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This hilarious YouTuber’s LS-swapped Ford Ranger sees an unsurprising end with a $450 eBay turbocharger kit.
Westen Champlin, YouTuber and self-confessed professor of what he likes to call ‘Redneck science’, has done it again. His hypothesis? A V8-swapped Ford Ranger sleeper truck, plus $450 eBay turbo kit equals X. And in his latest video, he attempts to solve for X to get to the bottom of it. Two outcomes are equally possible — the Ranger runs great and everyone’s happy, or it blows up.
Surprisingly, the LS-swapped Ford Ranger actually runs well, even with the literal bolt-on turbo build. It cranks up on the first go, and even seems to be making quite a bit of power, even on the first run at low boost levels. Champlin then proceeds to up the boost, and that’s when things get interesting.
Here's a blow-by-blow (pun not intended) account of how Champlin's eBay turbo kit build on his LS-swapped Ford Ranger plays out.
Now, this third-generation Ford Ranger (2006-2011) was never offered with a V8, instead relying on four- and six-cylinder engines. Champlin alludes to the fact that his truck used to have the 2.3-liter four-cylinder, which means it would’ve had 135/143 hp and 154 lb ft. A much more modern, and turbocharged, derivative of this motor powers cars like the 2.3 EcoBoost Mustang. In the Ranger’s case though, the LS-swap is a healthier upgrade. Not to mention that it sounds sick!
The GM 5.3-liter Vortec 5300 used is one of the most popular in the LS line. Depending on the model year, power ranges from 270-285 hp, while torque figures are between 315-325 lb ft. In this case, Champlin seems to throw the 1,000 hp figure, about quite liberally, but that’s probably the ultimate power goal.
The Ford Ranger that Champlin bought in an earlier episode had already been LS-swapped by the previous owner, somewhat dubiously. As the YouTuber puts the truck up on stands and takes a look under, he realises that the previous owner has had to cut away at the frame rail on the truck to make the custom exhaust fit. Obviously, that in itself is not good news. Even worse, it seems like the transmission cases are only held on by less than half the bolts that it’s supposed to be held on by. Hilariously, it seems the previous owner took matters into his hands to fix some rust with what looks like caulk!
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Champlin, to take matters further, realises he’ll have to get rid of quite a few things in the engine bay to make space for the new eBay turbo on top of the massive LS-V8 already in there. As he says, “If something’s in the way, cut it out of the way!” Break out the reciprocating saw! With its help, Champlin gets the new manifold and turbo mounted up, and fits the intercooler, again bought off eBay sight unseen. Considering how little research went into this build, it’s surprising to see everything line up.
That is, except for all the cutting that’s taking place! The circular saw is brought out to cut a hole into the fender to route the exhaust straight out from the side of the turbo. Again, Champlin’s secret is “Just wing it!”
It all seems to work though, as after a few minutes of updating the ECU with a tune from an acquaintance who hasn’t seen the Ranger in person, the truck fires right up. Kids, don’t do this at home! Anytime a major part, you know, like a turbocharger, is bolted on, make sure to get a professional tune it on a dyno to make sure it runs well and reliably. There’s too many variables otherwise to rely on a remote tune.
In this case, the truck sounds pretty mean but idles fairly lopsidedly, almost like it has a hotter cam in it. It’s a pretty common thing to do at the “budget” end of tuning circles, and it’s called a cam tune, where excessive valve overlap is tuned in to give it that choppy idle.
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After the first test run, Champlin decides to put back the second spring on the wastegate that he had removed previously, to up the boost from the 1 lb of boost it was running. As a reminder, it’s the wastegate that is responsible for keeping boost in check, diverting extra pressure to keep the engine from blowing. Usually, the safe way to do it is to have a boost controller operate the wastegate’s functioning. But in this case, it seems it was purely down to the spring tension to get the job done.
Surprise, surprise. The LS-swapped Ford Ranger with the $450 eBay turbo and remote tune lasts only a couple of pulls before it gave up the ghost. After Champlin made the change to the wastegate, and took the turbo up to about 7-8 lb of boost, power definitely seemed up, with the truck spinning its tyres even as it shifted up a gear. Unfortunately, the very second Champlin prays he doesn’t blow it up and goes for a pull, the motor locks up and they grind to a stop. We don’t know exactly what went wrong but considering the accuracy of ‘Redneck science’, it could be any of a number of things. Stay tuned to Champlin’s build series to see what happens to the LS-swapped Ford Ranger next!
From playing with HotWheels to tracking his race toy, Sam's come a long way. A penchance for translating his automotive hijinks and geekery into the written word comes in handy every now and then...