What exactly is a wicked wheel and how can it help?

 

On the late99-03 7.3s the compressor wheel has the tendency to surge ( the wheel stopping and going at very high rpm). So to fix the issue a wheel from the 94.5-e99 was installed to eliminate the surge. A new design has come out ww2 and has been a decent upgrade in flow. But at a $299 price tag it is not cost effective.

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Generally, not much of an upgrade. If you had surging issues, it may seem benefical, but even then its questionable. The biggest issue is the turbos are all high speed balanced when assembled, by swapping parts out like that, you can't guarantee they are balanced. Many have done it before (myself included a long time ago) and it works, just not the most ideal.

If you are looking to add horse power, there are much better ways.

 

So please explain how it's better to not upgrade the turbo wheel when adding over extra power via custom tuning.?





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Not a problem, i know it sounds somewhat counter-intuitive. Let me explain.

To make HP on a diesel you only need to add fuel. As you add fuel will eventually see an increase in smoke and exhaust temperatures. We add larger exhaust systems, larger intakes, larger/upgraded turbos, intercoolers, water injection, or nitrous in an attempt to get more air into the engine. This increase in air flow generally doesn't show an increase in HP, what it does is allow us to make that power with lower exhaust temps. The benefit of this is 2 fold:

1) In a "competition" (or playing on the street) scenario you can push the truck harder before you reach those dangerous temperatures

2) In a "working" scenario while pulling a heavy load through the mountains or merging onto the interstate, you can make more HP while maintaining safe temperatures giving you more "useable" horse power.

The main problem with the wicked wheel is the actual size of the wheel (known as the trim) stays the same. There is a difference in the blade configuration which Ford implemented to decrease the amount of whistle the turbo made . .. this had the unfortunate result of bringing the surge line down a little and effectively narrowing the compressor map.

My statement was not intended to say that turbo mods are not beneficial. If the OP uses his truck to pull a trailer and the only problem he's seeing is turbo surge in some situations, this may in fact fix his issue.

But, if he is trying to control exhaust gas temps that are running 1400-1500 and up, the wicked wheel will not resolve that issue. If he is running 1250 or 1300 while towing, the wicked wheel may give enough margin to get you in the 1200-1250 range make things safer.

My goal was to let him know that the WW will not increase HP, you won't install it and think "man, my truck is so much faster". The whistle is cool though!

When I was very new to diesels, I spent a lot of money on parts that I thought were "affordable" hoping to make a little more power. The reality is most of the time I ended up disappointed that I couldn't ever "feel" a difference in how the truck ran. I did install a WW and other than sound, there was no difference.

Now, the potential negative to the WW swap is opening up exhaust leaks, boost leaks, boogering up the turbo when you are swapping wheels, getting crud down into the turbo, or worst case (not very likey, but possible) an imbalanced turbo. I just see the wheel swap being a bit more of a potential liability than what you get in gains.

I guess we need to know why he's looking for a WW, because it does have its place in the market for the right person.

What are your performance mods? (who's tuner, gauges, injectors)
How do you use your truck? (tow, daily drive, truck pull etc)
Manual or Auto trans?
What are your goals with this mod?

If you want a little extra surge margin and would be happy with a 25-50* drop in egt, this may be the mod for you.

If you are looking for a HP increase or 200-300* drop in egt, this is not the mod for you.

Again, Turbo mods are good . . . Upgraded turbos are good . . . I'm a huge fan of feeding diesel w/as much air as you can get to it to keep it clean . . . but you have to match the solution with the problem or else you won't get the results you are looking for.

Sorry I wasn't more clear in my original post.

 

a wicked wheel is and excellent upgrade to eliminate compressor surge and it is a must for any 99-03 that is tuned 75hp or more. it will prevent 90% of turbo failures

 

but if he has a surge issue and the WW is already 299 dollars or whatever why not jsut spend the extra money on a ported housing? or both? not trying to be rude just asking a question? cause i installed a TS 6 pos chip and i get some surge and was debating on whether to get a WW or just say screw it and save for a ported housing?

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Great write up on turbos though BTW

 

I think before i got a ww and a ported housing the gtp38r would be sitting on my 7.3 pedestal