OK. Luckily the local turbo shop(workturbochargers.com) had some upgrades for this turbo. We installed a different style thrust bearing with a larger multi-pad surface and the corresponding, significantly larger thrust collars.
There is almost no area to disperse load on the factory thrust bearing with the tiny collars. WTH Garrett? Also if you look at the previous picture of the thrust bearing, you will see the wear is on the turbine side of the washer(take my word). This would typically indicate an imbalance of thrust loading due to a mismatch of the compressor vs. the turbine. Looking at the turbo sans housings, it easy to see how large the compressor is in relation to the turbine. Maybe the small thrust collars and large compressor wheel as equipped are destined for failure.
New parts on the right in each photo.
The really awesome thing it's that Reed(the owner) showed me how the compressor inlets on early RB26 turbos from the Skyline were modified by Garrett to stop them from surging. He wasn't sure how this turbo would react, but it's a viable option for sure.
Forgot to add, this was a quick and dirty rebuild(20min tops). Reed wanted to replace the comp wheel, and fully balance the assembly. I told him that was a waste of time. You should ALWAYS rebalance the rotating group, but in this case, we marked the shaft, nut, and comp wheel so that when tightened, the balance
should be a good as it was. The assembly will make a very specific noise if the balance is out, and if it does, I'll pull it back off and go ahead and let him machine the comp cover too.
Sent from my XT1060 using Tapatalk
