What gauges is a must for tuning new twins

joelc79

joelc79

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My truck is almost complete with some new twins. For those of you who actually fine tune your twins what is the gauges i'll need. Will i need two boosts and a drive? Will both the boost gauges need to be 100psi?
 
Everyone I have seen with twins has two 100psi boost gauges and a 100psi drive. I guess it all depends on the size of your twins though.
 
i have a 30psi in between the two and a 60 overall it just depends on the overall boost your going to make do to fueling but you will figure that out with your drive pressure gauge that will tell you when you need to have your wategate open.to make it 1to1 and not be blowing hot air.
 
No problem. If I were in your situation, I would just go ahead and get the big gauges even if you don't need them. That way if you go bigger, your gauges are still fine.
 
joelc79 said:
My truck is almost complete with some new twins. For those of you who actually fine tune your twins what is the gauges i'll need. Will i need two boosts and a drive? Will both the boost gauges need to be 100psi?
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If you already have a 60psi gauge, just use that to measure your primary. You will def. want a 100psi gauge for total system pressure and drive.
 
My 3b isn't wastegated so I just unhook the cold pipe and set the wastegate on the second stage.
 
From a pure ergonomics standpoint, all preference aside... you would want the difference in gauge readings to equal the intended difference in boost you plan to run.

For instance, I run ~25lbs on my first stage and ~60 to 70lbs on the manifold. By using a 35lb gauge for the first stage, and a 100lb gauge for the manifold the gauges move in unison, and when the stages are balanced both needles are parallel to one another.

Makes it real easy for the eye to detect a control problem if one stage gets out of balance.

I suggest a 35 and a 100 for a two stage setup.

And a 100psi drive pressure gauge works well for most trucks.
 
I am GLAD to see this thread. I am installing a set of towing twins and am trying to figure out how to get them balanced and what gauges to have. I am also trying to figure out how to plumb these gauges up, where to connect my gauges for the best readings.

Previously, with my single/stock turbo, I had a boost connection at my intake horn, I am wondering if that is still a good place to get my boost reading OR if I should tap somewhere else?

I also am guessing (emphasis on the guessing) that I need to make a coil with a filter and come off my exhaust manifold for the drive/exhaust pressure?

My wastegate is physically located on my top turbo (62/65/12), my wastegate hose is connected to my bottom (S475). I am assuming that this is the standard way to connect the wastegate?

All this is NEW to me, I guess I also have to learn about the specific terminology of things to better understand it all. Is there someplace I can go to see pics and read about how all this works? A diagram or two of flow and some reading materials to understand would be greatly appreciated/helpful.
 
Is it beneficial to have an intermediate "drive" pressure between the turbos? Would this show the wastegate pressure that the turbo is bypassing to the primary?

--Eric
 
Sure - helps to balance the load on the turbine wheels, and shows WG movement... also allows primary drive pressure ratio to be seen.

We use a bung on the hot pipe and a quick-change manifold to read PSI from up to 6 locations on a pair of boost gauges.
 
If I had to do the guages all over again... Or add anymore then the 8 aftermarket ones that will be in my truck.....

I'd sell them all, Get a datalogging ISSPro setup and run a few on the pillar and maybe on the column.

DATALOG THE REST.

Your eyes can do like 1.2 things at a time.. Either their on the road, maybe catching a "warning light", or their on the gauge.

I don't have a data logger, but I'll do one soon I'm sure.

Plus the wire mess that'll clean up! :)
 
JasonCzerak said:
If I had to do the guages all over again... Or add anymore then the 8 aftermarket ones that will be in my truck.....

I'd sell them all, Get a datalogging ISSPro setup and run a few on the pillar and maybe on the column.

DATALOG THE REST.

Your eyes can do like 1.2 things at a time.. Either their on the road, maybe catching a "warning light", or their on the gauge.

I don't have a data logger, but I'll do one soon I'm sure.

Plus the wire mess that'll clean up! :)
Click to expand...

Yes, I have the same problem. Especially when you are WOT screaming down a 1/4 mile track.

I talked with some guys about it (boost pressure specifically), and they recommended pressure gauges that hold max pressures, which reset with a button. It's not going to compare to a data logger, but you don't have to move your focus between 5-8 different gauges in one 1/4 mile stretch.

Kyle
 
I've got the SPA dual gauges that record my peaks. I've got the Boost/EGT and then a Pressure/Pressure. They store the maxes and are resetable.
 
Does anyone know if ISSPRO has a drive psi gauge, i thought they did but i can't find it.
 
lcaad1249 said:
I've got the SPA dual gauges that record my peaks. I've got the Boost/EGT and then a Pressure/Pressure. They store the maxes and are resetable.
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So i assume you use the boost/egt for drive and egt? The other psi/psi is your two actual boost gauges? Also on their site i only see the egt reading up to 1000 Deg. Could you let me know who you wen through?
 
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joelc79 said:
So i assume you use the boost/egt for drive and egt? The other psi/psi is your two actual boost gauges?
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You can set them up however. I've got overall boost with EGT but I've had that gauge setup for years and then added a 60 # dipricol for primary boost so when I got this dual gauge a month or two ago I just lumbed drive and primary boost to it.
 
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