Hello Forum

This newby respectfully requests your opinions on the following performance enhancements for my '03 F250 SD SC 5.4 long.

1. K&N - Just the air filter, or the entire intake kit?

2. Exhaust - Duals w/Flowmaster 50?

3. Superchips - Are they really worth the cost? I prefer cheetos, but don't think they will boost my trucks performance.

4. Fiberglass Bed Cover - Will a $1k cover save me the gas? Don't really like the floppy plastic and rubber snap-ons.

5. ?

Looking for a little more power and maybe a couple of mpgs.

Thanks
Dirk

 

Well...I've done all those mods to my 2000 F-150 SuperCab 5.4....ran a best 15.63. Only slip I have scanned though is a 15.775 and it's in my gallery. I think my truck is supposed to run 17.1 stock.....but those seen a little high to me. Deffinately the chip was the biggest.....K&N gave a little snap in the throttle response....Flowmaster SI/DO just makes more noise. Ford engineers did their homework with the 5.4....unless you supercharge it there is really nothing you can bolt on for noticable performance gains. Tonnea cover may improve hwy mileage. I'm saving my money up right now for some major.....and I mean major upgrades for my truck....see ya'll in the low 13's....

 

Thanks for the input 2000. The low 13s!?. Didn't think Pratt & Whitney made Ford Truck Performance Kits. LOL. Bet you'll get there. Good luck.

 

How can you supercharge a 5.4L with 9 to1 compression, when the the supercharged engines only have 8 to1.
Can you run a supercharger with 9 to 1 comp???

 

Yes....Kenne Bell, Allen Engineering, Holley, ATI Procharger, and Paxton all make superchargers for the N/A 5.4.....you just can't run as much boost as the L trucks can. 8 psi is the safe limit with a chip, injectors, and a higher flow fuel pump or fuel pump booster like what Kenne Bell uses. Most of the kits can make more power than the Eaton M112 blower that is found on the Lightnings as well. You just won't be able to swap out a blower pulley to increase boost though....not unless you want to buy a new motor.....

 

How long is a supercharged 5.4 going to last?

 

Depends on how much boost is used and your driving habits. Moderate boost and not driving like a teenager shouldn't affect the duty cycle of the engine.

 

I find that a little hard to believe. More power is more stress. More stress is more wear and tear and a shorter life.

 

That is true but then then how much shorter life do you think it will be? Positive displacement superchargers are throttle responsive and only add boost when needed meaning the engine is not going to be placed under additional stress all the time. Even the cetrifugal designs are less likely to create cruise boost nowadays. So if you do regular maintenance and upkeep on your truck you are not going to have an appreciable decline in engine life. Also most supercharger companies will recomend upgrading transmission cooling capabilities to cope with the added stress.

 

If you go to the trouble of adding a supercharger, wouldn't you use the extra power on a regular basis? I may be proven wrong when I see a few 100,000 mile lightnings. But I highly doubt many, if any will ever see that mileage on the original untouched engine and transmission. Over built is no longer in the factory design vocabulary. It's been replaced by absolute bare minimum. There is no free lunch.

 

Regular basis sure.....such as passing, the occasional trip to the track, whatever. But those are my reasons....some people install them to make towing heavier loads easier. But not constant jumping on the gas at every chance. If you supercharge your truck within reasonable amounts of boost and put a good tranny cooler on the truck should easily last 150,000 - 200,000 miles with good maintenance.

 

My theory is the blower under normal driving doesn't neceassarily force air into the engine (boost) the blower does have to push enough air to keep up with the engines normal cfm requirement or it would drag it down which they don't so being as they have to flow the same or a little more cfm again not enough to create a lot of boost, I see this as assisting the engine to breathe, and probably why people see mpg increases under low boost setups on stock engines. Just my theory, oh well. Later

 

That is right. Why most people see mpg gains on the highway after installing a supercharger......but also loose a little in city.