Black Pearl Diesel Performance — Read This Before You Pay Them

What I paid for vs. what I got

I PAID FORFleece Cheetah upgraded turbo

I GOTA used medium-duty turbo — the wrong turbo, forced to fit. And they kept my original turbo.

I PAID FOR5″ upgraded exhaust

I GOTThe wrong exhaust, forced to fit — it melted the bed of my truck

I PAID FOR5 custom tunes

I GOT1 tune — and not even for my truck's year. It ran like garbage.

I PAID FORCTS4 monitor — quoted "$610 flat"

I GOTA CTS3 — there is no "CTS4." They said my card failed, so I paid $600 cash. The $595 card charge went through too.

In their own words

Actual text messages from Black Pearl (contact name "Brayden"). Screenshots below.

Black Pearl · Apr 26I'm just putting together everything you want the fleece cheetah upgraded turbo with the exhaust brake, correct

Yessir

They confirmed, in writing, that I was paying for a Fleece Cheetah turbo. I did not get one.

Exhaust is melting my shit 📷 melted bed

Black Pearl · Jul 2I can order you one rn it shouldn't have done that it was angled down I'll order it rn

Their own admission that the exhaust they installed melted my truck.

Black Pearl · Jun 2Just got word back to get the CTS4 EGT probe all the cables and the switch would be 610 flat comes with the mount as well

Perfect let's do it. I love the CTS four by the way it is my favorite.

Sold a "CTS4" for $610. What showed up was a CTS3.

Black Pearl · Jun 3Hey brotha I had to issue back that cash for the cts some reason square has been a pain in the ass I ordered it already just keep an eye out for that refund

The refund/cash runaround on the monitor.

The evidence

To force a used medium-duty turbo into my truck, they hacked the whole build together — modified clamps, spliced lines, chewed-up bolts, the wrong exhaust. Here's the proof.

Used medium-duty Holset turbocharger sitting on pavement — The turbo they installed — a used, medium-duty Holset. The wrong turbo for my truck, not the Fleece Cheetah I paid for.

Worn turbocharger compressor wheel — Its compressor wheel — worn. This turbo was used.

V-band clamp that was modified to force it to fit — The clamp didn't even fit. They modified it to force it on.

Turbo oil drain line cut and spliced back together with a hose clamp — The oil drain line — cut and spliced back together with a hose clamp.

Bolt with stripped, cross-threaded threads — A bolt with the threads chewed up during the install.

Engine bay showing the botched turbo install with spliced lines — The finished “install” — spliced lines and mismatched parts crammed in to make the wrong turbo fit.

Exhaust exiting at the corner of the truck bed with visible melting and heat damage — The wrong exhaust dumped heat straight into my bed — and melted it.

Receipt from Black Pearl Diesel LLC for $4,300.00 dated April 27 2026 — $4,300 to Black Pearl Diesel LLC — turbo, delete, exhaust and tunes (April 27).

Receipt showing a $595.29 card charge that went through — The “CTS4” charge: $595.29 to my card. They told me it failed, so I paid $600 cash — the card charge went through too.

A certified diesel shop inspected it

The truck was inspected by Gillett Diesel Service. Their Turbo Department Manager put his findings in writing.

“I could tell immediately it was not a Cheetah. It wasn't even close to a Cheetah or a factory turbo.” What's on the truck is a medium-duty turbo — the shop hacked and cut to get it to fit.
The turbo's oil drain sat sideways — at 3 o'clock instead of 6 o'clock — so it can't drain by gravity. It fills with oil and leaks the seals, and oil on the intake side fills the intercooler and charge-air system, which “will cause a runaway engine, causing catastrophic engine failure and possible fire.”
The oil drain was cut and a rubber hose spliced on to get the angle and length they needed — and it's “not properly connected and leaking oil from the hose. Another potential to cause a fire.”
They ran a 58mm compressor wheel in a 60mm housing — so it won't produce proper airflow and will “run super hot.”
The exhaust housing has the wrong (marmon) flange and won't connect to the factory downpipe — so they forced it with a clamp that “looked as if it was about to break,” which would dump extreme heat right against the firewall, near the oil leaks.

Installed turbo next to a factory turbo, showing different exhaust flanges — Left: what they installed. Right: a correct factory turbo. Not the same part.

Side-by-side of the two turbos showing actuator and housing differences — Side by side — the actuator and housing don't match the factory unit.

Installed turbo with HOLSET branding visible — The installed turbo is a HOLSET medium-duty unit — not a Fleece Cheetah.

Turbo oil drain cut and spliced to a hose, leaking oil — The oil drain: cut, spliced to a hose — and leaking.

Exhaust clamp maxed out — The exhaust clamp — maxed out.

Correct compressor wheel to housing clearance on a factory turbo — A correct wheel-to-housing fit (factory reference).

58mm compressor wheel in a 60mm housing with an oversized gap — The 58mm wheel in the 60mm housing — the oversized gap.

— Luke Rostrom, Turbo Department Manager, Gillett Diesel Service Inc.

How it went down

Apr 26Black Pearl confirms the build: Fleece Cheetah turbo, delete, 5″ exhaust, 5 tunes.
Apr 27I pay $4,300 (receipt to "Black Pearl Diesel LLC").
SummerWrong turbo, wrong exhaust, one bad tune. Exhaust melts my bed. Turbo spews oil.
~4 monthsThe issues are never fixed.
ThenThey stop answering my calls and texts — and told a sheriff I was harassing them for asking them to fix it.

You're not the only one

Since this went up, others have come forward. These are their accounts, in their own words — names removed. They're unverified; shared as each person told it.

” Former employee

I worked for Black Pearl. They made a crazy amount of promises — to me and to everyone who came into the company — and I never once saw a paycheck. Promised me a vehicle, said they'd give back the 6.0 they owed, and never did. They had people who didn't know what they were doing half-assing the trucks, and never finished or delivered the builds they said they would.

” Customer

Charged me $2,000 to fix a rear main seal. All they did was smear RTV all over the bottom of the transmission and call it good — then blocked me on everything. They didn't even pull the transmission. They literally just covered where it was leaking with RTV.

” Former worker

This one isn't about my truck — it's about working for them. Me and a couple of friends went to do a job for the shop, and they ended up sending us to Texas to pick up two cars. They gave us $1,500 for the whole trip and a clapped-out truck with a tune so bad it ran way rich and burned through fuel. He said the house we'd stay at had power, water, AC, and beds — it was the complete opposite, so hotels and food came out of our own pockets. The trailer was junk too; the ramp hitches snapped on the highway and we had no tools because they sent us with nothing. We were promised $500 each and shook on it. One night we all slept in a Walmart parking lot because he wouldn't answer to send hotel money, and he'd call screaming asking where his truck was while we were trying to sleep. The trip took about a week. When we got back he bargained us down — I made $200, and it still took weeks of asking to get even that.

” Customer

I came in for 5 tunes, a straight pipe, and rock lights — all for $1,000 — and was promised it'd be done that day. When I got there they weren't even ready, then told me I couldn't get the tunes unless I bought a new ECM, which they said they'd get. It took him two weeks to even text me back. The first time in, all I got was an eco tune and a “straight pipe” that wasn't even finished. I asked for a refund after all the delays and he just kept making excuses — never gave my money back. And I was even nice enough to buy him and his whole crew pizza.

” Customer · brother's truck

This is about my brother's truck. We went to the owner's house because the shop was “out of commission,” to do a 2G swap on my brother's 2008 Dodge 3500 — we brought our own parts for them to just install. I stayed with the truck all night making sure it was right, and it wasn't. I overheard him say that if we didn't pay at least $2,000 just to install it, he'd keep the truck until we paid. They kept our old bad VGT turbo (which didn't even work) and tried to resell it on Marketplace. Over the next few weeks the whole exhaust fell off — down to just the downpipe. They promised to make it right with a full exhaust and a FASS fuel system. That never happened. It took them almost two months to put on a turbo we didn't even ask for, and that was it. They don't keep their promises.

These are submissions from readers, not the site author. They are the submitters' own statements and opinions, reproduced with identifying details removed, and have not been independently verified.

Do yourself a favor.

Have a real, reputable shop work on your truck. In my experience, Black Pearl Diesel will take your money, do the work wrong, and leave you paying someone else to fix it — or broken down on the side of the road.

This website reflects the personal experience and honest opinions of one customer, supported by that customer's own texts, receipts, and photographs. Quoted messages are reproduced from the author's own records.

Black Pearl Dieselis a sinking ship.