Bought a 450 with a V10. Thought it would be adequate after a few calls but really need more torque for towing especially up hills.

Also this guy cannot pass a fueling station without making a right hand turn.

Your thoughts for the most bang for the buck. ???Chip

 

These guys can do wonders for you.

http://www.procellbrothers.com/632.htm

 

Thanks will call tomorrow.

 

A yeah...great choice! Spend 24K for a race engine on your F450!
I would either buy a diesel or regear your truck. (my advice from your post up in the SD forum.)

If you don't like gas stations now, when you get a chip you won;t like them any bvetter... 91+ is fairly expensive. It'll give you some more power but you won't realize any real fuel milegae benefits.

I would look into a tuner. If you don't like it, then sell it on ebay. Or here in the classifieds.

 

I probably just need to live within it's towing capacity or use/buy another truck. However, I'm stuck with it until then and I actually like the setup, just wish I'd gone diesel. Took some advice and it just didn't turn out as well as I'd like. Still it's very solid and perfect o/w for my needs. The tranny needs to be rebuilt sometime in the fairly near future so if I'm going to keep it I could regear it then. Even an underdrive would be worth looking into if I'm going to keep it although $3000 is a bit much.

I'll probably live with it and put it up for sale. There's always another truck out there.

I'm sure the other poster meant something to do with the V10 and not that race engine.

 

No matter what you do MPG is not going to get much better. With the CAFE (or whatever it is?) breathing down Fords neck they are doing what they can to get the best MPG going. So throwing 500 bucks after better MPG is the biggest waste of money going, 500 buys a lot of gas! Now if you just want performance then go for it!
As for selling the truck to get a PSD? If 500 bucks buys a lot of gas how much will the money you loose selling the truck (let's say 2000) and the 5000 extra for the PSD? I'm not trying to be a smart *** just I’m trying to say, make sure you chase MPG with your eyes open.
Last from personal experience the PSD is not going to out pull the V10, my dad and brother (I also had one) run PSD’s and with campers on the back I am still quicker than they are, the only advantage that I see is when the V10 shifts down the PSD will still hold OD but that’s with an auto. Now I will give the PSD the advantage (a hugh advantage) when altitude is brought into play, the turbo will keep sea level HP for a lot longer so when the V10 is down to squat for HP the PSD is still working fine.

If you want more power I would contact Banks performance and tell them exactly what you are doing and get their advice. (expensive though) Thing is research what ever you do, a friend just bought a superchip programmer for his PSD and it says NEVER TOW! On the best setting and on the tow setting that he should monitor EGT or risk damage to the motor. Sorry, but for me a SD means that I can tow risk free, so any mod that I make should work towards that end. Last if I get 1 MPG better but have to run $.30 per gallon more expensive gas then did I really save? That’s why I do not have a chip.

 

Thanks for the advice. I would like more mpg but I'm after more pulling power really more the hills and mountains. It pulls rather well on flat ground but doesn't pull a relatively heavy load at speed up mountains. That's with a 4.88 rear and you often get into third with the wide ratio ZF installed.

Also I'd have to disagree with the power between the PSD and the V10. The V10 has 300+ ft/lbs and the diesel has close to 500 without mods on either. My 350 PSD dually with 4.11 will outpull the 450 up to about 13000 lbs. Of course the 450 is a tower and there is a great difference in the frame etc.

I'm going to call Banks and also get some more info on an underdrive. Thanks again.

 

Ah,,,the 'dreaded EGT gauge'. My idea was buy an older F-250 4WD and spend a comparable amount of $$$ as compared to a newer truck and really hot rod that bad boy diesel up. So I went with an ATS turbo, intercooler, all that expensive stuff to make my diesel "go like a gas motor" (after I did all that I sat there wondering, I've spent all this money to make my diesel go like a gas motor ? Why not just BUY a gas motor, sheesh,,,) But that freekin EGT gauge DROVE ME NUTS. I could tow, but not at full throttle, or the temp would go to 1200+ degrees. I had it but couldn't use it !!! And my mpg went down with the ATS kit, maybe because I drove it so much harder with all the added power, but regardless, it still went down.

Now I stand on the loud pedal until the cows come home while towing, and no stupid EGT gauge to worry about, just power. And when I'm towing up over a hill, I can still hear the radio. I like it.

 

Yeah, you just can't tow heavy loads with the full kits. Better to be able to either turn it down or just be satisfied with a modest increase in power with a less expensive add-on. Still would get EGT even for those. Sometimes you just have to have a bigger truck and motor. Good Luck

 

There is just almost zero hot rod parts for the V-10, some of the modular engine parts may work, or may be able to be adapted but it's not going to be easy. A supercharger seems to give most bang for the buck, and there's a half a dozen manufacturers maybe that make something for the V-10. But then again, you're looking at big dollars, dollars you could be putting in the gas tank and still coming out ahead. If you need a rebuild on the engine tranny I would think buying a low mileage engine/tranny combo that will swap right in will be way cheaper than anything else. Once the V-10 comes apart there's very few people who can work on them, and all the connecting bolts, studs, nuts, etc inside are 'stretch to fit' and not reusable so everything must be replaced. You didn't say what year your F-450 is. If it has a 99 or older engine swapping in a newer model will pick up hp and torque.

 

I had planned on buying a good used tranny but didn't think about a combo. A newer one just may be the way to go. Banks stated a superchip would be $380 and make me go to premium so probably a little more for gas taking increased costs for fuel offset by 8% better economy. Time to start looking. Thanks all for the advice.

 

Well you could do what the diesel guys do to get such fantastic mileage. Lie! I've had two diesels, an '88 F350 DCC non-turbo, and a '99 F250 SD SC PSD, and neither one of them got any better mileage than my '03 F250 SD XC with V10! Plus, I think the writing is on the wall for diesels, they're too damn dirty and there is really no way to clean them up. And , the cost of diesel and 87 octane is the same. So, who you gonna call?

 

LOL
I had a PSD and never got the MPG the PSD guys say and I drove it 150,000 miles, my dad and brother get the same MPG #'s I got as well so I know mine was no abnormal. I saw 2 to 3 MPG better than my V10 towing or driving.

 

Make that 425 ft/lbs. You are think of the HP rating.

 

I agree with the bit about everyone fibbing about mileage. That ***** gets old. Everybody does it but some of the diesel owners are the worst. I know 4 or 5 guys locally with newer 4x4 diesel pickups from all three brands and they all seem to get around 15 to 16 mpg. The one guy has a Duramax and he says he can get 19 or 20 on the highway not towing anything if he keeps it around 65 to 70 mph and I believe him on that but just running around town and running errands he's around 16 mpg too.

By the same token I see alot of gas engine owners lying too. Had a few guys on a GM forum claiming they were averaging 14 to 15 mpg with 4wd 8.1L pickups! Must be smoking some good stuff.

I average 11 to 12 mpg with my V10 and can get a little over 14 on a highway trip if I take it easy and keep the tach under 2000. Under 10 if I tow anything at all. I have the 29g tank so I fill up about every 280 miles but if I'm on a highway trip I can go about 380 miles between fillups.

Yesterday in my town, 87 octane at the cheapest station in town was $1.43. Diesel fuel at the same station was $1.59. It's always about 10c higher but it seems to get worse in the winter. Another reason for me to not own a diesel! The higher diesel price in this area eats up alot of the mileage gains.