Now with the exhaust all out, I am looking for a good place to that massive 4" throttle valve and cylinder that make the BD brake. Looks like the intended place, right forward of the resonator, is definitely the easiest. But it is right there in the water spray and dirt from the tires.
I was looking closely and seems like it would be possible to put it about 4" down from the turbo elbow, if I could only keep the 4" adapters at the right angle. Would it be a good idea? I have two concerns: weight of the brake hanging on the turbo (but turbo mounted ones hang there anyway), and whether or not I can get it to clear the bellhousing, engine and the frame.
What do you think?

 

I would mount it where the directions say to mount it.

 

I would say it would be hard to get around the bell housing. If your worried about road muck you could always make some sort of removable skidplate type device to go underneath it.

 

Just to make you feel better about mounting it where you are supposed to, both mine and my dads have had zero problems since I installed them. (mine 1 year, old mans 2.5 years) They can take all kinds of snow, slush, mud, water and we've never had problems.

 

Assuming it is an in-line brake?

Mine is mounted back behind / to the side of the transfer case. There is allot of room there, it is between two supports and it is above the frame rail. Before the PRXB I had a Banks turbo mount brake. No noticeable difference in performance between the two.

Jim

 

Jim I hope you mean on the performance side of things and not the retarding?

As for mounting your more then likely going to have trouble clearing the bell housing, it's tight and hard to roll the brake in there to seal it up with no leaks.

 

I am leaning that way. Tried today again, hard to tell if the casting will clear the firewall, I certainly don't want it touching. I think I will stick with installing it by the gearbox, just ahead of the resonator.

 

The surface of the exhaust brake will be hot, so you don't want it close to the PCM,any wiring, or under the hood.

While you are at it you could wrap your downpipe, exh. elbow, and the turbine housing. This will net you better spoolup, and lower under hood temps.

Just my 2c

AlpineRAM

 

Wrap? With what? I have never heard about it but the exhaust is all out, I would look into it. Thanks!

 

They sell kits that are made of fiberglass cloth and insulation that will wrap around the hot side of your turbo and the cloth can be wound around your down pipe. I beleive the cheapest place that I have seen them is on J C Whitney. Should help to keep the engine compartment alot cooler and help with your spool up to boot.

 

I have my exhuast brake mounted around the lines of next to my transfercase... about a foot before it goes to the 90 and up through the bed into the stacks.

Exhaust is supported by the Primary turbo, one exhaust hanger, and then the stacks themselves... Been that way for probably 40k now with no issues...

You will love a EB!!!

 

Header wrap material from the performance shop or boating shop.

If you have the manifold out at the moment you can alsodosome gasket matching and porting for better flow, and then have it ceramic coated. (or get really finicky with header wrap...)

AlpineRAM

 

I am not exactly sure what you mean, but suddenly I feel guilty. About something, just not sure what......

Performance wise, it is a 4 inch PacBrake so I have not noticed any performance drop.

Retarding wise, there might possibly be a slightly longer delay until I get braking action. It is really hard to compare side by side at this point on my truck. But if there is any additional delay is barely noticable and comparable in utility to the turbo mounted Banks brake I had. The only problem I had was getting the bottom turbo exhaust flange to seal and I used high temp silicon to cure that. I should say that I have two mufflers. The brake mounts between the two. At any rate it works well in my application.

My truck has twins regardless. The 5 inch down pipe precludes mounting anything else next to the bell housing. Another good feature of where I mounted my brake is that if I do change turbo's / down pipes, the brake is not effected.

Jim

 

Jim performance wise (power side) you should not notice any diff between the Pac to the Banks, retarding wise the PRXB should be holding you a lot better in the lower RPM's if it's not we need to talk and see whats going on.