I have a 97 explorer with the sohc. I was originally going to put an m90 that i got from Brian on it. Now i want to do a turbo. After seeing dougs post about the rear mounted turbo it got me thinking. I have plenty of room underneath my drivers seat to mount a turbo. Does the turbo need to be ran off both banks of the engine? I have enough room under the drivers side to go: Exhaust manifold, cat, turbo, exhaust out from turbo to muffler on pass side. Then of course the intake piping to the TB. I would also like a do a true dual exhuast, so would anything be bothered if the turbo is only ran off one side of the engine?

Your going to have "trouble" spinning the turbo off only one side. You'd get much better, and faster spool up from the turbo if you used both banks of exhaust gas.

i dont know how efficent it would be, but , you might want to throw around the idea of running two seperate turbos, but even with that i woud still recommend an x-pipe before the turbos, to equalize pressure and make sure both are making the same boost, which is probably the reason you only need one, hmm, something to think about

on a side note: im suprised no one else has gotten that username before...

I figured that was going to be the case. My stock setup is two seperate pipes into one muffler. So onto my next idea, I guess im going to have to use a y pipe off the manifolds.....to the turbo.....then to a muffler. Now will this hurt performance any by using a y pipe?

i dont think so b/c if you run one turbo through the exhaust after the y pipe, the pressure will be equalized and give you more pressure and consistant flow, than through one turbo running off one side of the engine

What size turbo would you plant to use man. I was thinking a T3/T4 for mine if I try this someday.

on my 4.0 ohv i used a t3/4 hybird ... used the stock manifolds and y pipe .... without tuning it put out 292hp@4800 rpms and 345tq@3500 rpms ... the engine had about 15psi which was too much and blew headgaskets ...... and had a problem with clutches at first .... you will need to lower you compression among other things .... since your engine puts out 210 at the flywheel with 7.5 psi it will put out about 315 hp ... at 15 psi it will put out 420hp which you will have problems with reliability .... with the turbo it will be a sleeper ... only slightly louder then stock .... i still have the solid motor mounts for the 4.0 ohv but i am not sure if they will fit your truck

on my 4.0 ohv i used a t3/4 hybird ... used the stock manifolds and y pipe .... without tuning it put out 292hp@4800 rpms and 345tq@3500 rpms ... the engine had about 15psi which was too much and blew headgaskets ...... and had a problem with clutches at first .... you will need to lower you compression among other things .... since your engine puts out 210 at the flywheel with 7.5 psi it will put out about 315 hp ... at 15 psi it will put out 420hp which you will have problems with reliability .... with the turbo it will be a sleeper ... only slightly louder then stock .... i still have the solid motor mounts for the 4.0 ohv but i am not sure if they will fit your truck


Lowering his compression will no longer give him 210 hp at the flywheel and with the head bolt arrangement he has, it'll still be having headgasket problems with heavy boost. It'll need some serious tuning to be able to survive.

Bird

Thanks for the replies guys. Im not looking at making crazy hp and tq right now. All I was is about 6 psi to start. I talked to my exhuast guy today and his price is $500 - $600 Canadian for all the stainless pipe installed. All I have to do is plan everything out and go over it with him. This is where i need your guys help. I have no idea what size turbo to get, Ill start with 6psi and at a later date (depending on parts for this engine maybe 12 - 15psi). What would be the best way to set this up? When I talked to him about it he suggested, headers to "y" pipe with 2.5", y pipe to high flow cat, cat to turbo In, 3" out from turbo to muffler. Then 2.5" or 3" to the TB. Is this my best bet?

Now I want to mount it under my drivers seat where my t-case used to be. Will I need some type of heat shield to put it there? What about and intercooler? If i mount the turbo there, then pipe to the TB will be roughly 8 - 10ft. Also what size injectors? Can I use my stock TB and mass air? Will my stock fuel pump be fine for 6psi?

On my stock exhaust setup I have 2 cats and 4 o2 sensors. If I move to 1 cat what will happen to the other 2 sensors? I've also been searching for headers, theres nothing for a 97 Sohc. The explorer headers for the sohc start at 99. Will these bolt right up? My only thought is for 97 and 98 is the headers wont bolt up to the stock exhaust, thats why there not listed. Is this correct? Sorry for all the question guys and I appreciate your help so far.

from what i have read and heard if you use headers(other then ss) they will not be able to withstand the heat ..... i went with the stock exhaust tubing(2") to maintain exhaust velocity to get the turbo spinning quicker ..... the inlet to the turbo was also 2" .... if you go bigger like 2.5" you might have a problem with turbo lag ... if you mount the cat to turbo you will be taking away some of the velocity .... it should be exhaust manifolds to y pipe to turturbo in .... out 3" to cat to muffler ... and you do want to keep as much heat in before the turbo to keep the velocity up .... too slow velocity equals turbo lag and only making power on the top end ..... one good thing about the t3/4, it is an upgraded turbo for a 3.8 grand national .... look at the turbo set-ups from the factory none of them have the cats before the turbo .... do a search to learn more about turbo and what the impellers sizes do ot the boost and at what rpm ... i do have a few books that i read on this subject that would really help you out ... i'll sell cheap and they look brand new

I see what your saying now about the pipe sizes and setup. I did some reading and it looks like headers arn't really recommended for a turbo setup b/c they free up back pressure. However I didnt come across anything about the heat. What do you think, header or just stick with the exhuast manifolds? I also read up on impeller sizes and stuff but I still dont see what turbo I need. All I found out is the bigger the A/R number, the later in the rpm range the turbo will start to work and the higher it will top out. What turbo should I be looking for? Thanks for your time.

A local guy here was going to fab me up a fully custom turbo kit for my Explorer (4.0 SOHC) using a t-61 turbo.... We were going to re-locate the battery to the back and mount the turbo where the battery sits... All measurements were taken and everything would have worked......

He was going to create 2 new log manifolds and bring them together right before the turbo... The turbo was going to be a top mount....

I'm sure he could still do a turbo kit for someone.... But i'd have to ask him.

A local guy here was going to fab me up a fully custom turbo kit for my Explorer (4.0 SOHC) using a t-61 turbo.... We were going to re-locate the battery to the back and mount the turbo where the battery sits... All measurements were taken and everything would have worked......

He was going to create 2 new log manifolds and bring them together right before the turbo... The turbo was going to be a top mount....

I'm sure he could still do a turbo kit for someone.... But i'd have to ask him.

this thread may be old, ionno, but yea im lookin to turbo mine now... send me some info if you can

I guess I should post an update of whats going on. Right now my Explorer is at the shop and the turbo is being installed. I have choosen a T04E turbo with a 57 trim .60a/r compressor and a "p" trim .70a/r exhaust housing. I had to get rid of my ac, windshield washer fluid, move my battery to the back, and mount just the coolent where the battery used to be. I also had to move one tranny cooler line to fit the cold side piping. The turbo is mounted where the washer/coolent tanks where. I have 2" pipe off the manifolds to the turbo in and then a 3" downpipe. All the cold side piping is 2.5". Ill be using a 80mm Pro M universal maf and #30 injectors. Im thinking about running 6 - 9 PSI right now. I have to stay away from 300whp until I rebuild and update the tensioners. I'll post some progress pics up soon. Any questions feel free to ask!

Whats the estimtaed cost?

So far I got $2000 Canadian invested for all the parts. I didnt really cheap out, the turbo is a brand new Garrett, Tial wastegate, etc. The shop that its at right now is gonna charge me between $500 and $800 Canadian for the install, then my tuner charges $200 an hour (says it will only take an hour). So at this point the most its gonna cost me is $3000 and the least $2700.