I have seen some pretty cheap reconditioned superchargers on the web, and i was wondering if anyone had experience with them. my truck comes stock with 250hp, and these superchargers claim around 100hp gain. (at the crank) obviously this kind of power will eat the tranny, but haow about the rest of the driveline? does a supercharger compromise the longtivity, or relability of my 360?

let me know what your think. Thanks!

p.s.,i would also be adding heartland sharpp 1.7's, and pacesetter quicktrip long tube headers.

 

by the way, my truck has 130,000 on the original motor and tranny. thanks

 

Everyone always gets all horny when they are only looking at one component of the system.

Forced induction can yield massive gains, but there's a lot more to the system then just the "air pump" (turbocharger or supercharger).

In order to properly force feed a motor, you'll also need to address the following:
- oil feed and return
- additional fuel (larger injectors, larger pump, or both)
- custom tuning for both fuel and ignition curves
- charge piping and intercooling
- mounting brackets for a supercharger with longer accessory belt or exhaust manifold for a turbo

Then you get to worry about how your engine internals and driveline components will take the extra power.

Are you taking into consideration all of this other stuff when you see these "cheap" superchargers for sale?

 

TurboABA is right but I would like to add a couple of comments ......

(1) Not all superchargers require an oil feed. Mine for example holds its own oil.
(2) If your only boosting 6 psi and under you don't actually need an intercooler (although
they are nice to have)
(3) Definately have to worry about your motor with those kind of miles. Don't forget that
it will most likely eat your trans and I don't think the heads will like it much either.

 

Deffinetly gonna need a beefed up head gasket too.

You'd probably want to rebuild the engine with stronger components too before you put a blower on it.

 

I did some research on them when my truck was at 70k miles. I was told that the low boost pressures, that kits for our trucks would use, are low enough that they would not cause any additional wear, blow out gaskets, etc. But if there's already a problem with the motor, it will make it worse. With that said, I just put a Jasper motor in mine and any supercharger installed on it will void the warranty. I'm sure they are just covering themselves but, something to think about.

With that many miles on your motor, I'd start saving now for a new one. Personally, I wouldn't spend the money on a supercharger to only have the motor last another 60k miles. I also would be a bit wary about reconditioned superchargers. You don't know the condition of the bearings in it or any other internals for that matter. Those things spin hard. I would hate to put the money in all that is required to have it spit its guts out the housing.

 

thanks for the input guys. i know about all of the piping, more fuel, and intercooler bs, and it is all being taking into consideration. the only reason i am thinking of supercharging my ram is because the ford guys are doing it to there f150's, with little to know side-effects.


here is another question, if a supercharger will kill engine internalls, what will other mods do? what i mean by that is: if i ad H.S. roller rockers, long tube headers, and a tunner, what will that extra power do to the engine/tranny/drive line?

once again guys, thanks for the info, i appreciate all of the wisdom you guys have to offer.

 

1 - Yes, self contained units are also available, but I'm not a big fan of them since the oil cannot be cooled. In a fed unit, you can run an auxilary oil cooler.

2 - Low boost non intercooled applications are almost not worth it. We all know that a cooler charge = more oxygen = more power. Once again, I already hate blowers because of the parasitic drag, but if I were going to use one, I'd definately want to run an IC.

Once again, these are my preferences, but I suggest the original poster look at a complete setup to see all that's involved before venturing into this modification.

 

OOOps..... you responded while I was typing, so ignore some of my post! LOL

If you plan on using low boost 5-8psi, your stock engine internals should take the abuse as long as you don't lean it out or go to aggresive on the timing advance. (and run an intercooler to keep charge temps down) I would also suggest an additional oil cooler for extra "safety".

Before you add boost, make sure that you do a full compression and leakdown test on your engine. If your rings/valves/pistons have too much wear, adding boost will cause you problems. You should also look into stronger valve springs, and as mentioned above, better head gaskets would be beneficial.

From that point, pray that your transmission can deal with the extra torque.

Be warned... BOOST is worst then crack! Once you start, you'll never stop!

 

1 - Self contained units can use better racing synthetic oils and do not suffer the
disadvantage of getting any debris from the motor

2 - Low boosting is worth it. On our motors you can pick up 80 hp without causing a lot of
problems.

(3) AGREED