Compound turbo setups?? Anyone done one??

I converse with John daily, they are good people at that shop.

 

Ive Been going to elrodeo for 20 years. I highly recommend it if you like cold beer. Hot women and watching guys been the living $#!t out of their rigs. Nothing compares.

 

Yes he is. He did the retainer ring thing to my engine head.

 

At Antrim Diesel. Few years ago. Engine was in a Peterbilt 379 if I remember correctly, for normal highway trucking.
Don't have further details, sorry.

 

If that is the same truck, it runs very good with those holset turbo's stacked like that.

 

I had a short talk with to the owner/driver. He was very happy with it.
3 years ago now, but I still remember his words:
"I don't drive fast, but when somebody challenges me, I'm in. And I always win"
and:
"everything is balanced. When the engine is idling I can put a dime on it, on it's side, and it won't fall over"

Should have made more pictures.

 

I believe the picture KVB posted is one of the earlier designs Antrim used. Within the last couple of years they started adding a flex pipe between the turbos to keep the stress from different temperature changes and slight movements from breaking things. They suggest a non waste gate housing for the low pressure turbo, but I know Mr Haney still suggests a waste gate and says there's less of a drop in HP on a dyno with a properly set waste gate versus the non waste gate.

The main benefit I see of running a compound setup with high horsepower motors is the low pressure turbo spools at lower rpm eliminating the turbo lag of a single big turbo and cuts down on a lot of the smoke from unburnt fuel. With the current movement of low emissions "clean" motors, less smoke equals less unwanted attention. I was told one well known gentleman that ran a 900+ hp 5EK that he was able to run from the East Coast to California and never had any problems with this setup. If he was gentle on the accelerator pedal all that would come out was a light haze. If he stepped on it, it would still smoke like a train.

Here's a picture of Antrim's more recent setup found on the internet.

 

The reality is for every day use you do not need a compound setup. The right cam, injectors, turbo and tune should give plenty of power with very little smoke. I wouldn't suggest a compound setup for anything but a drag race/drag pull dedicated truck. I've talked to rebel127 about these setups and he has tried both large single and compounded turbos. If he could make a single work he would, but he's making well into the four digits with his detroit. A compounded setup multiplies your problems in other areas. I haven't talked to him recently it would be nice to hear from him.