My official China TD04 16T eBay turbos

[vegasboy]

I took one for the team and purchased these turbos. I have posted some here on another thread but thought I would create my own thread and give an update.

I purchased and installed these turbos myself the end of April 2018. I’m not promoting these turbos just trying to give people an idea of what to expect and my personal experience. I purchased these through eBay because I felt more comfortable using PayPal with thier buyer protection. I paid $930 shipped to my door. Claim to have a 1 year warranty. I know these same turbos can be found on AliExpress and looks like a few others sites.

1st question I get asked, the answer is no: I have not had the car on a Dyno.

They have stock like Spool, I’m using JB4 w/ MHD OTS BMS hybrid e85 Bef. No smoke, no noise, no problems with install, (except failed 034 motor mount) BMS China 2” stock location inlets, stock outlets, Phoenix race 7.5” intercooler, stage 3 XHP trans flash, Stage 2 LPFP running E40. I’m running out of fuel at 21-22 PSI. I will Need PI if I want to push these anymore.

So far I have put about 1400 miles on them running around 20PSI. They have been trouble free thus far. I had people tell me they would blow up right out of the box, wasting your time and money, blah blah blah, usual scare tactics. This is my daily driver and I will try to keep you all informed. If I have any trouble with them I’m not here to try and hide anything, if they fail I will post!

The center section of these turbos are a TD03 center with TD04 9 blade and what they say is 16T wheel, although it seems to measure a little bigger than the specs of a 16T wheel. These are pretty much identical to what a certain vendor on here sells as their china frame stage 2+ turbos. So they should be comparable in power. These do have a 2” inlet with a lip on them, 9 blade , etc...same specs!

Keep in mind these are China turbos with chinese quality control so I would only recommend if you are willing to DIY the install.

Pics are worth a thousand words.

 

[LessIsMore]

Thanks for the update, cool to see them put to real world test after all the hoopla over these.

Let us kmow how that dyno goes, and what further mileage does.

 

[thm8d]

I've seen one of these with a failed waste gate arm with only a few thousand miles. Replaced it a few months back and haven't heard from the customer since. Hopefully it was just a defective one

 

[E92-Ghandi]

Can you share the link please!

 

[langsbr]

Great update. Got any current logs, even though I hate JB4 logs lol.

 

[Rob@RBTurbo]

Good update so far... all we know is what was discussed in prior thread:
1) Out of box they balance poorly.
2) The wastegates are less quality than OE's in new form.
3) They are produced from cheap throwaway materials not up to lifelong/extreme usage, however some competitors are ok with using them. Note: These issues can take years to manifest themselves.
3) They are certainly a competitors own offering (without the markup), but assembled and balanced in China. Note: Would need VSR traces from both parties to determine who is doing the better job balancing.
4) The Chinese manufacturer had also reached out to us to "build" our turbos for them , of course so they can put them on Alibaba/Ebay after we spec them out for them. Note: We are not that dumb (or lazy/incapable/greedy).

Will be interesting to see how they keep going for you, either way if you are ok with the labor (and buying another set) if in the event something goes wrong they are certainly one hell of a deal.

Rob

 

[N54QC]

Good update so far... all we know is what was discussed in prior thread:
1) Out of box they balance poorly.
2) The wastegates are less quality than OE's in new form.
3) They are produced from cheap throwaway materials not up to lifelong/extreme usage, however some competitors are ok with using them. Note: These issues can take years to manifest themselves.
3) They are certainly a competitors own offering (without the markup), but assembled and balanced in China. Note: Would need VSR traces from both parties to determine who is doing the better job balancing.
4) The Chinese manufacturer had also reached out to us to "build" our turbos for them , of course so they can put them on Alibaba/Ebay after we spec them out for them. Note: We are not that dumb (or lazy/incapable/greedy).

Will be interesting to see how they keep going for you, either way if you are ok with the labor (and buying another set) if in the event something goes wrong they are certainly one hell of a deal.

Rob

As far as your #4 comment, I wouldn't think they would make them just to put them on Alibaba/EBay as much as they just wanted your business. I'm saying that because if your comment was true, they would just buy a set from you and reverse engineer them.

 

[vegasboy]

Can you share the link please!

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.com/ulk/itm/122979132639

This seller has 7% off store sales every few weeks if you keep an eye on their listings. I waited for a sale and paid $929, Normal price is $999.

Also can find on AliExpress and other sellers

http://s.aliexpress.com/zInimM32

I have purchased many items from AliExpress but most have been under $100. I’ve never had a problem with them. But I felt more comfortable with PayPal protection, which has covered more than once and refunded my money.

Just be careful to look at the listings because they also sale a 14T version for the same price. You want the 16T!!!!

 

[Rob@RBTurbo]

As far as your #4 comment, I wouldn't think they would make them just to put them on Alibaba/EBay as much as they just wanted your business. I'm saying that because if your comment was true, they would just buy a set from you and reverse engineer them.

The strategy works both ways. "You tell us how to build them for you and we will". Later find out "We will also build "same way" and sell the on Alibaba/Ebay". Not new to this business and been doing it since 2004... trust me this is the way it works.

Just to note if anyone plans on buying these throwaways that has a 1, 5, Z, or RHD series N54 let us know and we will buy your Authentic cores outright. We have no interest in LHD 335 cores, sorry but don't ask.

Rob

 

[vegasboy]

I was doing some research on the wheel size they say they are 16T but also list 43.4x58.5mm which is pretty close to what I measured.

Specs for a 16T wheel are 43.3x56mm, According to this chart I found

But these measurements are for the normal wheels and not the billet 6+6 wheel design. So flow would be different just on the design alone. Either way they are slightly bigger than a normal 16T which is maybe why “somebody” labels them as a stage 2+

 

[Rob@RBTurbo]

I was doing some research on the wheel size they say they are 16T but also list 43.4x58.5mm which is pretty close to what I measured.

Specs for a 16T wheel are 43.3x56mm, According to this chart I foundView attachment 13355

But these measurements are for the normal wheels and not the billet 6+6 wheel design. So flow would be different just on the design alone. Either way they are slightly bigger than a normal 16T which is maybe why “somebody” labels them as a stage 2+

The billet compressor wheel market is saturated with tons of ways to build wheels (ie. customs), and they are all a bit different and unique in their own ways and there is not a standard single "T" designation that can cover it all. What you have listed as your specs are around the inducer of a 16T and around the Exducer of a 19T; but make no mistake as there is a not any mix that it can be called in between for numerous reasons. So in short often a "T" designation is derived from the inducer sizing.

We do agree these are simply another vendors offerings from when they went (fully) Chinese later last year. Good way to get the same hardware for half price by cutting out the middle man.

Rob

 

[fmorelli]

... I have purchased many items from AliExpress but most have been under $100. I’ve never had a problem with them. But I felt more comfortable with PayPal protection ...

I've bought a fair bit of stuff between $100-$1,000. Cheap stuff I'll buy from any seller. As prices go up, look to buy from 4 star sellers (one can filter on this).

I've probably bought 100 items - I've found the Chinese vendors friendly, engaging, and quick to make something right when a product has problems. I've had vendors resend items when I sent picture of faulty or poor quality. I've had vendors refund me as well. Haven't even used buyer protection so can't speak to that. Not claiming what someone else's experience will be, just stating mine to date.

Filippo

 

[langsbr]

Ali Express is very easy and great to deal with. My wife orders a good bit of stuff for her store, and while they do mess up sometimes in the shipments - wrong sizes, wrong quantities, wrong colors, etc. if you aren't a pushover, the vendors will give in. Many times they will try to get you to accept it as is, if you decline and tell them you want the correct item, they will usually ship it over, or just refund you. It's not worth the price to ship back to China - that's insanely expensive. This shipping from China to the US is subsidized tremendously (for now).

If you do use their dispute, they must make it correct or Ali refunds the $$ pretty quickly, so the vendors are fairly decent about making right.

 

[135iTX]

The strategy works both ways. "You tell us how to build them for you and we will". Later find out "We will also build "same way" and sell the on Alibaba/Ebay". Not new to this business and been doing it since 2004... trust me this is the way it works.

Just to note if anyone plans on buying these throwaways that has a 1, 5, Z, or RHD series N54 let us know and we will buy your Authentic cores outright. We have no interest in LHD 335 cores, sorry but don't ask.

Rob

How much for 1 series cores

 

[fmorelli]

Striking similarity

Filippo

 

[Rcboosted2007]

Nice china caliper for measuring turbos.

 

[vegasboy]

Nice china caliper for measuring turbos.

Harbor Frieght special lol

 

[fmorelli]

Harbor Frieght special lol

Pro-tip: I use digital calipers in my work quite a bit. I probably have a half dozen sets in my shop. The Harbor Freight ones used to be a reasonable purchase but they've gotten to be exceptionally poor quality - they don't zero well, the machine is rough, and quality varies from set to set.

I am now using iGaging digital calipers - I've had 3 sets for about six months. Very high quality, accurate (half thou resolution, one thou repeatability), inexpensive. They are made in Taiwan (Taiwan is Japan-like quality). I consider them Mitutoyo quality but at $25 or so from Amazon Prime, gets you a 6" version. I own the 6", and the 4" in both regular and absolute Origin. Note the absolute origin does not have automatic shut-off. For us Americans who some don't always work in metric (e.g.; fractional drill bit sets for those that don't also own metric drills), the iGaging will show fractional values.

Sorry for the sideways thread post, but you brought up the calipers ...

Filippo

 

[Dramat1ca]

I'm new here so I can't help but ask, would the vendor china turbos you guys are referring to happen to be the VTT stage 2+ turbos? I hate to ask a dumb question but I admit I was considering going that route since its local.

 

[N54QC]

I'm new here so I can't help but ask, would the vendor china turbos you guys are referring to happen to be the VTT stage 2+ turbos? I hate to ask a dumb question but I admit I was considering going that route since its local.

I'm sure he's referring to the company and not that specific turbo...