How could I tell if the damper slipped? Are there any marks that line up across the rubber?
The only headers I've considered so far are the Thorley Tri-Ys, I haven't seen any others that are Kalifornistan smog legal. Anybody know of any others? Thorleys are about $750...
The fuel filter was the problem. I've switched back to the stock airbox from the open element K&N set up, gone back to a stock clutch fan setup from the worthless electric and I can now hold 45-50 up the same hill towing an 8000#+ trailer. Still looking for more though...
I recently put on a set of Hedman headers on a '97 F250 C.C. 4X4, SD efi. While they are thinner gauge (18), they were fairly cheap. Hedman does make an 'Elite' set with 16 gauge, but they're 50% more $. I have been very impressed with the HP gain; I already had on a 3.5" single catback. Now I have a 4" single w/no cat. I gained about 6/10 sec from 0-60, which is a huge amount. I would guesstimate that I have gained at least 30-40 hp, if not 50. It now shifts at 4300, up from 4200. It also pulls harder all the way to the speed limiter, and hits it with authority. The truck has a 4" lift and 33"x12.5 tires as well, slowing it down.
The headers have a 3" collector, and the manifold flange is a decent one piece unit at 1/4 or 5/16 thick.
I will be trying a different TB and custom cai down the road; I'm unfortunately going through a separation right now, which is slowing things down a bit. It will be done this winter, just not sure how soon. I will post results and pics when done though.
Right now, as the truck sits, it is faster to 60 than my '99 Navigator that has a cai and 2.5" dual exhaust by .5 secs. The Navigator w/the 5.4 4V is no slouch, and walks hard on '05-up F150's that are stock. 1/4 mile times, the Navigator is pullling away, but I would guess the Navi to have 280 rwhp/360 bhp. I'm hitting 82 mph in the truck and 87 in the Navi. The truck weighs 6400 lbs w/me in it and the Navi 5950 lbs.
*Note: the Navi went from shifting @ 5200 to shifting @ 5500 from the cai and exhaust, and gained 6 mph in the 1/4. (Letting the tranny do the shifting).
Last edited by littlejohniii : 11-12-2008 at 02:52 PM.
Reason: add note
The fuel filter was the problem. I've switched back to the stock airbox from the open element K&N set up, gone back to a stock clutch fan setup from the worthless electric and I can now hold 45-50 up the same hill towing an 8000#+ trailer. Still looking for more though...
I am curious why you went back to the fan clutch? I was thinking of going electric as I have read it is a power and mpg boost. I did replace my original fan clutch and noticed a huge difference just with that, so was thinking would get even more with the elec. fan.
I am curious why you went back to the fan clutch? I was thinking of going electric as I have read it is a power and mpg boost. I did replace my original fan clutch and noticed a huge difference just with that, so was thinking would get even more with the elec. fan.
The electric fan just didn't cool enough. I had the big, $400+ twin flex-a-lite setup on the truck when I bought it. Last summer I hooked up my tiny, 16 ft 3500# travel trailer and headed to the mountians. 2 miles up the first (very steep) hill the truck overheated. I turned around and went home, reloaded everything into my 04 Toyota Tacoma and went right back up the same hill with no problem. After changing to the stock clutch fan I went up the same hill towing my new 8000# trailer and the temp barely went up at all.
I'm not sure my electric fan was working at 100%, but both blades ran and changed speed (increased) when the motor got hot. Lost about 1 mpg and a noticeable amount of power with the stock fan setup, but now the truck can tow more than my Toyota...
In my opinion, for towing, electric fans are junk.
if you want a little more speed, I would suggest lower gears in your axle and it will increase you MPG because the motor will run at a lower RPM. It wont really increase performance unless you ae talking of top speed. I got 3.55's in my truck a 92 f250 HD and i currently et an average between 14-15 MPG including a third of my driving in the city. Dont know how fast it goes cause the 180 KM/H (about 114 MPH) speedometer is maxed out. Dont know if this helps you out much but it was worth a shot.
Get yourself a timing chain from Cloyes that's a true 0 TDC, about $120. I did that and put Banks headers on my 97' 460 and the difference towing was nothing short of incredible. I think I noticed the timing chain more than I did the header, especially on the initial throttle response and it cut 500 rpm off what I needed to keep 9,000-11,000 lbs going uphill.
I think you should put 3.55's in because i can get to 90 mph but obviously you would want overdrive at that point but at 60 mph the tach will sit at 2300-2400 rpm. The 4.10's seem a little to high to be used for towing with over drive.
Do you use a fifth wheel for towing or do you always have something sticking out of the box because im pretty sure that a tonneau cover would help you get an extra 1-2 mpg for sure. If you are worried about mileage.
I use 5th wheel and the bumper hitch with about the same results. I've heard mixed stories about the tonneau cover and gas mileage. I throw too many things in and out of my box, the cover would be an unwanted hassle even if it did save me a couple bucks. I think my tire size might be a factor, I used to run 30" steeltechs, but I never really kept close track of my mileage. Now I'm on 33-1/2" A/T's, about the same tread pattern as the steeltechs. I'm not sure how much a couple inches of tire would affect my mileage, I'm sure someone has a conversion method for this somewhere.
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