years ago.



The air filter is included in the twins kit. It's branded ATS but looks exactly like a AFE Pro-guard 5. I have an AFE pre-filter sock on order to keep the bugs out of it.


Probably not, but haven't totally ruled it out yet. I haven't installed the included ATS boost fooler & I got an "Overboost" DTC code tonite.
I have a used Edge EZ on the way & want to use that for boost fooling as well as a bit of in cab adjustable fuel rail pressure.




Pm sent but keep it kinda quiet..



Thanks Mike. Only 1 boost gauge so far. I'm hoping I don't have to add another one. At this point I don't plan on going past 50 PSI, so I should be fine.



Hi Brett, sorry but I plan on keeping the stock turbo (it's still bolted to the CR exhaust manifold) for a while. As I mentioned if it all goes wrong or something catatrophic happens I can easily go back to stock.




Thanks again for helping me decide to go straight to twins Brad. I appreciate the time you took & the test drives!
I look forward to comparing & further discussion. This kit is not perfect, no kit is, but so far so good.

Plus I have more questions for you...


...Joe

 

Lol, you have the ARP 625s on there joe, I'd be very disappointed if you didn't push it past 50 pounds of boost lol, hell I make more than that out of my one turbo haha. Glad to see you finally pulled the trigger on a twins set though, I remember you talking about twins back in the day when I first met you over two years ago now haha.

 

finally got iti n and buttoned up! looks good, i bet it works even better!

still need a ride up? you better be bringing your truck after starting a thread like this!