Ok, I want to present an overall scenario for what I would eventually (in the next year) like to do to my truck and would like some input from you tech heads as to what my best moves would be in order to get the most out of my truck for my needs and also to avoid purchasing a $400 part that is useless for my application.

I have a 5.4L 2002 SuperCrew 4x4

Add-ons that I would like to do in the next year. Borla Dual Exhaust, K&N or AirAid intake, poweraid throttle body spacer. Maybe a better throttle body?

My driving style is more daily driving to and from work and less towing. I do tow every week or so when I go fishing so I have a bass boat attached. I don't tow anything extremely heavy like horse trailers or farm euipment. The heaviest boat that I will ever tow is my fathers center console and it weighs roughly 5000 lbs. fully loaded.

Here are my gripes with the stock Ford. I hate that hard shift that I get when in the lower gears. An aquantaince of mine says that this is the granny gearing for lower end torque? I have no idea if this is true or a bunch of bs, but I do know that it shifts very smooth and sweet when under tow, but very hard when just driving it to and from work. I am pleased with the overall power of the Ford, but I always want more. Even looked at a supercharger for it, but I'll pass on that until I get a hefty raise.

This is what I want. I want more power. Dual exhaust will help here a bit and give me that awesome growl so that is a must. I also want a smoother shift when not under tow. Gas mileage is really not my concern, if it were I would have gotten a 6 cylinder.

I have been overwhelmed when reading about the Micro Tuner and the Diablo chips. It seems that most of the discussion revolves around improved towing performance and improved shifting.

What I want in a nutshell is more power and smoother shifting when in tow, but most importantly when not in tow. What should I be looking at to achieve this? I know that I need dual exhaust. I assume that an intake will help me also. What about those tb spacers? Will they help enough to be worth it? I mean what is 5 hp really when you already have 250+ Now the chips. Will these help me? Adjusting the shift points for the micro tuner seems that it may accomplish some of my goals, but it seems more towing oriented. In the past I have only seen these computers installed on the diesel tow trucks. Are they practical for overall performance increase?

Thanks for any help or suggestions. I have only had the truck a year and have always been a chevy owner and never modified any of my vehicles performance qualities so I am very new to this. If there are any mods that I have not listed, please tell me because I may not know of them.

 

A chip or tuner will improve the shifting. Believe it or not, the problem is actually too soft a shift. It causes the shift to be longer than it should, resulting in a lurch when it occurs. Increasing the line pressure gives a quicker shift that's not jarring (though it could be made that way if someone wanted it!).

I think you'll be happy with either a chip or a tuner. All your planned modifications will work with either. If you decided on headers or a mass air-flow sensor you'd need to go with a chip.

Based on what you've told us, you'll probably be happier with the Superchips Microtuner. The reason? It has a setting specifically for towing, as well as a non-towing setting.