By now, you have probably already seen the video hoping to see a truck flip over and fly into a million pieces like the movies. But what you just watched is a perfect example of how dangerous dyno events can be.

Thanks to Industrial Injection for recording this and posting it on YouTube, we can all see some cool carnage safely. This is, also, a perfect example why it is important to upgrade your intercooler. While the truck was loading down and nitrous was being injected into the engine, the engine back fired (not very common) which sent a pressure wave back through the entire intake system.

The weak link in this system was the intercooler tank ends. The tank ends experience a large force every time the vehicle is under boost. The force on these ends can be calculated by the boost pressure (measured in pounds per square inch) multiplied by the area. Roughly the tank ends are (at the widest) are 4 inches. A really rough estimate using the dimensions found on Duramaxdiesels.com forum, each tank end is roughly 177 square inches. This means that at 30 psi, the tank ends are seeing 5,310 pounds of force but at 50 that number quickly jumps up to 8850 pounds.

Both pressures result in quite a bit of force on the tank ends. Depending on their geometry, thickness and what type of material they are made out of, will depend if the tank ends will hold.

Companies like aFe Power and Turbonetics (some intercooler) use additional pieces of aluminum inside of the sheet metal tank ends to hold them in place, while other companies like Banks Power, BD Power and Turbonetics (some intercoolers) use thicker cast tank ends to prevent blowout.

Either way, upgrading your intercooler, may seem like a waste of money, but how much do you think this cost the guy on the dyno? Grill, headlights, and who knows what else broke or was damaged by that blast. Sometimes upgrading your equipment is more of a cost savings than just a cost. In addition to that, all of the intercoolers listed above will outperform the factory intercooler, resulting in more power; winning!