I have never been involved with a budget turbo build, as far as the turbo set up itself is concerned. My budget was always cheap from a cheap motor with a good turbo set up on it. I have always ran good turbos and IC's (usually liquids).
That said...

The more of the turbo set up you can build yourself the cheaper it will be. I THINK a truck would be probably the easiest to do a budget turbo build on. I think you would have less bends and less fab work which would lead to lower cost. I would guess that a turbo and a liquid IC mounted behind the cab and under the bed could be a possible option for easier fab and lower cost. I would use the money saved to buy a quality properly sized turbo, which is just my opinion, I have ZERO experience with cheap turbos. There is a LS powered truck board I cant remember the name. I know there are a few of those guys doing budget rear mounts on LS trucks. I would ask them about price and fab issues. options ect... theres always more than one way to skin a cat.

Personal opinion: I dont think that head and cam combo is what I would go with if I was looking to do the same thing as you with a truck. L92 heads have huge ports and traditionally huge ports and low end / mid range power dont go hand in hand. A good set of 243's matched to a cam of that size range would prob be a better street combo. Plus the cathedral port heads wouldnt require a new intake like the L92's would. What exact motor do you have in your truck?

Is it possible to get your hands on a cheaper supercharger kit? Like an abandoned project or low mile street one that some one is replacing with a nastier set up?

personal experience: I may be wired a little different, but if I saved money by going a different route and didnt wind up with what I was wanting I dont count the money I saved. Instead I curse myself for all the money I just pissed away on putting together the wrong set up. You got to watch out for this one tho, because going so far over budget can keep you from ever completing the project. This is just as frustrating and alot of times causes you to lose your *** just as bad.

 

if you are thinking about heads, turn up the boost.

if you cant turn up the boost, get a bigger turbo.

only reason i ever bought heads was for more head bolts.

 

yep ive always told people if you hit 20lbs and you want more, spray it.

if you still need more, add another turbo or a larger turbo, then start from step one again lol

 

postal14 I ended up getting an LQ4 out of what I believe was a '05 truck.

I am still running the 5.3 electronics and everything and it is runnign smooth unless I get on it, but my friend who actually did most of the work is assuring me that reprogramming the computer and larger injectors should give me the full effect of the swap. Once you get upstairs, the engine gets flat around 4000 rpm....

The 6.0 definitely feels better than the 5.3 and I haven't noticed a huge or even a noticeable change in mileage.... It just feels more natural.

What you have been saying is soaking in and there was a meet last night up here in Orange County (NY) and surprisingly there are a few guysout here running turbos. From what I can gather and what I have been told it is the best route for my dollar... With it setup right, you can barely hear the turbo whine if at all, but you will feel the take off....

 

Still seeing people miss the main point of what boost is. A standard day is 56 degrees F, 29.92 inHg, 14.7 psi at sea level. If you measured your MAP (manifold air pressure) with a NA engine you'll never quite reach ambient pressure (outside air pressure) because of restrictions through the throttle body, manifold, and valves. Simply put, the atmosphere can't fill your combustion chamber fast enough to be equal with the outside air pressure. As soon as your boosted application passes ambient pressure you're creating boost. Simple as that. 1psi of boost on a standard day is 15.7 psi. Now if we want to talk about double entry compressors and axial compressors thats a different topic lol. Turbo's are more fun but supercharging would be your best bet since you said you want that low end 1000-15000 power

 

denmah...!!! The voice of reason...!

I was waiting for you to chime in.... Pretty much, teh consensus is to forget about a top-end build-up and just go with a decent turbo build. I am there with you. I have already put a Comp Cams XR269HR in there and I like how it behaves I am hoping the turbo acts like a multiplier. I have time to get this together.

You run some pretty crazy boost, are you using 93...? Meth or water injection and IC...?

I am trying to stay away from meth or water, but I am not averse to an IC and living with less boost as I had a chance to ride in a boost SSS and on 7lbs it was clearly more than I was looking for....

What turbo would you recommend...? I have been looking at the HP78...

 

 

he runs pump gas with a fmic, meth and then a shot of juice on top at the track lol.
you can still get good numbers with just a fmic but you have to watch timing, iat, and boost levelsto stay safe

 

Does boost kill motors or can u run say 18-20 psi. As long as you have low iat, e85, low timing ect. On a shock shortblock?

 

Not necessarily. I can (and have) run big wheel turbos off the map on the low end to the point where they make **** for power. Turbos don't care about CFM...they care about mass rate. Air volume vs air mass...two different things. An engine will only consume a given CFM of air depending on its displacement and RPM...bigger turbo doesn't make it flow more volume. Its air mass.