Best Way to Spend $400 on a 1999 Ford F-350
The Community Responds
Unsurprisingly, when the community was asked how they would spend $400 on a 1999 F-350 with the four items listed above, members were quick to offer their input.
“Sous” was the first to reply and he would become the most-active member in this thread with the exception of the OP:
“Out of the list you have above, hands down number 2 wins with number 4 behind that.”
Other members were quick to agree with Sous, urging the OP to go with the gauges or the air intake, while pointing out that the air horn is a useless expenditure and the gains from the exhaust system are minimal. Some also questioned the functional use of the gauges, including “carguy3j”, who listed his views on each item:
#1 Waste of money
#2 Useful in the future, but if you have a bone stock truck, you probably won’t get much “bang” for the buck here. Like you said, at this stage, its more for looks.
#3, A freer flowing exhaust will provide some small benefit now, even stock. It will be more even more important, perhaps even mandatory, with future power mods. However, I would strongly discourage the 5″, and go with a 4″ system, from the turbo back. 5″ is just plain overkill on the 7.3, unless you are making stupid power. All it will do is make the exhaust obnoxiously loud. A decent 4″ exhaust will flow all your motor can throw at it, to at least 400hp.
#4 Post picks of you existing “homemade” CAI. Depending on the quality, and filtration capabilities of that setup, that may be a priority to replace. The S&B is a great choice for an intake/filter setup, and you will NEED it later if you start making power upgrades.
Overall, if your existing CAI is decent and doing a good job at filtering the air and protecting the turbo, then I would go with a 4″ exhaust system. If the CAI is a hokey backyard hackjob, then do that first.
While there were slight variations in the reply, most people agreed with the gauges and intake, some others pushed for the exhaust upgrades and almost everyone told him not to waste money on an air horn.
The Decision
After gathering information from the first two pages of replies, the OP opted to go with the gauges and the exhaust system, although he later decided to hold off on the louder pipes.
So with all the answers here, I’m leaning towards doing the gauges and the 4″ turbo back exhaust. I have torque pro that I use, but I’ve always been a fan of the pillar gauges, and I could use the EGT, boost, trans temp, and fuel pressure gauges. Plus it comes with all of the sender’s and probes, so I won’t have to buy anything else to hook it up. I’d like to get one of the edge tuners, but I can always set that up to show things that aren’t on my analog gauges.
Once he received the gauges, he took the time to install all of the sensors, the pillar pod and the gauges themselves in his 1999 F-350. After being told that it was a waste of money to add gauges to a relatively-stock truck, the OP immediately used them to find a problem.
He found that the boost gauge was only reading pressure levels in the range of 12 to 15psi, well below where the boost levels should be on a stock 7.3-liter Power Stroke. Those low boost levels sent him hunting around the engine bay for problems with help from the community and while he has yet to report back that he has fixed the truck – adding those gauges alerted him to the fact that he had a boost-loss issue that needed to be addressed.
This shows why even a stock F-350 can benefit from aftermarket gauges, as they can reveal problems that the driver cannot feel or see without some measured numbers.
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