Help me plan my upgrade path
#1
Help me plan my upgrade path
Hi, I have a really great 1997 automatic F350 dually (CA emissions) that I bought earlier this year. It is a fantastic truck with 136K miles on it. I got this truck to tow a car hauler trailer for my race car, probably will be around 12K lbs. I'm looking to improve the truck for this job with the chief goal being reliability followed by a combination of power (for getting up the hills) and fuel economy (because it makes it feel less expensive to go on trips). Right now the truck is almost completely stock save for a transfer flow, airbags and some interior improvements. I'm already planning on doing a hydroboost (put one on my 86 F250 and love it).
In the grand scheme of things, I'm fairly open on budget. The engine is in excellent condition, basically no blow-by and no oil consumption. As a result I'd like to keep this engine and I really would like to avoid anything as extreme as taking the heads off or what not (too big of a project at that point). I want to do supporting modifications first so that I've maximized the longevity of the entire system. Right now my initial thought on upgrade order is:
hydroboost
Swamps IDM
better exhaust
upgraded HPOP (not sure which)
Upgraded turbo with intercooler (not sure which) and larger intake plenum
Gauges
Programmer/chip (not sure which)
New injectors (again, not sure which)
Hardened transmission maybe?
Not sure where to go after this...
Essentially I'm thinking I want to do the things that improve the precision of fuel delivery and quality of air and only then add more fuel (since adding more fuel is when you start to add heat and danger).
So, what do you all think of this? I'm not looking for instant gratification, but instead having a low grief upgrade path without too many miss-steps.
In the grand scheme of things, I'm fairly open on budget. The engine is in excellent condition, basically no blow-by and no oil consumption. As a result I'd like to keep this engine and I really would like to avoid anything as extreme as taking the heads off or what not (too big of a project at that point). I want to do supporting modifications first so that I've maximized the longevity of the entire system. Right now my initial thought on upgrade order is:
hydroboost
Swamps IDM
better exhaust
upgraded HPOP (not sure which)
Upgraded turbo with intercooler (not sure which) and larger intake plenum
Gauges
Programmer/chip (not sure which)
New injectors (again, not sure which)
Hardened transmission maybe?
Not sure where to go after this...
Essentially I'm thinking I want to do the things that improve the precision of fuel delivery and quality of air and only then add more fuel (since adding more fuel is when you start to add heat and danger).
So, what do you all think of this? I'm not looking for instant gratification, but instead having a low grief upgrade path without too many miss-steps.
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If you're going to do a turbo upgrade go straight to a t4 kit
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