Hey Im in Texas and I LOVE my B1B . I have the full B1 and I really dont have a problem with spool up and the egts are VERY manageable (peaks at 1200 pre turbo ) and Im pushin quite a bit of fuel. I havent had any experience with the 55 but from all the info I gathered, before I spent my hard earned dollar, the B1 is just flat out TOUGHER than the 55. There are several pullers out there running the B1 and one in particular said he has lost count of how many bottles of NO2 he has used with his B1 . To me that says a lot for a turbo . Like I said Im not bashing the 55 but I am just stating what convinced me to go with the B1B as well as my exsperiences with the sweetheart .
Good luck, whichever route you take,
Scott

 

Whatever happened to my E-mail notifications?

I guess quick reply doesn't put in your e-mail notification.
Sorry 'bout that guys, it seems I was MIA.
----------

Rod,
The '55's have been holding up fine,,,, BUT,,,, There is One Golden Rule. Do NOT OverBoost them! With the size of compressor wheel that is on these babies, overspeeding/overboosting will actually allow the wheel to grow on the shaft, and even though the shaft nut is tight, the compressor wheel will move around on the shaft, and a .25mg weight difference at 150,000RPM will lead to a Hushed little "PUFF" under your hood. (Numbers are for example)

Justin,
An HX-55 will not bolt up to the Exhaust Manifold. PM gunracer1 on the board. He was doing an HX-55W.

The Nice thing about J.R's '55....
It's more than a '40 can offer.
It has bigger bearings, and bigger shaft than a '40
It will bolt right up to the oil drain, and exhaust manifold.
It comes ready to attach to a 4" Downpipe.
It is internally WG'd,, no need to buy an external WG.

Right now, J.R. and I are working on a Little '55 that could be a replacement for guys running a 40/16 or a modded 40/18.


I know that Joe Donnely has blown up several stock '55's, and so has Don_M,, along with others, but the common denominator was simple to see. We have taken that problem, eliminated it, modified the turbo to control boost, and bolt up without an adaptor plate. The problem is no longer a problem, and these babies will run very nice.

Scott,
Any turbo can be setup to run NOS. The problem is, when people hit the edge of the Performance Envelope of their turbo, and they spray a 150HP shot of Nitrous to it. PUFF.

I know a guy who promplty blew up a B-1, and sent pieces of the compressor wheel through his hood in 3-4 places because of the NOS.
If you see a 10PSI increase of boost when hitting the Nitrous, you have to either WG that energy off, or be 10PSI under you max safe boost before you spray. Nitrous does not blow up turbo's,, improper or no tuning will.



2broke2smoke,
The 89% converter is very nice for the power range you will be in. It's not too tight to exagerate lag, and not to loose to pull through at WOT.

Merrick

 

2broke2smoke:

I don't know if you have made a decision on which turbo
to buy yet but wanted to give you some additional
information.

Let me start out by saying that the members have already
given you some good advice on B-1 vs HX-55. Merrick's last
post was very good especially considering the "adaptability"
of the HX-55; (not having to change alot of stuff!)

I had BOTH the regular housing B-1 and the "Quikspool"
B-1 on my 1996 Dodge CTD (see signature for mods).
BOTH B-1 models had terrible lag on my 96' especially
when towing! At the time, Kurt Yardley told me that
the "Quikspool" would tow much better so I bought one
of those. Well,.......that turbo was slightly better but still
had a bad bottom-end lag and the EGT's were worse!
Additionally, that KS B-1 had a "skipping" or "stalling"
that would start occasionally when towing and that
"skipping" would actually start a "shudder" in the truck
if you didn't let off the throttle or accelerate through it!!
Very annoying to say the least. I ended up going back
to a Piers HX-40/16 which has served me very well!
I realize this post and advice is going to make some
people mad, but you should know that the B-1's are
not perfect!!

As Merrrick pointed out, the HX-55 "bolts right up!"
At the time I bought the B-1's I had to ruin a good
HX-40 downpipe to weld the B-1 "flange" to that
downpipe!! They may have "complete" B-1 downpipes
now but at that time they didn't!!

Anyway,.....good luck on whatever you decide!

----------
John_P

 

Can I change my mind.

 

Sounds like the lil '55 might be a really nice option for those who need just bit more than a pdr40.

It's always a tradeoff. Do you want a stronger turbo or a faster spooling one? The mass required to make a turbo strong is the enemy of quick spooling.

Personally, I would say that if you want a pulling turbo (constant WOT, no shifts), the a uber-beefy charger like the B1s would be a great way to go.

But if you want max acceleration, you need a really light barely-stong-enough turbo that will spool in a blink.

Pulling and drag racing are totally different animals.

It's laughably ridiculous that the big dogs like Garrett have chosen to COMPLETELY IGNORE the CTD market! Certainly, fellas like us would pay decnt money for a BB garrett that spooled fast and lasted a long time.

Justin

 

If we're thinking of the same charger and same guy, we do need to note that the B1 in question already had dozens of nitrous runs on it at 65-70 PSI before it finally let go.

As an alternate view point, I have a sled pulling customer who has 300+ hooks on his full B1 nitrous burner. We've wasted him out at 60 PSI, which is much higher than I frankly prefer. He recently pulled the turbo down thinking he would at least require bearings, but after doing the measurements, he simply slapped it back together again as the wear was well within parameters.

John,

As for your results with either the KSB1 or the full B1, perhaps you should also mention how long its been since you tried either charger. Since you installed the KSB1 and the B1, several revisions have been made to the compressor AND turbine sides to reduce lag and eliminate the surging common to turbos from those years. And there is additional model, KSB1B, which is in the same class as an HX40/16 (vis-a-vis EGT control), that will simply blow the doors off any HX40 on the market.

Rod

 

arghh,, Here I go, as I type this again because my computer crashed...
-------

John,
The B turbos now have the $50+ option to have the Exhaust flange Machined to bolt up to a standard 4" Downpipe.

I have a customer that got a new wheel on a KwikSpool B-1-ex4, that I understand Nowell helped design. He's running a SunCoast Low-Stall, Mach 1.5's, and a Drag Comp. He says that on 5x5 from a dead stop he's got good boost only 10' out, and only 1400* to 100+MPH.
The Problem? He wants more power! LOL. He's running 48PSI as he sits now with only 80HP injectors, so he's out of options untill he can WG it, or do some head work.

Also John, atleast turbo threads aren't as bad as tranny threads! LOL.
The thing is, the HX-55 turbo isn't perfect either.

The turbo game is a big compromise, and many people have found the B turbo's to be a great compromise of top-end and bottom end.
Others are satisfied with HX-40's, and some even with HX-35/40's.

The downside of this turbo, is, as a single, it's only going to be safe to 40-43PSI.
With the airflow this turbo can make, that's good for 500+RWHP.

Ryans truck with BD4's (100HP)
Drag COMP,
and the proper Exhaust/Intake/Clutch made 506RWHP on the dyno. That's above what a '40 could support with that combination.

Rod,
I think we are thinking about the same guy,, Chris Strickland here in Tx. Yes, that turbo did have some runs on it, and he's known for pushing the limits. That was also some time ago. Problem was the setup he was running, the turbo should have held.

Justin,
The '55 is a big turbo, but the modifications we are doing, it shold spool similar to an HX40/18. You could have your cake and eat it too.

Andrew, and Justin, The Garrets don't have aturbo big enough yet to really compete, adn reliability has been slightly worse that a Majestic HX-40. When they do get their stuff together, they will be good contenders.

Merrick

 

Thanks to all for the posts ... GREAT information ... and especially to J.R. for the pm attempting to teach the turbo illiterate (me)

 

Merrick:

Thanks for the "update" on the B-1 "flange" situation.
Also,......you are right that "these turbo threads aren't
as bad as tranny threads!"

------------
Rod:

You are right, it has been awhile since I ran the B-1's
on my truck. (A little over a year now.) And I also know
that you absolutely LOVE the things!! BUT,......as recently
as last summer I talked with owners of the B-1's who
either "loved em or hated em" depending on the situation.
(i.e. towing, drag racing, sled pulling etc.) At the ATS Rally
last May an owner of a 2003 Dodge CTD (Common Rail)
was complaining of the EXACT SAME PROBLEM on his K-45
that I had with that KS B-1!! That being, the turbo began
"skipping" or "stalling" under hard acceleration or while
towing. He himself was working with Ken on the problem
but I never heard whether they got it fixed. I have never
said the B-1's weren't tough. They are. But, IMO, toughness
is only one part of evaluating a turbo especially when that
turbo is over $1,600.00!! Also, you and I have had "discussions"
before about "B-1 vs Piers HX-40." You say it (B1) will "blow the
doors off of any HX-40 on the market!" I KNOW for a fact
that on my old 96' Dodge CTD that the B-1 only had eight
(8) more horespower than the Piers' HX-40!!! Eight
horespower Rod!!! That was on a Mustang Inertia Load
Dyno!! Kurt had told me it would be 45-50 H.P. over a "stock"
HX-35/12!! I'm sorry, but I just don't see where in my case
that B-1 was "blowing the doors off" the HX-40!!

IMO, the DTR members considering buying a new single
turbocharger should hear all sides as to the "pros and cons".

-----------
John_P

 

1) We don't touch the K.45s around here as we don't like them. No where near enough cooling for the cost of the charger. I'm currently running a KSB1B on my 03, and have 0 surge issues. We've got 4 other 03's using the KSB1B Tow, and they also have 0 surging issues from the Tow compressor. If you're towing, you simply need the Tow version of the compressor. If you are concerned about max EGT reductions, then you put the standard B1 compressor on the truck and learn how to drive through the surging at 17-1800 RPM.

2) Arguably, toughness is the most important part of the equation. At least it is for us around here. We own the toughest diesel engine on the market, so why put a charger on the truck if its going to launch itself into a thousand pieces? Not saying the HX40 will, but over the past year we've replaced 15 exploded 40s, some of which hadn't even seen 35 PSI of boost. We've also replaced 4 exploded 55s. Despite what the manufacturers promise, only 3 of those chargers were covered under warranty. We simply feel that a Holset charger (I'm exempting JR's 55 here, as we have 0 experience with it and it sounds like he's possibly found the cure) has no business on a performance oriented truck above 400 HP.

3) You also have to keep in mind that HP is only a small part of the equation. We select our chargers for a truck based on EGT control. Whats the point in having 400 or 500 HP if you can't use it? A KSB1B definitely won't out horsepower an HX40/16, but it will outspool it easily, and horsepower for horsepower, your EGTs will be lower. A full B1 will easily outpower an HX40/16, as long as you have enough fuel being put to it. We've got several full B1's running at 500 HP. EGTs are reasonable at 1400F. EGTs with an HX40/16 at 500 HP would be off the gauge. In your case, with only 8HP differential, you simply weren't putting enough fuel down. I don't even think about running a B1 until 450, or a KSB1 until 400 or 425.

You're right John, we love those B1s around here. But only because they have absolutely earned our trust. We've learned where each of the B1s can be used effectively, slap them on the trucks, and we know the customer is going to cruise off down the road trouble free and happy. Its a beautiful thing

BTW, I like that we can discuss these chargers without it turning into a tranny war DTT anyone?

Rod

 

I dont think ANYONE is producing a HX55 hybred as we speak. I do believe that the early 50's from up north had 55 center sections with non-wastegated housings. The current up north 50's are 50 center sections with non-wasted housings. My Hx55 hybred is wastgated (which is ESSENTIAL to controlling turbin speeds and promoting long life) and there are QUITE a few versions of this wonderful charger to choose from. One of which no one but my self can get "up on top of". I would love to see a B-1 quiped truck @ 500-550 hp with ONLY 1400* EGT's @ WOT.


J.R.

www.LaredoPerformanceDiesel.com

 

Certainly. Track down one of my customers with a PM3, Mach 3s, Scotty II, and a full B1 and you'll see 500 HP with 1400F EGTs. Our 01 test truck was 475HP, with dribbly DD3.5s, KSB1, and a Scotty and while temps would spike to 1500, once road speed got up there and the cowl induction started working, EGTs would drop to 1300F.

But I do think its awesome that you've found a way to make that 55 work in these trucks. Its definitely a compressor with a heckuva map for high pony trucks.

Rod

 

Since I stay in the darkened shop and design some of my own products I do have a question...slightly off topic but perhaps a good one.

How would a B1KS and the HX55 that JR has developed work in a twin set up? I'll be more specific...for good power and towing ability on a 3rd gen in the 550 plus HP range.

 

Rod,
Thanks for the complement.


Scotty,

What are the inducer and exducer's measurments?(The portion of the wheel that you can see with the housing on) The over all wheel size to.(or "backside")


J.R.

 

The 3rd Gens are really good about spooling up turbo's,, better so than ISB's, but really do better with a cam.

I'm putting a 'Little '55 on my 12V tonight, mated to a Big Air HT4B. I'll have to give yall a report on how it does with my Titanium laced foot. (~2 weeks untll I can say anything)

I'm putting an experimental '55 on my 24V from J.R. and if the setup works like we think it will,, this will be a B-1 Killer.


I'm giving a 6 month Warrenty on this turbo,, I trust J.R's work, and will put my money there. Transferable for remainder of warrenty also.

This turbo isn't something new, but it is re-designed. I hardly think we should call it a hybrid... Or is this one of the first "true Hybrids" available to the general public?

I think a Baby '55 would do quiet well for People who have surpassed the Capabilities of an HX-40.


Merrick