WHAT ARE SOME GOOD LOW BUDGET UPGRADES YOU CAN DO TO A 5.4L ENGINE? ITS IN A 2003 F-250 . RIGHT NOW IT ONLY GETS 11 MILES TO THE GALLON. ANY INPUT WOULD BE HELPFUL THANKS

 

I'm probably not the best guy to answer this question for you but I do have some experience.

More air in and more air out of the engine. It has greatly helped my 5.4. I've probably gone a little overboard with the other stuff, but with the current fuel prices I'm looking smarter by the day.

My mileage has increased from just barely over 15 to just barely under 20. I have the added bonus of power when I have a testosterone attack.

Making more horsepower out of the same amount of fuel should help your gas mileage.

 

What's the grand total of your mods Nate? If you don't mind me asking.

 

I tried to buy the best quality.

I am just over $2,500. I did the installation myself.

 

Nate, how much of a pain in the butt was the header install. I am seriously looking at the banks kit for the exhaust but looking into a blower (procharger or magnacharger) for the intake. Did you look into forced induction?

 

I installed the Bank's system during the 4th of July weekend.
I did the left side first because I knew it would be harder than the right. I put these on in my driveway.

Here are the steps for the Left Side:

Left front wheel off.
Inside of wheel well removed. (4 small 5.5mm and some plastic pop ins.).
Disconnect exhaust at catalytic converter.
Disconnect front driveline.
Remove EGR tube on top of exhasut manifold.
Remove bolts on old manifold. Mine came out pretty easily.
Old manifold goes out from underneath where you disconnected the driveline.

(KEEP the old gaskets. I had to cut out the hump in the stock gaskets with tin snips and reinstall them as indvidual cylinder gaskets. Bank's doesn't supply them with the 5.4 kit.)

Putting the new header back in is possible. It is not easy.
I removed the dipstick. I disconnected the steering link behind the steering wheel to get a little more clearance.
Getting individual cylinder gaskets on and the bolts started was the biggest hassle. Three hands are almost a necessity.
The replacement EGR tube for mine was one inch too long. It is 3/4" stainless steel. It is not bendable and you can't re-flare the end. If yours is too long, slide the nut that attaches to the header to the end, then cut out exactly one inch behind it, then have someone weld it back together behind the nut. If need be, I could take a photo of the tube to show you what I mean.

The Right Side:
This side is easy. The header goes in from the side, everything is easy to get at. It is tricky getting all of the bolts tight, but a 10 mm racheting box end wrench is magical. A 1/4" ratchet with a long extension is also needed.

The Cat Back system is really easy and straight forward.

This whole project is somewhat frustrating, but I got it done. I only had help twice, holding the header while I got a bolt or two started.

Be sure to disconnect the negative side of the battery. The right side header is close enough to the starter that you can hit the hot lead with your wrench. I know this to be a fact.

Sound wise, in town it is pretty quiet. Open the throttle and the little Nissan cars with big pipes look at you and yearn for a real V-8 sound.

The Bank's people were excellent. Call them with any problem and they will do whatever they can to help. They sent me a replacement EGR tube after I had cut mine prematurely. Nice people.

 

Thanks for the info. At least now I know the Banks system is something I can do. I now think I will combine the banks kit with either the Allen or Holley supercharger. There is a shop down the street that does dynojet tests for $60, I think that I will spring for tests of baseline, w/exhaust, and w/exhaust & blower.

 

I would be really interested in the results of the dyno tests.