im a service member... currently deployed and have had the chance to save up some money looking to get home and MOD out my truck..... i drive a 2006 F250 4x4 Crew Cab Lariat....
this is a list of all the Mod i plan on doing once im state side:

PERFORMANCE
HPOP upgrade
update blue spring
upgrade oil dummy plugs and stand pipes
scangauge 2
4-gauge pillar with EGT, oil temp, FP, and ECT
accessory fuse block
ARP head studs
EGR delete kit
AEM brute force HD air intake
SCT SF3 tuner
Diamond eye 4" turbo back exhaust
BD top speed eliminator

COSMETIC
3" rough country suspension lift
35x12.5x17 OR tucking 37x12.5x17
Dick Cepek Torque wheels 17"
possible regear to 4.10's or 4.30's
N-Fab pre-runner light bar (black) with 2 KC 130 long range lights
6" exhaust tips (black)
Aries tail light gaurds (black)
billet fuel door (black)
Eautolight LED projector halo head lights (black)
Spyder altezza tail lights (black)
Bully LED 3rd brake light (smoke)
driver and passenger mirrors
Go Rhino dominator 2 step bars (black)
mess front grille shell (black)
LED super duty door sills
LED bed rail lights
Go Rhino Lightning bed bar with 4 KC 130 watt long range lights
herculine the bed and the lower part of truck exterior making it 2-tone white/black

and OF COURSE the TEXAS LONGHORN black and chrome hitch cover

LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK!!!! if theres anything im missing please let me know thanks for reading

 

Honestly, out of that whole list I would only do the blue spring and the Scangauge. I'd say save your money for the inevitable 6.0 rainy day...

 

I think you said something about leaving before you got too deep into the truck, so maybe you should put checking all the maintenance (fuel filters, change the oil to a 5W40 synth) and see if you have any stiction issues before you go into do the engine work, it would suck to have to tear it apart again for injectors if you didn't find the problem before you got all the work done. Same thing for the FICM and if it needs a fix/replacement/, putting that stuff and FICM tuning at the top of the list wouldn't be flashy, but it might be cheaper in the long run.

Binder is very right in saying that you need to keep a reserve for problems, you'd be knocking out a lot of them but something will always come up. Small things like new CAC boots, clamps, cleaning the turbo, tiny things that happen during maintenance like a Fumoto valve and a HFMC drain plug replacement, those things will sneak up on you no matter what other mods you do but still eat into the budget. Before you start ordering the cosmetics it might be prudent to wait and see what detail work the engine needs, so you aren't pissing money away making it look cool just to have it sit there dead from engine problems.

Most people here will tell you to ditch the intake, and the SCT should get rid of the speed governor on it's own.

If you're in deep enough to do the heads and standpipes/dummy plugs then you might as well do a new oil cooler and some chem flushes (if it needs it, it might not). Coolant filter to keep the new one safe?

What do you mean by upgrading the HPOP? Just the STC fitting, or an actual higher flow unit? Unless you put in bigger sticks (and a Fass/AirDog, prolly a bigger turbo, and some other fuel system mods) the stock pump is all you need. I'd put banjo bolts on the list before messing with the pump.

When you're regearing, why not add a TruTrac to get rid of the stock clutch-based unit (or just don't buy the new clutch based unit from BG) and some diff covers, the first time you turn the gear oil to a milkshake by flooding the vent line you'll like the drain plug/fill plugs. Some guys get the stock ones powdercoated, those look really good too, better than the rust that they all seem the have on them.

 

Read my reply to this on the thread you posted on the TX chapter. Oh, and I did forget to add that you should change your oil cooler while your in there, and do a good coolant flush before you get started tearing it apart.

 

yes i forgot to mention diff covers..... and just the STC fitting sorry got confused on that one... and no im not leaving before i get to deep in the truck i will be returning from combat in a couple months and then ETSing and at the end of the year... and yes for the regearing i will be going with a trutrac system.... didnt know the SCT will get rid of the top speed thing but i do know so the top speed eliminator is off the list and yes after some good advise from you guys im gonna ditch the intake..... as far as the oil cooler?? can yall elaborate on that alittle i understand replace it but why? and can you elaborate on the FICM?? what is that and what should i do to it? thanks agian guys

 

Do a little searching on oil cooler failures, and you will understand why we recomend replacing the core (aka. rebuliding it), while you have it apart. It's basicly a $220 piece of mind that you won't be going back in there for that right after you get it back together. FICM (fuel injection control modual) is what runs the electric side of the injectors. It basicly takes the 12V system and converts it to 48 volts to drive the injectors. Over time heat and low battery suply voltage can hurt it. It's not really a hard part to get too, and unless you are having problems I wouldn't mess with it. I don't really buy into the whole FICM tuning thing just yet. Not that I think it's a bad thing, but I have mixed fillings about it actually doing anything at all for performance/MPG.

 

FICM is the fuel injection control module, it runs the injectors. It has a history of sagging voltage, and since it converts ~12V up to 48V, sagging voltage increases current and can burn out parts of the board. If you catch it early you won't damage any of the injectors, and can usually get it repaired. There are also issues with the flash that runs the FICM, certain programs use an inductive heating program to try to prevent injector stiction, but the way earlier flashes are written it stresses the board and can cause a failure. Getting a custom FICM flash before custom tunes can apparently make a noticeable difference (I'm going down this road right now), but it at least puts in Ford's better inductive heating flash, or since you live in Texas where it's warmer, none at all.

The oil cooler is one of the the leading causes of the 6.0L's bad reputation. It's a heat exchanger that cools the oil with coolant, but the coolant passages are kind of small and prone to clogging. There's been a lot of debate about it, but it seems to be that either casting sand from the block, silicates from the coolant, or a combination of these blocks the passages. Once that happens, the next part downstream of the oil cooler is the EGR cooler; if it's not getting enough coolant flow, it can burst and allow coolant to enter the intake, hydrolocking the engine. Even is you delete the EGR system, at a high enough temperature differential the oil cooler itself can fail and mix coolant and oil together.

This is why we care about the ECT/EOT difference. Once EOT beings exceeding ECT by 15* or more, the chances of an EGR or oil cooler failure is greatly increased. It's not as simple as saying at 14* you're a-ok, but at 16* you're effed, it's just the warning sign saying your chances of a failure are increasing. The cooler is ~$250 to replace and since you're going to be in so deep doing some of the other engine work, you have the chance to clean and flush the system out and really take care of the problem.

Chemically flushing the cooling system can actually clog the oil cooler on it's own, so you have to do it before you do the replacement, and be committed to replacing the cooler if the flush doesn't clean out the old one. So to prep for this, before any engine work at all, you check the ECT/EOT difference. Then, if the difference is high enough to warrant it, you following the VC9/Restore flush procedures in the tech folder. If that kills the old cooler (or just fails to fix the problem) as part of the engine work you put in a new cooler, a coolant filter, and an ELC coolant to replace the Ford stuff, and your system is about as fixed as it can get.

Edit: this is what happens when the oil cooler fails:
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...l#post11462933

 

ok heres an updated list

PERFORMANCE
STC fittings
update blue spring
upgrade oil dummy plugs and stand pipes
scangauge 2
4-gauge pillar with EGT, LPO, FP, and amp gauge
accessory fuse block
ARP head studs
bulletproof EGR
SCT SF3 tuner
Diamond eye 4" turbo back exhaust

COSMETIC
3" rough country suspension lift
35x12.5x17 OR tucking 37x12.5x17
Dick Cepek Torque wheels 17"
possible regear to 4.10's or 4.30's
N-Fab pre-runner light bar (black) with 2 KC 130 long range lights
6" exhaust tips (black)
Aries tail light gaurds (black)
billet fuel door (black)
Eautolight LED projector halo head lights (black)
Spyder altezza tail lights (black)
Bully LED 3rd brake light (smoke)
driver and passenger mirrors
Go Rhino dominator 2 step bars (black)
mess front grille shell (black)
LED super duty door sills
LED bed rail lights
Go Rhino Lightning bed bar with 4 KC 130 watt long range lights
herculine the bed and the lower part of truck exterior making it 2-tone white/black

and OF COURSE the TEXAS LONGHORN black and chrome hitch cover