I have a 2003 5.4 Triton and shes needs some more power. I already have a AIRaid cold air induction, but am getting ready to install over the this winter a pulley set, throttle bodies, exhaust and headers (wrapping the headers also) but I believe that just isnt gonna be enough power increase.....Cause surprisingly enough my truck is very slow. My truck is lifted 6" with 35" Nitto Grappler tires.
Should I go with a turbo or supercharger.....I know I cant run either to much more then say 6lbs, but with a V8 should still add about 100hp to her. But wanted to see what you guys think would be the better application for my truck.

 

First, you should regear to accommodate the 35 inch tires. 4.10 or 4.30 differentials would be good. You probably have 3,73s now.

Second, you should call 5Star tuning and discuss a custom tune for your truck. Ask for Mike.

If after that you still want more, then a supercharger is easier to fit to the 5.4L and will usually give you more low end torque.

 

Beware the pullie set, throttle body, will be a waste with supercharger.

I personaly would not put one on a "primary" vehicle but if its a fun or play vehicle go for it. If you can install yourself the SC wont be much more than the pullie, tb, and headers. With tune and installed should keep it under 5k. And you can get a centri and save on the cost of gears also. Probably would be about even $$

 

Supercharger.

 

A set of 4.56 or 4.88 gears would do wonders along with a custom tune. Putting on more parts without a good tune to take advantage of them is a bad idea.

As for the turbo vs SC I would lean towards the SC with all the lightning components out there. Guys upgrade the stock SC on their lightning all the time so they don't need the stocker any longer. The supercharger with have very good power right off idle although a properly sized turbo system can be decent down low also.

 

Personaly I like turbo setups. But you would prob be looking at 3x the cost for one.

I agree with if you dont do alot of highway driving or its a secondary vehicle just put some massive gears and a tune. Maybe get the transmission reprogramed for a more performance style shifts.

If you did gears and tune you might be happy without a supercharger. Just dont expect good highway MPG.

 

Had a buddy with a 2005 supercharged 5.4. It was pretty sweet to ride in. It made the 5.4 feel right.

 

Dump the 5.4 get a 6.0 for some real power

 

For the short amount of time that it actually starts and runs!

 

i know what i drive. im ashamed that the rest of us cant leave it to that.

i would scour craigslist. there was a guy on a local one to me that started out at $2500 for a lightning setup. lastime i saw it listed he was down to $800. depending on what you need to make it work that could have been a deal. if you do some research though there is alot of discussion of turbo and super chargers for the 5.4 most of the time they come to a dead end since most companies do not produce a kit and are not interested in making a kit. for the most part you will be either using a kit for a f150 or a mustang and fabbing up the bracket that dont work. tuning i doubt will be the issue luckily.

 

HA HA HA jc8825 what ever. but while it is running there hell

 

^

 

4:88s and leave it at that..

 

Wow 4.88s, seems to big of a difference. It'd take away a lot of the highway milleage. I say 4.10 or 4.30, headers and tuning.

 

A lot of people say 4:30's for stock 5.4 and v10's and pulling. These motors are designed to run in the upper rpm range and the difference between 4.30 and 4.88 is not huge in od. The op is looking to gain back power. The weight of the tires as a rolling mass and the additional height is what is killing him most. If you get to the nuts and bolts of it. Adding a turbo or a s/c to the truck and keeping the stock gearing is going to create a lot of load on the tranny. Gearing it will help to reduce the work to get it rolling and keep it rolling. There are very few occasions where I would think going a little lower on gearing where it would be a bad thing. The cost of gearing would be a lot cheaper than a s/c or a turbo. Probably not as cool though. 4.56 or 4.88 gears would make a huge difference over 3.73 with his setup. adding power past that would make it more fun to drive.