The Switchblade™ turbo uses patented technology to adjust the A/R ratio of the turbo to increase the speed of the turbine wheel under low flow conditions. The key to the technology is the Switchblade which is centered in the exhaust housing of the turbo. The Switchblade is controlled by pressure sensors and an electronic actuator so that under low boost conditions it rotates to close down a portion of the housing and increase the exhaust velocity over the turbine tips. This increased turbine speed translates into improved responsiveness and the result is a significant reduction of turbo lag. Once a significant boost has been generated, the Switchblade rotates back to a fully open position and the advantages of a larger housing are realized.

The housing utilized by the Switchblade was originally designed for use on an 8.3L engine and are now being installed on the 5.9L Cummins engines. Through the use of this new technology, this housing has been outfitted with the following specifications:

63mm Inducer
0.88 A/R ratio
18 cm Housing

This is the Switchblade turbo housing on the left (note the patented Switchblade in the throat of the housing) and the stock HE351 on the right.

These graphs illustrate the impact that the Switchblade has on the performance of the turbo. There is a traditional tradeoff between quick spool up times and top end performance. A smaller housing enables the turbo to generate boost more quickly; however, creates engine back pressure under towing or heavy use conditions. The Switchblade uses a significantly larger turbo than the stock configuration and is able to spool up quicker due to the directed flow over the turbine tips. Note the difference in back pressure and boost pressure between the Switchblade and the stock with similar spool up times. This reflects the turbos ability to respond quickly from low flow conditions and still provide vastly superior performance under heavy use conditions.

Blaylock Diesel Service, Inc. was awarded a patent for the Switchblade turbocharger design in Jan. 09 by the US patent office. We have had a demonstration unit on a 97 Power Stroke in testing for over 3 years now with no problems. Our earlier prototypes have been proven to perform comparably with present designs in the marketplace and we believe that our latest design will exceed anything on the market.

The newest design demonstrates that we can achieve boost pressures exceeding back pressure using a single turbo originally designed for an 8 liter engine. As you can see it seems to work well with the 5.9L in a one ton, 4 wheel drive Dodge with automatic transmission.

In this video of a test run the top gauge is back pressure at the point the turbo bolts onto the exhaust manifold and the bottom gauge is boost pressure prior to the intercooler.

The Switchblade is currently available for the first, second and third generation Dodge trucks with a 5.9L Cummins. The Blade is sold as a kit which includes a new exhaust manifold, turbo, electronic actuator and all required wiring to install the turbo. The kit enables the turbo to be installed on the truck in a matter of a few hours with no modification required.

If you are interesting in purchasing a Switchblade Turbo for your vehicle or if you are interested in becoming a distributor for this new product, please contact Blaylock Turbochargers. Please contact us or watch the site for availability on the 6.7L Cummins, Duramax and Powerstoke applications.