Quik

iTrader: (7)

from some info i gathered that ball bearing turbos are the better turbos and they spool alot faster. but today after talking with someone said ball bearings werent needed.....what are some proven facts and ppls opinions

Steve88

iTrader: (5)

Ball bearing turbos will spool faster there is no doubt about that but if you use a properly sized turbo for your application I don't think they are necessary in most applications. BB turbos are relatively new and are the rage in turbos right now but people have been going fast with turbo'ed vehicles for years before the bb turbos hit the scene. A lot of people over turbo a motor and that's where poor spool up begins and a BB turbo will help that problem. If money is no object then there really is no downside to a BB turbo but if money is an object then you can save nearly 50% of the cost of the turbo using a properly sized journal bearing turbo.

Turbo 6.0

BB turbos also tend to be a all around higher quality turbo too.

TurboBerserker

iTrader: (1)

agreed

Quik

iTrader: (7)

erik what you running? and what do you suggest for me since you have agood idea on what my setup will be

txredxj

ball bearing turbos are also suppose to last longer. but when they go out they are toast. journal types can develop play and skim aluminum off the compressor side and feed it to you engine. seen it many times on series 60 Detroit's.

Steve88

iTrader: (5)

I feel that the qaulity of a journal bearing turbo is just as high as a BB as long as its built by a good builder. I had a Buick T-Type a few years ago that had 204K miles on the original turbo and never had a problem. I bought it from the original owner that was a lady I knew and it still had the the stocker on it when I sold it. Just as a side note I put a new timing chain on the car(they are plastic geared) and a new set of $60 vlave springs, K&N and a chip and went 13.55 on 215/65 street tires and 204K miles and a non-posi rear!

TurboBerserker

iTrader: (1)

Mine are journal bearings (as have all the turbos I've run on any street car).

BB turbos are primarly run in high high boost setups to improve the reliability of the turbo (they reduce the stress on the center shaft). They can also help increase the spool -- but *NOT* like everyone thinks.

Here's an example: Let's say my .43 A/R twins begin to spool at 3000 rpm and reach full boost by 3800 rpm (completely made up numbers!). If I switched to BB turbos, they would still start to spool at 3000rpm -- what controls that start point is the A/R and nothing else -- however, they may reach full boost by 3500 rpm because the ball bearings will allow the turbine wheel to accelerate faster than the journal bearing setup. You can achieve the same (or similar) results by using a light weight turbine wheel.

Think of it like this: velocity of the air spinning the turbine determines when the spool starts. The velocity is controlled by the A/R. How hard it is to turn the turbine wheel determines how fast the boost will build once it starts. The mass of the wheel and the friction on the shaft both directly affect how hard it is to spin the turbine wheel.

Make sense?

If I were you, man, I'd run JB turbos and spend the money you can save on meth injection and the intercooler

TurboBerserker

iTrader: (1)

Again, I agree with Steve completely. If a company makes two models of the same 67 mm wheel turbo, one in journal bearing and one in ball bearing, the quality of the rest of the components should be the same. If the company sources the two, however, they may buy cheaply for the JB and not for the BB. That's why budget turbos from ebay are like playing hot potato with a live grenade...

Quik

iTrader: (7)

thanks guys