Trying to decide on either a supercharger or exhaust/chip/intake for my 03 5.4 Expy...I Need the extra for towing...I know what the Supercharger will give me but how much can I get from the above bolt on's ???? I have heard the exhaust just changes the noise and the chip will only change shift points....The Expy does pretty good stock but I can feel the need for more power climbing hills when fully loaded....Anyone have real numbers?????Real product experience????

Thanks..

 

Roughly 20 to 30hp from the above mods. My truck pulls much better with the 93 octane setting from my Diablosport Predator. I also firmed up the shifts which helps too.

 

What about a 1" TBS also??? Can it hurt??? $90 at summit???? Some of those intakes claim 15-20 HP alone??? Exhaust systems the same thing, claim 15- 40 HP alone??? And that damn $300 superchip claims something like 5 HP?? My Expy shifts fine with the weight.


So what do you think I would get with Headers, Catback, Air Intake with 1"TBS?????

 

Your best bet is to go with the supercharger and change your gear ratio.

The next best mod is the programmer. The programmer or a properly programmed chip will give you a measureable gain. With the 93 octane tune, in most instances, the gain is over 15 lb-ft and 25hp - and the feel of the shifts and engine vibration were greatly improved

Bolt ons are a gimmic with these engines unless you have a method to your madness. You are limited by the flow of the heads and intake manifold. I, for one, plan on a supercharger and head work, and have bought most of my mods with that in mind. I have a tuner, custom cat back, 75mm tb, TBS, custom CAI, 90mm maf, underdrive pulleys, e-fan installed. I also have a set of shorty headers waiting for a good weekend project. What have I noticed? The tuner was by far the best mod. All of them seemed to change the behavior/sound of the truck. The gas mileage was the same.

You need to forget high rpm horsepower and look at low rpm torque if you're going to be towing. It's not the fact you can do 70 with the trailer, it's how fast it gets to 70. That's the torque.

The TBS is the biggest waste of aluminum/phenolic material... ask yourself what lengthening/swirling the intake on a port injected engine will do if the same general dimensions remain and the fuel is going in at the head.

If you need the power now, go with the supercharger/gears right off the bat.

-Kerry

 

Thanks for the info..Is that 25HP with the programmer including all the other mod gains??? I heard all the programmer does for 5.4's is change the shift points and Adjust the timing so you can run 93 oct..???You can run 93 oct either way.. My gears are 3:73 so I'm happy with those...It's got great pick up off the start. And on a flat hwy the 5.4 is actually about perfect for the weight I'm towing 7K..Just them Damn hills....And screw a Diesel......I guess I must supercharge another...

 

You would say screw a diesel until you drove one...

 

The programmer changes the timing and the fuel trim for optimum power. As well as tranny shifting, gear changes/tire size changes. It does other things as well, like logging live data and is a good scan tool.

 

So out of all the above mods, you would say the programmer is the onyl thing worth the money??? I'm amazed at what the Diesels get out of the programmers..Wish they could push numbers up like that on the 5.4....And to ford/chevet/kia/yugo man, I have driven many diesels......But there is Nothing like a Built supercharged GAS motor....I do not pull trailers Daily....

 

The programmer is the only mod that actually puts the power where you need it, across the whole rpm range. The other mods, if they do add anything, do it mainly at the top end - outside of even cruising rpms.

93 octane with the stock tune won't do squat for you, but drain your wallet. The tuner does add power with even an 89 octane tune (usually just retarding the timing of the perfromance tune).

Peter, fwiw, I own all the mods you've asked about - only the headers are not currently installed. I plan on supercharging my truck because of towing. Opening up the intake and exhaust, as most of these mods do, does nothing for producing power until you need to push more air in and let more air out (aka supercharger). At atmospheric pressure, Ford designed these trucks' intake/exhaust pretty good if the aftermarket can only slightly improve upon the output with bolt-ons.

An expensive route that may not get you much, would be to bolt on all the same aftermarket parts and then spend a few hundred dollars getting a guy to do a dyno run/program session to squeeze what little power out that they can.

-Kerry

 

Thank you for the good info....I was hoping a grand or two would get me 50 or so HP and 50 LBS of TQ....I know on the old motors it would....I do not need that much more with that 5.4...The thing pulls great but I have not towed fully loaded yet and have felt the need for just a little more when pulling a grade....Flat HWY is fine as is.... Now the million dollar question, Which programmer would you suggest??? I have read a little on all of them but have no experience....My brother has one for his Diesel F350...What a difference...Why can't gas programmers get numbers like they do for the Diesels....For around $300 my brother basically got what a supercharger will give the 5.4 for 4K...........WTF

 

You forgot gears.
Torque multiplication is a wonderful thing.

Diesel programmers have more to do with the motors being turbos, and that they are tuned for more longevitiy than outright performance from the factory. A programmer on a non-turbo diesel doesn't give the same type of gains.

Gas-powered turbo motors also give great results with chips/programmers, since wastegates are electronically controlled...so you just keep it closed until a higher boost threshhold is reached....that is, until you exceed the turbo's efficiency range.

 

The older motors have more aftermarket support... the hard part is trying to figure out what combo you want to go with when you build them - and you could get way more power than 50/50 for 2K.

The programmer with the greatest versatility, at this point, is the SCT. I have a Predator, and I feel the performance tune works just fine, but I plan on upgrading the tune and equipment - possibly going to a laptop w/custom programming.

The diesel manufacturers leave a lot of performance on the table... not too sure why, but I would guess there is a combination of reasons - time, cost, and emissions, just to name some that come to mind.

As for gears... we briefly discussed that. Normally going to 4.10s would drop over all mileage. Hwy would go down, but city would go up... depends on how and where you drive it the most. I think the factory 3.73s are fine on the Expy. It's not going to be a strict tow vehicle, so a gear swap going any larger than a 4.10 would be overdoing it, imo. I'm sticking with my 3.73s unless I go to larger tires.

BTW, what part of WA are you in?

-Kerry

 

Thanks for the info...Yep the 3.73's gears are fine..Mine is a 4X4 so I'm not about to change gears...I guess I will start looking for some supercharger deals...I saw Alan's for about 4.5K, Vortech for 4K and a PowerDyne for 3.7K..I think the Kenny Bell's are around 4K also...I would like to get one for about 3K....That would make me happy.... I'm in Bonney Lake off the 410 HWY, East of Tacoma.....Where is Olalla?????

 

I'd had this big long reply full of advice and the connection went sour... anyway here we go again.

Have you done any research on the style/type of supercharger? You have advantages and disadvantages with each. The fact you have priced two centrifugal supercharger kits when you speak of towing is not unusual when you first start out - the centrifugal kits tend to be way cheaper, but they won't be beneficial for the conditions you have described - towing in the Cascades. Centrifugal superchargers are great at the track at WOT and one of our members has used his when towing in slick spots (boatramps) when the boost is lower (doesn't spin the tires as readily), but you want the boost-and therefore the power-when you start from a light or at an rpm around 1800rpm you'll see the results with the kits listed below.

The low end torque required for maintaining a constant tow speed while pulling a hill will come from a positive displacement kit. Kenne-Bell and Allen are the current offerings with warranties. You can also search for Lightning/Harley parts to create your own set-up. At one point in time Holley and Whipple apparently either offered kits or did extensive enough R&D to warrant putting out market feelers.

Here's what I know and my advice:

The Allen kit is the most unupgradeable of the positive displacement kits. They designed it using the M90 (ie T-Bird) Eaton blower. In stock trim, it works well enough, but.... Try to put a higher boost pulley and that little blower will run out of breath before the engine ever runs out of room for more power. Factory setup is at 5# of boost. It'll run you $4100 at AXXEL.

The Kenne-Bell guys will work with you, but be warned: going outside the original design of their kit will automatically void Kenne-Bell's warranty. Their kit is also designed for the stock engine. However, their kit can be upgraded to run higher boosts. The blower is a 2.2L twin screw unit, about the same size as the Lightning/Harley Eaton M112 unit, but uses a different principle to push the air into the intake. This keeps the air charge cooler and allows them to run higher boosts and therefore, get more power. Of course, you can buy it directly from K-B for around $3900.

Then there's the ebay method. Do a search for Lightning superchargers... you'll see probably 2-5 superchargers with the Lightning intakes, coils, injectors at anyone time... you need other engine items and a reprogrammed ECU to make it work. This method has the greatest adaptabilty/customization and also the cheapest price. The intake and supercharger with coil packs, injectors and support hoses/tubing will run around $1200-1500. The rest of the "kit" can be found at MAD Enterprise for $1400 give or take. Lower prices may be had if you know what you're looking for on ebay. Figure on $3000 plus a day or two at the dyno to get the tune right.

Things of importance - you have an 'L' code 5.4... not a '3' code supercharged from the factory. Your engine is missing vital internal hardware that makes reliable supercharging beyond 5-6# not recommended. People have done higher, and intercooling things helps out greatly, but rods/cranks break and pistons melt if not done correctly. The Procharger kit, for instance, puts out 9# using an intercooler... but it's a centrifugal kit, so you see the boost (therefore the power) at a much higher engine rpm. Hence why I haven't recommended it... but somebody might.

Enough of the lesson....

BTW, Olalla is across the Narrows from you. I'm about 15 miles north of Gig Harbor/Tacoma on 16. I'm fairly active in the NW Chapter, here on FTE... you should come and check us out in the chapter forum.

-Kerry

 

I'm glad you brought up the internals...I was wondering if the lightning was the same motor...I guess not...I did see the chargers on E-bay..But if you have to piece it together it would be better for me to just get a kit...Would a complete lightning motor fit in my Expy??? That's a lot of work also though...I have a Paxton on my mustang and yea it does not kick in until around 2200RPM.. But man, it's a clean kick in the ***!!!!! I thought I read somewhere where a centrifugal could produce a good boost at a lower RPM??? These Damn cascades!!!! I need to try and find out where I saw high centrifugal boost at low RPM...I hate to tear into that intake to put on a root. The centrifugal is a pretty easy bolt on....I will check out the NW forum..