So I've had an AXT Turbo on my 2H for about 4 years, and after having 4 exhaust systems rot out in the 9 years I've had my truck, I decided to make up a stainless steel exhaust. When I first put the turbo on (4 years ago) , I made a 2.5" steel pipe exhaust (no muffler) that worked quite nicely. When I made up the new stainless exhaust, I matched everything to the original exhaust I had made, except for one thing. The down pipe from the Turbo in the original install has 2 mandrel bends in it that are probably about 60°. The new one I made up has 2 mandrel bends of 90°. These are the first two bends off the turbo, the first one being 3 inches from the turbo outlet and the next one being a foot below the first.
It feels like I've got considerably less power than I did before, and I'm wondering whether the tighter bends could possibly be the problem. The other possibility is that the engine was just breathing better before because the entire exhaust was so rotten (broken off completely in front of the rear wheel), but I'm curious what people think. Most threads I have seen agree that a 2.5" exhaust works pretty well on a turbo'd 2H, but something has definitely cut my power in the changeover from a rotten 2.5" exhaust (with two 60° bends) to the nice new one (with two 90°bends).
It feels like I've got considerably less power than I did before, and I'm wondering whether the tighter bends could possibly be the problem. The other possibility is that the engine was just breathing better before because the entire exhaust was so rotten (broken off completely in front of the rear wheel), but I'm curious what people think. Most threads I have seen agree that a 2.5" exhaust works pretty well on a turbo'd 2H, but something has definitely cut my power in the changeover from a rotten 2.5" exhaust (with two 60° bends) to the nice new one (with two 90°bends).