Hedges4
Full Access Member
Hey guys,
New here, but might as well be old because I have been doing a ton of research for a long time to see if buying a turbo system was what I wanted to do. I read every thread I could find, but couldn't find more than 1 guy who has actually done it. (Englishrodder). I wanted to share my experience to let people know what to expect these days from Hellion.
Here goes... (Long post, don't bitch about it, I warned you)
SO, 2 months ago I decided I was going to install a power adder to my 2010 Raptor 6.2L SCab. It was between the whipple stage 2 system and the Hellion Twin Turbo system. I grew up surrounded by the fields of Illinois. I have heard countless Powerstrokes and Cummins with straight pipes with upgraded turbos and the whistle was always something I loved. So when I heard that the Gen 2 Raptor was going to be twin turbo, naturally, I wanted to see how it looked, drove, felt, handled, shifted. Long story short, I liked the new Raptor, but not for 70k plus a 5-20k mark up. NO THANKS. It was a beautiful truck, but not that beautiful and honestly, the no V8 option was a sad reality to face (Yes, I know... v6 makes more power blah blah blah)
I've had my truck since July of 2010. Bought it new. Always loved it. Sound good stock, has decent acceleration, comfortable interior and looks bad ass. But I wanted something new after 7 years. No trucks on the market that I wanted ( Never needed a Diesel, still don't) SO I decided to take the truck I love and make it better. Enter Whipple. Enter Hellion.
Lots of research. You all know the pro's to the whipple, and so do I. On paper, Whipple is the better option. Cheaper, easier to install. Consistent power and torque. But damn it if I didn't/couldn't get away from the turbos. I decided to pull the trigger on the turbo system from Hellion. One problem... my truck is a 2010 and the kit is for 2011-14. What to do...
Call Hellion, call every supplier I can find. Will it fit? Yes. Some MAF harnesses might be different. Everything else will bolt right up. Ok, send it to me. Now I'm excited.
Here's my review of my experience with the whole process.
1. Contact and correspondence with Hellion. Call Hellion, 99% of the time, you'll get Jeff on the phone. Jeff is awesome to talk to. Very knowledgable and more than happy to help you and talk to you about any problems or concerns you have. If you need parts, he'll send them out to you. If you need recommendations, he'll give them to you. He may be a little hard to get ahold of via email, but he does what he says he'll do and that's a good quality to have. Thanks Jeff.
2. The kit. Awesome so far. everything you need and more. Maybe a boost a pump if you want to run more than 7 psi.
Have you ever wondered why every mod is listed for a 2011-14 Raptor, but the 2010 6.2 appears to be identical to the later years. You may ask yourself, is there really a difference? Well, I can tell you that on most parts, it's the same. On a turbo system? It's not the same. The harnesses worked fine. But according to my installer, there were holes in frames missing, clamps, mounting spots missing. Does it work? Yes. Did it require extra labor? yes. Long story short, on an extensive power adder, if your year isn't listed, chances are it's not going to bolt right on.
The rest of it was easy. Everything looks/functions as it should. I'll add pictures and videos at a later date.
3. My installer. I'm going to leave his name out of it. He is a mustang installer and tuner by trade. But he has a great reputation for being fair and honest and very knowledgable. My advice, find an installer that has done one of these before. He got it in, but he wasn't happy about doing it. It took him 34 hours and I was told by Hellion that we should expect a 20-24 hour install time because the headers are a bitch. The headers coupled with the extra time to fab and cut to make it work in a 2010 was the extra time, and I paid for it. Fast forward, i've had it back for about two weeks.
Issues: Oil fittings into the pan. Leaking... he told me to tighten it a bit. Still leaking.
Thought I might have an exhaust leak.
He's nowhere to be found and won't respond to my phone calls/texts. Turns out I didn't have an exhaust leak. But the moral of the story is, find someone who is accountable and will give you on going support after the build is over. And, don't hire a mustang guy to do a Raptor job.
4. Tuning.
The tune that comes with the kit is from Blow by Racing in Florida. These guys know their stuff... but it's damn near impossible to get to actually talk to Chris, the tuner. They don't like to return calls or emails. It took me about a week and a half to get my final updated tune.
They are damn good at what they do, but I think they have gained so much popularity that they are over worked.
Moral: If you want to get ahold of them, call Jeff, he'll call them and get you what you need.
5. Power.
So what are my power numbers. I know that's what you care about. With Blow-By I landed at 480rwhp and 500 rwtq. Hellion advertises 550 RW at 7 PSI. So I was slightly disappointed with this number. These advertised numbers are on "100% stock motors and exhaust" So with my CATs removed, I figured my numbers would be higher.
So I took the truck to Fat House Fabrications in Martinsville, IN. Long story short, I should've let them do the build and the tuning. Final numbers there are 520 RWHP and 537 RWTQ at 7psi. Still lower than advertised, but the truck runs well. So am I worried about the extra 30? no. One of these days I might go up to 10 psi. But I wanted this to be functional and safe, so it's plenty of power for me.
The truck it self is a monster now. Drives normally until you put your foot to the floor, then let's face it, wheel hop becomes an issue. Traction bars in the future.
I installed a corsa extreme cat back. Inside the truck, all is normal with the windows up. Outside the truck, holy shit. Turbo whistle galore! No drone... you get what you pay for and Corsa knows what they are doing.
Gas Mileage. I was heading home today on an hour and a half trip, half of which was into the 30 mph wind. I got 12 mpg. Honestly, I was expecting better.
I post this only as a reference to someone else that may be thinking about it. This was my experience. Maybe there are some subtle engine differences that would bring it up the advertised 550, but I am happy with what I got. Would I do it again? Depends on when you ask me.
Feel free to post recommendations on what I should do next, or what you would've done. Feel free to call me an idiot or praise me for having the guts to try it.
If you want to do it, do it. I have no reason to believe that if i'm smart, I can't get another 50k miles out of this thing. Find a good installer and a good tuner.
Sorry for the long post, just trying to be thorough.
New here, but might as well be old because I have been doing a ton of research for a long time to see if buying a turbo system was what I wanted to do. I read every thread I could find, but couldn't find more than 1 guy who has actually done it. (Englishrodder). I wanted to share my experience to let people know what to expect these days from Hellion.
Here goes... (Long post, don't bitch about it, I warned you)
SO, 2 months ago I decided I was going to install a power adder to my 2010 Raptor 6.2L SCab. It was between the whipple stage 2 system and the Hellion Twin Turbo system. I grew up surrounded by the fields of Illinois. I have heard countless Powerstrokes and Cummins with straight pipes with upgraded turbos and the whistle was always something I loved. So when I heard that the Gen 2 Raptor was going to be twin turbo, naturally, I wanted to see how it looked, drove, felt, handled, shifted. Long story short, I liked the new Raptor, but not for 70k plus a 5-20k mark up. NO THANKS. It was a beautiful truck, but not that beautiful and honestly, the no V8 option was a sad reality to face (Yes, I know... v6 makes more power blah blah blah)
I've had my truck since July of 2010. Bought it new. Always loved it. Sound good stock, has decent acceleration, comfortable interior and looks bad ass. But I wanted something new after 7 years. No trucks on the market that I wanted ( Never needed a Diesel, still don't) SO I decided to take the truck I love and make it better. Enter Whipple. Enter Hellion.
Lots of research. You all know the pro's to the whipple, and so do I. On paper, Whipple is the better option. Cheaper, easier to install. Consistent power and torque. But damn it if I didn't/couldn't get away from the turbos. I decided to pull the trigger on the turbo system from Hellion. One problem... my truck is a 2010 and the kit is for 2011-14. What to do...
Call Hellion, call every supplier I can find. Will it fit? Yes. Some MAF harnesses might be different. Everything else will bolt right up. Ok, send it to me. Now I'm excited.
Here's my review of my experience with the whole process.
1. Contact and correspondence with Hellion. Call Hellion, 99% of the time, you'll get Jeff on the phone. Jeff is awesome to talk to. Very knowledgable and more than happy to help you and talk to you about any problems or concerns you have. If you need parts, he'll send them out to you. If you need recommendations, he'll give them to you. He may be a little hard to get ahold of via email, but he does what he says he'll do and that's a good quality to have. Thanks Jeff.
2. The kit. Awesome so far. everything you need and more. Maybe a boost a pump if you want to run more than 7 psi.
Have you ever wondered why every mod is listed for a 2011-14 Raptor, but the 2010 6.2 appears to be identical to the later years. You may ask yourself, is there really a difference? Well, I can tell you that on most parts, it's the same. On a turbo system? It's not the same. The harnesses worked fine. But according to my installer, there were holes in frames missing, clamps, mounting spots missing. Does it work? Yes. Did it require extra labor? yes. Long story short, on an extensive power adder, if your year isn't listed, chances are it's not going to bolt right on.
The rest of it was easy. Everything looks/functions as it should. I'll add pictures and videos at a later date.
3. My installer. I'm going to leave his name out of it. He is a mustang installer and tuner by trade. But he has a great reputation for being fair and honest and very knowledgable. My advice, find an installer that has done one of these before. He got it in, but he wasn't happy about doing it. It took him 34 hours and I was told by Hellion that we should expect a 20-24 hour install time because the headers are a bitch. The headers coupled with the extra time to fab and cut to make it work in a 2010 was the extra time, and I paid for it. Fast forward, i've had it back for about two weeks.
Issues: Oil fittings into the pan. Leaking... he told me to tighten it a bit. Still leaking.
Thought I might have an exhaust leak.
He's nowhere to be found and won't respond to my phone calls/texts. Turns out I didn't have an exhaust leak. But the moral of the story is, find someone who is accountable and will give you on going support after the build is over. And, don't hire a mustang guy to do a Raptor job.
4. Tuning.
The tune that comes with the kit is from Blow by Racing in Florida. These guys know their stuff... but it's damn near impossible to get to actually talk to Chris, the tuner. They don't like to return calls or emails. It took me about a week and a half to get my final updated tune.
They are damn good at what they do, but I think they have gained so much popularity that they are over worked.
Moral: If you want to get ahold of them, call Jeff, he'll call them and get you what you need.
5. Power.
So what are my power numbers. I know that's what you care about. With Blow-By I landed at 480rwhp and 500 rwtq. Hellion advertises 550 RW at 7 PSI. So I was slightly disappointed with this number. These advertised numbers are on "100% stock motors and exhaust" So with my CATs removed, I figured my numbers would be higher.
So I took the truck to Fat House Fabrications in Martinsville, IN. Long story short, I should've let them do the build and the tuning. Final numbers there are 520 RWHP and 537 RWTQ at 7psi. Still lower than advertised, but the truck runs well. So am I worried about the extra 30? no. One of these days I might go up to 10 psi. But I wanted this to be functional and safe, so it's plenty of power for me.
The truck it self is a monster now. Drives normally until you put your foot to the floor, then let's face it, wheel hop becomes an issue. Traction bars in the future.
I installed a corsa extreme cat back. Inside the truck, all is normal with the windows up. Outside the truck, holy shit. Turbo whistle galore! No drone... you get what you pay for and Corsa knows what they are doing.
Gas Mileage. I was heading home today on an hour and a half trip, half of which was into the 30 mph wind. I got 12 mpg. Honestly, I was expecting better.
I post this only as a reference to someone else that may be thinking about it. This was my experience. Maybe there are some subtle engine differences that would bring it up the advertised 550, but I am happy with what I got. Would I do it again? Depends on when you ask me.
Feel free to post recommendations on what I should do next, or what you would've done. Feel free to call me an idiot or praise me for having the guts to try it.
If you want to do it, do it. I have no reason to believe that if i'm smart, I can't get another 50k miles out of this thing. Find a good installer and a good tuner.
Sorry for the long post, just trying to be thorough.
