Mandrel bent stainless steel turbo tubes

Tony P. · **Posted:** Mon Nov 14, 2011 2:19 pm

Work in progress, today I went to a local mufffler shop that has a mandrel bender. They made the 2.5 inch turbo hose out of stainless steel with the mandrel bender. I have to return at a later date and time (to be set in the future) because the process to change the size of the bender requires some time which the shop could not due today for the 2 inch side. I still have to locate, and purchase the remaining hardware required to complete the install. Estimate given was $240. for the set, plus tax for the tubes only.

Clamps were bought at discount auto parts, silicone sleeves from boost controler.

First one is installed, made out of two and a half inch stainless steel mandrel bent tube. Still need to build second tube.

Completed this is a two inch mandrel bent aluminum tube.

ATXKJ · **Posted:** Mon Nov 14, 2011 9:19 pm

Yeah - Pablo did his - a couple of other folks have mentioned it -
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2662913/2006-jeep-liberty/

most people settle for Samco's (sometimes with a woven sleave)

Post pictures when you're finished

Tony P. · **Posted:** Mon Nov 14, 2011 11:57 pm

Read on the forum some people writing with regards to the pro/cons about metal CAC tubes, did not know that anyone had this mod completed, wanted to be the first, guess not!!!!!

ATXKJ wrote:

most people settle for Samco's (sometimes with a woven sleave)

I'm not most people, and will not settle for an inferior product, if it can be improved. Stainless steel tube vs. Silicone hose.

Done several Mod's, suncoast t/c, GDE hot tune, EHM to air box, fumoto drain valve, etc... taken pictures and have been unsuccessful in posting them, when I figure it out I will post.

ATXKJ · **Posted:** Tue Nov 15, 2011 8:44 pm

you have to host the pictures somewhere like Imageshack, Photobucket (or car domain or Facebook - with the privileges set correctly)

then right click on photo - view Image info
highlight the location string - http through jpg - copy
go to LOST post - click on Img button - paste location string between the square brackets...

Tony P. · **Posted:** Sat Nov 26, 2011 11:42 pm

Bump! For the new pictures in the edited post thanks to ATXKJ for the instructions!

Tony P. · **Posted:** Mon Dec 12, 2011 6:56 pm

Bump for the completion of the project and added photos. Both tubes are mandrel bent, the lower tube is two and a half inches in diameter of stainless steel, upper is a two inch diameter tube out of aluminum. With the three inch sleeves connecting four different diameters from boost controller. Discount auto part for the hose clamps. Hope this helps !!!

ATXKJ · **Posted:** Mon Dec 12, 2011 9:31 pm

Looks Good
- did they hit the price estimate?
and did they save dimensions so that they could do it again?

Tony P. · **Posted:** Mon Dec 12, 2011 10:57 pm

Thank you ATXKJ for the complement. They did hit the price estimate (120.) plus tax (8.40) per tube x 2 = 256.80 total for both tubes.

Additionally about 10. for the hose clamps.

Also, I would like to praise boost controller.com when I called them and explained what I was attempting to do, the person on the other end of the phone took the time (to pull a set of samco's from the shelf and measure them) to explain that there are four different diameter ports in our CRD's; 1.875, 2.00, 2.50, and 2.625. In the lower tube I used Two 2.50 three inch sleeves the fitment of the inter cooler port was snug however a little soap goes a long way! upper tube used the 1.875, 2.00 sleeve again a little soap!

They programmed the mandrel with the lower tube specification not the top, could be done again however would still require the length to be cut because of the angle of the adjoining ports.

Squeeto · **Posted:** Wed Jan 11, 2012 9:27 am

A 2 month old post and I am just finding it.

I just don't have the time to leave "Liberty CRD...Love that Torque!!!" forum too often to find these gems. Maybe it would be a cross-post but you would get a few more "oohs and aahs" if you mentioned this over there.

Nice work.

liquidxit2 · **Posted:** Fri Jan 13, 2012 1:05 am

Every turbo vehicle i have owned got mandrel bent heat wrapped (only heat wrapped AFTER the intercooler) intercooler pipes as its first mod. One of the best throttle response mods you can do on a turbocharged vehicle.

CATCRD · **Posted:** Sat Jul 07, 2012 7:44 pm

I don't see throttle response being better with metal hoses. I've pressure tested my hoses together with intercooler at 20psi, and the amount they expand is miniscule, especially compared with the volume of air flowing under boost. Plus with metal tubes you now have 8 hose clamps and 8 leak points instead of 4. To each his own though. They are trick.

Tony P. · **Posted:** Sat Jul 07, 2012 8:08 pm

I'll never spend another 300 +++ dollars for CAC hoses again! Theese hoses are required to be changed every so often. Also, some time in the future I intend on purchasing the GDE stage II turbo tune the added pressure should exacerbate this. Also you could easily tap into the tube for a boost gauge rather than taping into the turbo. As for the leak well I'll just have to keep checking on it, zero problems from the mod as of yet.

liquidxit2 · **Posted:** Mon Jul 09, 2012 12:07 pm

CATCRD wrote:

I don't see throttle response being better with metal hoses. I've pressure tested my hoses together with intercooler at 20psi, and the amount they expand is miniscule, especially compared with the volume of air flowing under boost. Plus with metal tubes you now have 8 hose clamps and 8 leak points instead of 4. To each his own though. They are trick.

The problem with rubber or silicone vs metal or hard plastic is the expanding and contracting seemed to always delay the throttle a bit for every turbo car I have owned (3 DSMs). Metal tubes wrapped always seemed to be the best performer bar none.

Tony P. wrote:

I'll never spend another 300 +++ dollars for CAC hoses again! Theese hoses are required to be changed every so often. Also, some time in the future I intend on purchasing the GDE stage II turbo tune the added pressure should exacerbate this. Also you could easily tap into the tube for a boost gauge rather than taping into the turbo. As for the leak well I'll just have to keep checking on it, zero problems from the mod as of yet.

Yeah I wouldnt spend a penny on hoses over tubes.

Oilburner44 · **Joined:** Wed Jan 23, 2013 2:35 pm **Posts:** 85

any way to get the parts numbers for those rubber adapters?

Tony P. · **Posted:** Wed Feb 06, 2013 5:46 pm

Oilburner44 I purchased the three inch silicone sleeves from boostcontroller.com here is the link. http://www.boostcontroller.com/index.php?category=372

I don't know if they have a part number however, hope this helps. For this application you need a total of four sleeves. Two for the lower tube 2.50, and two for the upper 1.875 & 2.00

blackDiesel · **Joined:** Thu Jan 10, 2013 2:30 pm **Posts:** 67

Would u get another set maid and sell them?I would even give you some extra money for the trouble!

Tony P. · **Posted:** Fri Feb 08, 2013 5:51 pm

blackDiesel another member PM'ed me regarding the same.

In the future (undermined as of yet) I will have another set made for my father's CRD. At that point, I will contact all interested in a set. If all are still interested at that point, I will be more than happy to help everyone.

Oilburner44 · **Joined:** Wed Jan 23, 2013 2:35 pm **Posts:** 85

Thanks tony!

kidjedi · **Posted:** Tue Mar 05, 2013 5:39 pm

Couldn't find any other threads regarding metal CAC pipes, and the one linked in this thread is a broken link (error page on that site).

I'm curious about the silicon sleeves that connect the metal tubes. Would these not experience the same expansion problem as the Samco hoses, or are they just too short to exhibit issues? On that note, if they're that short, do they allow for enough flex?

If this mod is proving to be better than the Samco's, I'd definitely be interested in the possibility of getting on "the list" when you are making pipes for your dad's CRD.

Tony P. · **Posted:** Tue Mar 05, 2013 6:19 pm

kidjedi

I can not visually see any expansion in the silicon sleeves due to boost.
I can see the engine rock side to side during acceleration, and it does have enough flex for that movement.

As far as the tubes better than Samco's? I'm happy with the mandrel tubes, I have not tried a set of Samco's to compare.

The sleeve are a lot cheaper to replace when they go bust than the hose.

When it comes time to do that set, I will definitely let you know.

Mandrel bent stainless steel turbo tubes

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