using a diesel intercooler ? good or bad idea?
 

im just curious to see what intercooler is better,, i hear that the ebay intercoolers are garbage, and i got to thinking how come no one ever uses a diesel intercooler ? there must be a good reason to why they dont use them in a gasoline truck. i mean if you can fit it why not ?

It's been done, years ago. The results were not great.

Plenty of guys using ebay A2A intercoolers with good results. I think it just needs to be sized properly for your setup.

Bad idea, where did you hear they were garbage? My brother bought the CX Racing cooler and piping kit and I was pretty impressed. They have the thickest diameter aluminum piping, and the cooler looks like it should be extremely efficient. I am pretty sure KBracing uses ebay intercoolers in his kits also. I am sure there are some on ebay that are cheap, but for the most part You've been misinformed.

There's a reason an eBay core is $150 and a comparable sized core from a quality company is $750........

You ever heard you get what you pay for?

Yes, the eBay core will work, but is it best...? No!

i was going off foose04 intercooler. and his explanation about it. and i searched over the internet and came up with mutiple threads about ebay cooler not being the best.

yup, foose is a perfect back to back example.

how many 9 and 10 second trucks do you see with ebay intercoolers?

how many 12 and 13 second trucks do you see with ebay intercoolers?

How many 12 second trucks do you see in general compared to 10 second trucks? Lol Most people with turbo trucks on this site have done so on their DD setups, and are content with ~500whp. Not a whole lot of 10 sec trucks lurking around here, relatively speaking. As long as your cooler keeps you near ambient temps, what more can you ask for? I don't know the situation with Foose, but if he was running that MP70 up to 16psi or so I wouldn't be entirely surprised if he was having a little warmer IAT's, that turbo was probably way past peak efficiency at that point and had become a restriction relative to his later setup.

im just saying the people that are actually going fast and making power dont have the chinese crap.

yes there is a time and place for cheapo stuff, i have plenty of harbor freight tools for example, but theres also a time and place for quality parts....

Very True. Such is life.

All depends on where you want to be and how much your budget allows.

I bought a real nice FMIC when i had my STS kit, it was 900 bones my cost from PBR, but man my IAT's were awesome. It was damn nice!

Now im not sure why the Dmax intercoolers dont get used more or had good results, But if you do try a Duramax intercooler get one from a 06 and up LBZ, They are bigger/thicker than the older ones. Maybe they will perform better .

My Dmax with stock turbo makes 32psi max ( spikes to 36) , so i cant see why it wouldnt work good for a gasser with half the boost ??? ( just thinking out loud)

I'm no expert on forced induction, but I agree with Tim Z if it works good for a stock setup making 32lbs why won't it work with a smaller engine with half the pressure?? In theory it makes sense right? Is there anyone that's done or seen it done with good or bad results? It's definitely a good thought for sure.