81 300sd boost at 7psi
 

I installed a boost gauge today and drove it up a hill at 60mph and got it to 4400 rpms and no matter my rpm range my boost was never greater than 7 lbs... i couldnt even tell when my wastegate would kick in really cause freeway driving i hovered at around 5 to 6 lbs of boost at 3400 rpms...

Is it bad to adjust the waste gate without adjusting the alda or do those two go hand and hand... I read that i should hit no more than 12psi for a reliable car which is what i'm after...

you can adjust the waste gate by itself. I think you can run up to 15 psi before you get into trouble but you might want to check this out. Adjusted my 350 SDL to this and has run 100k with no problems. For more power you can adjust the altitude compensator to move the fuel rail and get more power. This will make the exhaust smoke under hard acceleration.

It's bad to adjust the wastegate actuator without first ruling out restrictions like dirty air and oil filters and making sure you have a clean signal line from the manifold through the overboost protection solenoid to the ALDA. You can temporarily or permanently remove the ALDA to see if you find the lost 5-7 psi.

Sixto
87 300D^2

If you adjust the wastegate, and it has no effect then you need to check alda, the lines from the manifold to the alda, overboost protection, etc. Stock it is normally limited at 12psi.

I removed the alda and everything that goes with it when I had a 300. Boost was around 9psi, and I needed to adjust the wastegate to get the correct 12 psi. the springs weaken over time, so it is not unusual for it to be lower then it should.