6.5TD C/K Trucks  >  Wicked Wheels  >  Wicked Wheel 2, 6.5TD Upgrade Turbo Wheel for Aftermarket Turbos

Using a billet (Machined from solid aircraft grade Alcoa A2000 series aluminum) compressor wheel has two distinct advantages.

Weight/Mass reduction

2.     Design of blades

Weight/Mass reduction-because the Wicked Wheel is made using 5 axis CNC, and because of the high quality aluminum, we are able to take much material out of the wheel to make it lighter. The OE wheel is made of cast aluminum.  Any time you cast something, you are limited to the design because of process of the casting.  By making it lighter, the overall mass or weight of the turbine assembly is less and thus takes less force (fuel/exhaust gas) to move/spool.

Design of blades- the OE has a very difficult challenge when they manufacture a vehicle.  They have to set the tuning and performance to work “pretty good” in all conditions.  It has to work in extreme cold, in extreme heat, at sea level, at high altitudes, etc. all the while trying to protect the vehicle to get through the warranty period. The same turbo is also commonly used in various applications. So many times, the turbo did not match the engine as best as it could.  They improved with tuning, or doing something to it for a better fitment. The aftermarket quickly finds the soft areas and improves on these quickly.   The same is true with the compressor wheel.  It is made of cast aluminum, which is very economical to produce, and the design has to work “pretty good” in all conditions.  Keep in mind 5 axis CNC technology (at least to produce economically) has not been available until the last 5-10 years.  The design of the wheel can now be changed to better meet the demands of the engine/vehicle.  Similar to a boat impeller, we can change the pitch, blade count, taper the tips, increase blade heights, use trailering angles, etc all designed to maximize air volume and pressure into the combustion chamber to burn fuel.

For the 6.5L we looked at two designs initially:

The 6x6 blade (6 high blades and six low blades- this is called a complex wheel)

The 5x5 blade (5 high and 5 low)

Our designs come from 3D imaging the stock cast wheel, then looking at the compressor housing to see how much we can increase the blade height to grab more air.  We also look at other factors in how much to angle the blade, taper the blade to maximize air flow.

When we dyno tested the 2 prototype wicked wheels, we found the 6x6 bade increased HP by 10 and the 5x5 increased by 14.

But the road test was really the determining factor on why we settled on the 5x5.  The lower the blade count, the more bottom end you will get.  The higher the blade count, the better for top end.  We felt the responsiveness on the 5x5 for bottom end and mid-range was great.  We didn’t know of too many applications (especially with eh 6.5L that customers would be willing to sacrifice the bottom end to get better top end (high RPM).  Going to a 7x7 or 8x8 would be really laggy on the bottom end.  This would be magnified when towing.

During our testing we measured both drive pressure and boost pressure. (see photos). Engine compartment picture is measuring drive pressure and fuel pressure during WOT runs on the dyno.  

NOTE: Wicked Wheels ae not a returnable item once theseal is broken on the packaging.