Well, there is a Diablo chip available for the truck. However, I want the tuner, because I need to fix some things, such as my speedometer. I'd also like to be able to read the returned error codes and such from the CPU. I called and talked to Ken (super nice guy, I didn't order some other parts from him because I simply didn't know him or even of him until this morning, but from now on I'll purchase through him) this afternoon, I'm going to wait a couple months or so until the tuner is available for my model of truck. It sounds like it has some pleasant new surprises that no other tuner offers yet, and if it does balance out the octane difference, I'll for sure purchase one I'd rather it work like this anyway, so that I can mess around with my truck slightly modified, and then work the tuner magic on the chip later and see another difference. I bet it will be more satisfying than just doing it all in one shot.

(edit) My deal is that they only sell 90 octane gas here in Alaska... so I can't run 91 octane like the tuner and chips want. However, with the tuner, you can adjust up and down 10% or something like that, for lower or higher octanes. Basically, I'll set it for 87 octane, and adjust upward until I hear engine ping, and then adjust down a degree. It shouldn't be much different running at 90 octane than at 91, and with the exhaust/headers/intake system I'll have on this Friday, I might even be able to keep up with you

 

If you're curious about how much HP you'll get from the mods, then dyno your truck before putting the mods on and then dyno after the mods are installed. Being a recent Mustang owner and mod junkie, I can tell you this much. You will not get 15-20 hp from each one of the mods listed. Your biggest performance boost will be the headers and cat back. You may get an additional 3-5 hp from the K&N and the tuner/chip/computer upgrade may give you 5-10 hp if it's done right. Don't forget if you do dyno, you will lose hp from the drivetrain. The 260 hp is the claimed hp at the flywheel. You will probably dyno around 225 or 230 hp at the wheels. Just a guess though. I haven't seen too many F150's(besides Lightnings) on a dyno. With your listed mods you may obtain 250hp at the wheels. As for your gas mileage. I thought the same thing about getting better gas mileage, but I will tell you from experience what will happen. You will like the sound of the exhaust better, which will in return make your foot heavier. Have fun with the headers. They will give you the most bang for the buck, but will be the most pain in the butt too.

My .02

 

Robinsten8...I have to disagree with you, respectfully. You seem to know what your talking about, but the chip was by far the biggest mod I've done. Check around on the forums for "openclasspro". He put his F-150 on the dyno and the chip was the huge difference. Almost 30 rear-wheel horsepower.

I agree with you about the gas mileage though....your foot somehow gains weight

 

a tip on the exhaust remove the wheels.....definately remove the wheels and the inner fenders makes things ALOT easier

 

ChevySniper,

Wow!! 30hp gains at the wheels from a non-turbo'd or non-supercharged engine just from adding a chip/computer. I'd like to see the dyno sheet on that one. I call B.S. on openclasspro until I see a dyno sheet.

 

obviously, you don't have a chip....believe me, you can feel the difference with the chip...next to the other mods I did, the chip you can actually feel the power.

 

So, I actually got my parts in on Thursday

Let me just state there is no dyno within a million miles of me, so I was not accurately able to test horsepower and torque increases.

Thursday night, I installed the K&N 77 Performance intake kit. Surprisingly, I could actually tell a difference with this one, I didn't think I would be able to. Instead of the engine shifting down into lower gears when I wanted to accelerate at low speeds, it just kind of grunted louder and pushed harder and accelerated. Definitely a difference with the intake/filter kit. And it looks betta

Install time - 1 & 1/2 hours.

Friday night, I did the exhausts. Those were harder to install than I had anticipated, but still nothing too difficult. No real difference noticed in power, but I could hear a difference in sound. I could tell the engine revved quicker though, like if I was in neutral or park, but driving around the actual power felt no different. They are the Borla dual cat back exhausts with 3 inch tips. I love the sound, not very loud when I'm idling or just cruising down the highway, but when its under the stress of acceleration, it has an awesome sound. Very beefy sounding. It actually sounds like a truck should after this upgrade.

Install time - 2 hours.

Saturday I did the Gibson headers. These were easier than I thought they would be. The passenger side went on fairly easy, driver side was definitely more difficult. There are a lot of little things on the driverside you have to do that you dont on the passenger side, such as take off the dipstick, hook up a EGR tube of some sort to the crankcase, not to mention that the antilock braking mechanism is right in your way on the driver side and all the little easy to bend tubes are RIGHT where you need to be. But, I got it on without a lot of problem. Also, they didn't send bolts that fit on the driver side. The bolts fit fine on the passenger side because of the shape of the header, but on the driver side it bulges out to accomodate a thread that you can hook the EGR to, so the bolts are too long to fit. Anyway, I went to a local hardware store and bought 2 inch bolts, instead of the 2 & 3/4 that were supplied with the package. So if you ever buy the Borla exhaust I got, you might as well save yourself some time and frustration and buy them ahead of time. As far as power goes, I noticed a little difference with this mod. The engine once again revved a little faster, like the exhaust, but under stress from acceleration I could tell a difference in available power.

Install time - 5 hours.

All in all, I'm very happy with the mods. Only thing I really want to do is buy the Diablo Sport tuner whenever it comes out, supposedly late April/early May. We will see what happens.

If anyone has any questions for me, feel free to ask, I'll pass on all I know about the install process if it's going to help ya out.

 

Sounds like a lot of work, for a fairly short period of time. I'm sure there is a great deal of satisfaction in doing all of this to your own truck! I'm getting over a broken neck (surgery 1/26/04), so I can't even wash my own truck, right now. Enjoy the "mods", I know that I sure would!

 

Just thought I'd keep you guys updated about how this has effected my truck as far as mileage goes.

Before mods, I was getting about 12 mpg around town, and about 13 on the highway. I tend to drive too fast and pass too much on the highway, so my mileage isn't great or even hardly noticeably different from my around town driving.

After mods, I get 16 mpg around town and I haven't had a chance yet to test it on the highway. I imagine I'll get 17-18.

Just incase you dont want to go back and reread the thread to see what mods I put on, I did a K&N intake system, dual rear exit Borla exhaust and Gibson headers. I haven't done the Diablo sport tuner YET, I'm waiting until late Mayish until the version I want comes out for my truck.

 

I went ahead and did a little math since I wanted to know how much money this actually saved me...

By the time I put on 50k additional miles, at current gas prices, the difference in mileage will have paid for the mods ($1200) and have saved an additional $820 for me. Isn't that cool

 

That is kinda nice to hear Rambo. I especially like that you can already notice a difference in fuel mileage. The mods you did are both breathing mods, which greatly affect the way the fuel is used, so they make great sense. I think it is almost time to do some mods <chuckle> as I like better fuel mileage. It is a 'good thing' (trademarked)

Thom

 

Just an FYI, I did three mods, not two. Unless you are just counting headers as another component in my exhaust upgrade?

 

Yeah, I was counting the headers as part of the exhaust for the breathing, but you are correct and I should count it as three, because to get what you did, I have to do all three.

Thom

 

That's better than most "payback" stories. I don't know if any I've ever done would really pay for themselves!!

 

And to be quite honest, my first tank of gas through it with the 3 mods I only got about 14 mpg, which is still 2 mpg better than I was getting, but once I installed the mods I drove it pretty hard for most of that first tank. Once I got used to the extra power/sound and slowed down a little back to how I normally drive, then I went up 2 more mpg, or 16. However, when I get in the mood to make the mods do what they do best, my mileage slips back down into the 14 mpg range

Still, thats 2 mpg better than I was getting, so no complaint from me!