Treadstone T3 Cast Manifold?

[daren_p]

I was just wondering if anyone was running one of these Treadstone cast T3 manifolds? They look to be a knock off of the Turbonetics T3. I was wondering about fitment & cracking issues? They are much cheeper then the Turbonetics & apparently now come with a lifetime warranty against cracking. Im on the edge of sticking with a bolt on housing or going to a T3 & if this manifold is good, for that price I think its enough to make me spend the extra on a T3 setup. Link here


http://www.treadstoneperformance.com/product.phtml?p=196&phot_key=264

 

[DSMcrazy3]

I have one for the 420a. Mine is an exact replica of the STAR manifold, and so far have had no problems with it. The only issue I ran into was that when I ordered it the status said in stock, however I ended up having to wait about 3 weeks because it wasn't.

Another thing is the company Autosquare on Ebay started selling the exact manifold for about 100 less, so you might want to hold off for a bit to see if they replicate one for the 4g as well and save some more dough.

 

[91-gsx]

I was just wondering if anyone was running one of these Treadstone cast T3 manifolds? They look to be a knock off of the Turbonetics T3. I was wondering about fitment & cracking issues? They are much cheeper then the Turbonetics & apparently now come with a lifetime warranty against cracking. Im on the edge of sticking with a bolt on housing or going to a T3 & if this manifold is good, for that price I think its enough to make me spend the extra on a T3 setup. Link here


http://www.treadstoneperformance.com/product.phtml?p=196&phot_key=264

I was wondering if this was a replica of the turbonetics manifold? It kind of looks like it. They also say that you can bolt on t4 housings to this manifold, how when it is a t3 bolt pattern?
later

 

[daren_p]

I was wondering if this was a replica of the turbonetics manifold? It kind of looks like it. They also say that you can bolt on t4 housings to this manifold, how when it is a t3 bolt pattern?
later

Yes, like I said in my origional post this is a knock off Turbonetics mani. They say the same thing about the Turbonetics mani beable to be converted to T4. Im going to take a guess and say the bolt pattern between T3 & T4 is the same and just the inlet shape is different, therefore you can port these mani's to work with a T4 setup.

So nobody else running one of these? I don't like to be the first

 

[brute]

Don't be scared to be the first. It looks like a pretty reputable company, and they have a warranty. It's not some sketchy eBay auction in which the seller only has like 3 feedback (1 being negative). You can be the guinea pig!

It looks like an excellent deal to me.

 

[daren_p]

Ya your right it does look like a descent mani & apparently the warrenty is 1 year replacement against cracking, & then limited lifetime, whatever that means? I just usually like to stick to the "brand names" that you can trust. But I guess thats not always the case as I spent the big money, $240 at the time for the SBR cast mani (version before WG flange) & that had two external crack each about an inch long in the collector area, first time I looked under the heat shield after 6 months. Who know what I'll find next spring when I pull the turbo off after 12 months use.

For the price you could basically have 2 of them for the price of the Turbonetics, if they didn't last that long. They tell me they adhear to strict ASTM casting standards (whatever that mumble jumble means). I wonder if it is dimensionally the same?

 

[vintagemuscle]

you won't be the first to run one.
http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=230062&highlight=treadstone

For the past couple weeks I have been debating on whether or not to get this manifold. It looks identical to the t-netics manifold and being cast I don't think it will have problems with cracking.

I can't make up my mind between this manifold and just using an adapter plate. http://www.bmcrace.com/products/adapters/

I seem to change my mind every day. Maybe i'll just get a Shearer manifold and be done with it.

 

[daren_p]

you won't be the first to run one.
http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=230062&highlight=treadstone

For the past couple weeks I have been debating on whether or not to get this manifold. It looks identical to the t-netics manifold and being cast I don't think it will have problems with cracking.

I can't make up my mind between this manifold and just using an adapter plate. http://www.bmcrace.com/products/adapters/

I seem to change my mind every day. Maybe i'll just get a Shearer manifold and be done with it.

Thanks for the link, I searched for the treadstone mani but I must have only searched in the title as I didn't come up with anyone running one. I thought about the adapter but since my dame SBR mani is already cracked I guess its time to get another one & I figured theres no reason to keep the Mitsu style while Im doing it. I also like the fact that the WG mount is already cast & leaves lots of room at the rad even compared to the SBR cast WG mani, which I didn't want to shell out another $300 for, that may only last the same amount of time as my first one.

 

[vintagemuscle]

Thanks for the link, I searched for the treadstone mani but I must have only searched in the title as I didn't come up with anyone running one. I thought about the adapter but since my dame SBR mani is already cracked I guess its time to get another one & I figured theres no reason to keep the Mitsu style while Im doing it. I also like the fact that the WG mount is already cast & leaves lots of room at the rad even compared to the SBR cast WG mani, which I didn't want to shell out another $300 for, that may only last the same amount of time as my first one.

The wastegate placement is the only thing I don't like about the manifold. The wastegate looks like it is very far away from the collector and closer to the head on the #1 runner. I wonder how good it is at controlling creep in that location. Also for a 1g, the bracing on the underside of the hood needs to be trimmed for the wastegate to fit right. This is true for both the t-netics and treadstone manifolds.

 

[daren_p]

Yes I have heard about the clearance issues you may have with the 1g on both these mani's. As for the WG I don't think creep will be an issue. I believe the general consensis is becasue of the pressure in the manifold it doesn't really matter all that much exactly where the WG is placed. The general rule for pressure is pressure is equal in any and all directions, ie if something is pressurized the pressurse no matter what the shape etc, is always going to remain constant at every location. I would think the general rule would still apply here. Of all my research on the turbonetics manis I haven't founf any posts on boost creep issues.

 

[95blackGsTurbo]

I read a thing on DSMTalk a while ago that Treadstone made intercoolers for eBay companies and somewhere on eBay there is a cast manifold that looks VERY similar to the one that you listed. Since they are a Turbonetics dealer though, they can just make a mold of that manifold and cast thier own and charge way less.

 

[Caithness]

Although it has recently been proven several times that not all cast manifolds are cast equally strong. So the new casting does carry some risk.

 

[daren_p]

Yes all casting defently isn't the same but I got some info that I thinks eases my mind about trying it out. They said they have sold over 500 units (all their manis combined) but here is the real kicker. 1 year free replacement warranty against cracking & then lifetime replacement with a $150 core charge.

 

[Turbo Monk3y]

I have a Turbonetics on my talon as we speak and its been put through some abuse AFRs @ 12.6:1 and I have a few small cm sized cracks in the collector.... This Treadstone manifold seems just as good if not better(meaning the higher nickel content in the casting) than the Turbonetics... Eventually every manifold will crack, Cast just takes longer... So I say DEW IT!!!!

 

[GRNDSM]

>and being cast I don't think it will have problems with cracking.

That is right, because stock cast manifolds never crack... Mitsu, with ALL of their resources could not come-up with a manifold which would not crack. What makes you think that this cheap knock off place will?

Turbonetics was a mediocre manifold in the first place with a rather limited market, it was obsoleted when PTE, SBR and FP came out with custom turbine housings to bolt Garrets turbos to Mitsu parts, around 4-5 years ago. So... this is a copy of a mediocre, obsolete manifold. I am amazed what people will copy!

As for being "first" to use it, is there anything to brag about when you are using a forgery?

 

[daren_p]

>and being cast I don't think it will have problems with cracking.

That is right, because stock cast manifolds never crack... Mitsu, with ALL of their resources could not come-up with a manifold which would not crack. What makes you think that this cheap knock off place will?

Turbonetics was a mediocre manifold in the first place with a rather limited market, it was obsoleted when PTE, SBR and FP came out with custom turbine housings to bolt Garrets turbos to Mitsu parts, around 4-5 years ago. So... this is a copy of a mediocre, obsolete manifold. I am amazed what people will copy!

As for being "first" to use it, is there anything to brag about when you are using a forgery?

When were talking about a cast mani & the Turbonetics is a mediocre design, then what would you refer the stock mani as, a good design? What type of T3 cast mani do you prefer since as far as I can tell the choices are fairly limited?

So why was this setup obsoleted when the bolt on housings (FP excluded) came out, just because it was a more expensive route? Because these bolt on housing defently don't have the advantage as far as performance goes. Everyone knows switching from a bolt on setup to a full garrett will net you greater power with the same turbo.

 

[GRNDSM]

Why are you so hung up on using T3 housing in the first place? Perhaps there are now much better choices, but back then, "5 bolt" T3 turbine housings were not all that great!

Everyone knows switching from a bolt on setup to a full garrett will net you greater power with the same turbo.

I guess I missed that memo

Not all "full Garrett" set-ups are great...

 

[daren_p]

Why are you so hung up on using T3 housing in the first place? Perhaps there are now much better choices, but back then, "5 bolt" T3 turbine housings were not all that great!



I guess I missed that memo

Not all "full Garrett" set-ups are great...

Okay, well your the wisemen so you tell me what housing I should go with? Everyone says go to a full garret setup vs a stock bolt-on style, so what should I be doing? Between the T31 4 & 5 bolt turbine housings that were designed to run with the T series turbos, I have been told the 4 bolt is the more efficient version. Difference is Im going with a GT series turbo. The factory Garrett T31 style 4 bolt housing that they offer for this turbo is still the origional T31 design that has just been machined to accept the GT turbine wheel. The 5 bolt housing that Im looking at getting is a custom cast housing that was developed by ATP & Garrett to internally mirror the GT housing so it seems to be the best choice for this turbo as the extended 3" GT turbine housing doesn't seem to be in easy fit in our applications.

You keep on posting snide comments but give me no info, Im looking for opinions so if you think I should be going another route then why don't you tell me what you think is better & why instead of posting comments that tell me nothing?

All the tests that I have seen with a bolt on housing switched to a properly matched Garret setup has made more power, & like I said origionally I wasn't including the FP housing. Like I said if Im wrong tell me which bolt on housings are better.