Complete in-house rebuild service for all Garrett performance turbocharger series: G-Series (Gen I and II), GTX Gen 2, GTX Gen 1, GT Series, T-Series, TA/TB/TV Series, and GBC. In-house VSR balancing on every unit since 2008.
No turbocharger brand carries more history than Garrett. When you ship us a GT35R or a G35-1050, you are shipping a direct descendant of aerospace engineering that predates the jet age.
Cliff Garrett founded the Aircraft Tool and Supply Company in a one-room Los Angeles office in 1936. The company that became Garrett AiResearch built intercoolers for the B-17 bomber and the cabin pressurization system for the B-29 during World War II, then went on to supply life support systems for the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo space programs.
Garrett's turbocharger business started with the T15 unit delivered to Caterpillar in 1955 for the D9 crawler, followed by a 5,000-unit production order. In 1962 a Garrett turbo powered the Oldsmobile Jetfire Turbo Rocket, the world's first turbocharged production car, decades before turbocharging became mainstream. We rebuild those original AiResearch T5 units today.
Garrett turbochargers powered the first turbocharged car to win the Indianapolis 500 (1968), the first turbo to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans (Renault, 1978), and the first mass-production turbodiesel passenger car (Mercedes 300SD, 1978). Garrett's Variable Nozzle Turbine (VNT) technology of the 1990s went on to power the majority of European diesel passenger cars.
After decades under AlliedSignal and Honeywell, the turbocharger business was spun off in 2018 as Garrett Motion. The performance catalog now spans the journal bearing T-Series and GT Series through the ball bearing GTX generations to the current G-Series, and Boost Lab, Inc. has been rebuilding all of it in-house since 2008.
The model number on a Garrett turbo encodes its family, turbine frame, compressor size, and bearing type. Here is how to read it, using the most famous example in the catalog.
Garrett turbos are among the most robust units ever built. When they come in for a rebuild, the cause is almost always external, not a defect in the turbo itself. Understanding the actual failure mechanism matters because rebuilding a turbo without correcting the root cause means the next one fails the same way.
The most common cause of Garrett oil leaks we see, and it has nothing to do with the turbo. The drain relies entirely on gravity. An undersized drain line, a kinked return, a drain routed past 35 degrees off vertical, or a return point below the oil level in the pan all cause oil to back up in the CHRA. Once oil fills the bearing housing past the piston ring grooves, it exits through both ends. Minimum 5/8 inch internal diameter, continuous downhill slope, no loops or sharp bends.
The oil drain connects to the crankcase. When crankcase pressure goes positive, from blow-by, a clogged PCV valve, or a restricted breather, it pushes back against the gravity drain. Oil cannot exit the bearing housing, backs up, and gets pushed past the piston rings at both ends. The turbo looks like it failed. The turbo did not fail. Test crankcase pressure before condemning any Garrett turbo for oil leaks.
Failure to pre-oil the turbo before initial startup, a blocked or kinked feed line, or a feed line that was disturbed during installation can starve the bearings before oil pressure builds. Most installation-related bearing failures happen within the first minutes of run time. This is why pre-oiling and confirming feed line condition before startup is non-negotiable on any Garrett rebuild install.
A restricted air filter creates a partial vacuum at the compressor inlet. Under sufficient restriction, that vacuum can pull oil out of the bearing housing past the compressor-side piston rings and into the intake tract. The result looks like a compressor-side seal failure. Replacing the turbo without replacing the air filter and checking for intake restriction puts the next unit through the same failure.
Shutting down immediately after sustained high-load operation traps heat in the CHRA with no active oil flow. Residual oil bakes into carbon deposits that progressively restrict oil passages. Over time this compounds into a partial starvation condition on every cold startup. When we tear down a Garrett that has been running a long time and is now leaking, coking in the CHRA is one of the most common things we find.
Extended oil change intervals on a turbocharged vehicle accelerate bearing wear significantly. Garrett journal bearings ride on a hydrodynamic oil film. Once that film breaks down from heat, contamination, or viscosity loss, metal contacts metal. Ball bearing GTX units are less sensitive but not immune. The evidence is always visible on teardown. We document it with photos on every job.
We have been rebuilding Garrett turbos since 2008 across every series from small T-Series units to large G-Series singles. Every rebuild follows the same process regardless of series or size. Everything including VSR balancing is done in-house at our Dade City shop, and every job is tracked in our repair management system from the moment it arrives through the day it ships back.
Full teardown on arrival. Every component inspected and photographed. We identify all failure points and confirm root cause before any parts are ordered or work begins.
Journal bearings, thrust bearings, and thrust washers replaced on journal bearing units. Ball bearing cartridge replaced on GTX and G-Series ball bearing units. New components on every rebuild, no exceptions.
All compressor and turbine side piston rings replaced. Seal plates, o-rings, and related hardware inspected and replaced as needed.
Turbine shaft checked for runout and heat damage. Compressor wheel inspected for tip damage, erosion, and balance. Replacement quoted if either is out of spec.
Every rebuilt CHRA is VSR balanced in-house above OEM specification. We do not send balancing out. It is done here before the turbo goes back together.
Housings cleaned and inspected for damage. Turbo assembled, shaft play verified within tolerance, and photographed before packaging for return shipment.
If your model is not listed here, that does not mean we cannot help. Garrett has produced hundreds of turbocharger part numbers across OE and performance applications. Contact us with your model or the part number from the CHRA nameplate and we will confirm what we can do.
Start your rebuild request in our repair system. Every Garrett rebuild is fully documented from intake through return shipment. You will always know exactly where your turbo is in the process.
Start Your Rebuild Request37833 Pineapple Ave Unit A • Dade City, FL 33523 • sales@theboostlab.com
Garrett part numbers serviced by Boost Lab, Inc.: 836023-5001S, 836023-5002S, 836023-5003S, 836023-5004S, 836023-5005S, 836026-5001S, 836026-5002S, 836026-5003S, 836026-5004S, 836026-5005S, 849894-5001S, 849894-5002S, 849894-5003S, 849894-5004S, 846098-5001S, 846098-5002S, 851154-5001S, 851154-5002S, 851154-5003S, 851154-5004S, 856801-5001S, 856801-5002S, 856801-5003S, 856801-5004S, 856801-5005S, 856801-5006S, 856801-5007S, 856801-5008S, 856801-5009S, 856801-5010S, 856801-5026S, 856801-5027S, 856801-5068S, 853248-5001S, 853248-5002S, 853248-5003S, 853248-5004S, 854800-5001S, 854800-5002S, 854802-5001S, 854802-5002S, 700177-5001S, 700177-5002S, 700177-5003S, 700177-5004S, 700177-5014S, 700177-5022S, 700177-5023S, 700382-5001S, 700382-5002S, 700382-5003S, 700382-5004S, 700382-5012S, 700382-5020S, 706451-0034, 706451-5001S, 706451-5002S, 743347-5001S, 743347-5002S, 750162-5001S, 750162-5002S, 452187-5001S, 452187-5002S, 452187-5003S, 466541-5001S, 466541-5002S, 466541-5003S, 479594-5001S, 479594-5002S, 753392-5001S, 753392-5002S, 753392-5003S, 436485-5001S, 436485-5002S, 471171-5001S, 471171-5002S, 877895-5001S, 877895-5002S, 877895-5003S, 877895-5004S, 877895-5005S, 877895-5006S, 877895-5007S, 877895-5008S, 877895-5013S, 880698-5001S, 880698-5002S, 880698-5003S, 880698-5004S, 880698-5005S, 880698-5006S, 880698-5007S, 880698-5013S, 880701-5001S, 880701-5002S, 880701-5003S, 880701-5004S, 880701-5005S, 880701-5006S, 880701-5007S, 880701-5008S, 871390-5001S, 871390-5002S, 871390-5003S, 871390-5004S, 871390-5005S, 871390-5011S, 879779-5001S, 879779-5002S, 879779-5003S, 879779-5004S, 879779-5005S, 879779-5006S, 879779-5007S, 879779-5014S, 934076-5001S, 934076-5002S, 934076-5003S, 934076-5004S, 934076-5005S, 934076-5006S, 934115-5001S, 934115-5002S, 934115-5003S, 934115-5004S, 934123-5001S, 934126-5001S