who has the 4.6L motor in there truck and what power have you got out of them? what have you added?

 

You will probably find average gains with any of the normal mods. Intake, exhaust, tuner, or for the FI approach, a supercharger. Shouldnt really matter whether you start with the 4.6 or the 5.4 motor.

 

reason i ask is i don't need the 5.4 power per say right now but as i do intend to pull a trailer at some point i would like to have the power

 

Maybe a tuner on Level 2 (tow mode) might work then. Depending on trailer size, that one mod should do enough for you. Just enough to wake the engine up without having to break bank on mods.

 

yeah thats true, i'm glad theres something out there because i really like the truck but really can't afford to get a diff one, i may do the usual, exhaust , intake, TB spacer.

 

TB spacer is an absolute waste of money...only thing it will gain you is a whistling noise when you get on the throttle


the biggest bang for your buck is to change gears out...5.4 or 4.6 motor.


a swap from 3.73 to 4.10 will "give" you 30-40 HP gain...well feel like it anyways...a change to 4.30 or 4.56 will make her feel even more peppy.


run you $1,000 to $1,500 for a gearset change...a little pricey, but short of Supercharging the motor (which don't exist for the truck 4.6)...your best bet for the truck to get a major attitude adjustment

 

is that right eh, well i've still got a power train warranty for 3 more years so would changing gears be a good idea?

 

besides the performance gain, the going with steeper gears will actually put less strain on the tranny when towing...and guys with 6" lifts and 35" tires are reporting their city MPG's going back up since the gears offset the tire upsizing


btw, if a Ford house does the install, a gearswap should have 0 affect on your powertrain warranty

 

Just my two cents here....

Tylus is right, as always, about gears being a good way to improve the way your truck performs. It is worth mentioning, however, that this does absolutely NOTHING to increase power. Horsepower is dependent on two things: torque output and RPMs. Taller gears have the effect of making your engine turn higher RPMs in a given speed and transmission gear. This both improves available horsepower because the engine is turning more RPMs, and increases the torque multiplication at the axle. When you stomp on it, and your transmission downshifts, it will put your engine as close to peak HP as possible with the available gears, negating the affect of your "upgraded" ring and pinion. Re-gearing your diffs will also likely have a negative effect on fuel economy.

Not saying that you shouldn't do it...just that you should know exactly what you're doing, that's all.

 

good point...I didn't think to mention the highway MPG's might go down 1-2 mpg...a fair trade in my eyes for the low rpm/speed performance...but not to some people

 

well i am intending to lift the truck a put bigger tires on so it would actual work out if i do the gears at the same time

 

I have a 4.6 I have a flowmaster cat back system, airaid intake, and a superchips tuner. I towed an 89 buick from upstate New York to Tennessee, and had no problems, my gas mileage, and stopping power sucked, but I had plenty of power to pull the car. Oh forgot to mention I also only have 3.55 Gears. So unless you are pulling something really heavy just that stuff with your 3.73 should be fine.

 

whats your fuel mileage when your not towing?

 

my other question to you guys is what do you guys get for better fuel mileage, intake? etc

 

don't spend money trying to get better MPG's...just drive the truck better

Ford did a pretty good job squeezing the mileage out of the motor they could. it's mainly a driver thing to better mileage