Hey all, first post on the forums

i just got a sweeet magnaflow exhaust cat back on my 2005 ford f150, crew cab, 5.4l v8, and am really looking into 2 more performance upgrades, INTAKE, and CPU chip, like a tuner...

so while on air intakes, i wanna open it up alot, have it breathe some, so it can get better MPG (if possible) decent increase in performance, and a good sound (becuase stock engine sound sounds REALLY wimpy

SO, ive done some research an narrowed done my options (not limited, any other options, that people have had great succes with, let me know)

-EXPENSIVE, full out, cold ait intake kit, for around 300-400 bucks
-CHEAPER, full out, air intake kit, like from spectre
-GOTTs mod (kinda skeptical if it really is gonna help that much, and im sure it wont produce a nice sound, like air intakes will)
-and what i, SOO FAR seem as the way to go, AIRAID jr modular air intake kit

i seem to like this one becuase it gets air directly from the grill, in the front, for true COLD air, is cheaper, i can run any filter i want, and seems to do basically what a CAI will do... my question is... WILL IT???

so, what are some intake suggestions from some knowedgeable poeple around here

also, anyone have some info on tuner chips... should i go custom, like run a dyno, and get custom made, or get a "canned" tuner? where to go if i should get custom? do the 69 dollar chips really work, or are they NOT really 69 dollars?

(i kinda feel custom chip is the way to go only because i have a bunch of upgrades on it already, and maybe a canned will only help a little, but IDEK)

THANKS ALL for any help, regaurding air intakes, tuners, or ANY other good performance mod, cuz i need some help and i have a hard time choosing what to buy

 

Kinda like asking wich candy bar too buy haha. I am personally extremely happy with the spectre intake, cheap and it really opens it up. Plus you can always change the filter. Programmer I highly suggest a gryphon edge programmer from phptune.com (power hungry performance) incredibly happy with them. Even the canned tune is incredibly better than stock. Its like 30 bucks I think to get a custom tune and all you have to do is send info in and theu e-mail the tune. And no, the "69 dollar gf "chip"" wont work lol. Its a scam. You can buy thos micro chips for pennies and will help your truck none even if you found a place too put it lol

 

Thanks, I will definately consider the spectre if you had good success on it

So, I guess if I got a chip from them, even though I will be running a different exhaust, air intake, and tires, their custom tune will still suit my vehicle? Or does it need to be dynoed for a true custom chip??

 

You just tell them everything done to your truck and they will write the tune. They have been around these trucks long enough to know everything. You dont need a dyno tune unless its highly modified. And its not a chip, its a programmer. It shows 4 diffrent variants such as oil temp, trans temp, avg fuel econ etc. And it has 3 different tunes on it

 

If you're looking to get an air intake and programmer you might consider a package from troyer performance. They have different levels with different options like intake, cat back, underdrive pulleys etc. I've heard good things about their custom tunes and I can say the same about 5 star performance as well.

 

Those tunes would be on a sct good programming, but I like monitoring things thats why I haven't gone with one

 

I would never run a piggyback setup such as an Edge myself. I guess that is why there are so many options out there. Everyone is different. The only programmer I did run on my truck was a Superchips it was fine but I accomplished my main goal with just a shift kit and sold the programmer.

 

thanks for the help guys, i will look in to these, and hopefully save some bucks over dyno tuned... and kill 2 birds one stone because i was gonna get an MPG gauge soon, because my 2005 doesnt come with one... (IDK why) but it doesnt... so hopefully with the MPG readout on the programmer, it will be saving some money... then all i need is an air intake LOL