So I got this truck used... It's a 2001 F350 Lariat PSD with the 4x4 package. Couple of things I've noticed make me wonder what kind of mods the previous owner may have done...

1. It has Trailmaster shocks. Were these a factory option in '01?

2. It has a Garrett turbo. Is this a stock component or aftermarket?

3. It sits pretty damn tall. I'm wondering if the suspension has been tweaked. Can anyone out there tell me what the front and rear wheel wells ought to measure out to from the ground?

Thanks in advance,
Mike

P.S. Any advice on things I should be looking for or mods I should be making? One of my buddies has already suggested a chip, but I'm pretty happy with the level of performance now. Are there problem areas I should be inspecting?

 

If it's got trailmaster shocks and it's sits tall it's got a lift as far as I know trailmaster dosn't offer stock shocks. The gerret turbo is stock on the psd. As for mods is it auto or stick? If it's auto than do a search on this site and you will find lots of mods to beef up the trans. The aftermarket for these trucks it huge so it wont be a problem finding parts and info. Is this your first psd?

 

This is my first PSD and my first Ford. I've been driving Toyota trucks exclusively for about ten years, but I inherited this rig from my father-in-law. Turns out my 1/2 ton Tundra wasn't quite beefy enough to pull all the farm equipment trailers, so I've gotten rid of it.

I'm pretty sure the truck doesn't have much more than a couple of inches of lift, although that might explain the clunking in the steering linkages. From what I've read, cheap lifts can cause problems in steering.

Thus far, my only modification has been the installation of a couple hundred watts of stereo equipment and an eight inch sub in the center console. Now I don't have to listen to the diesel whine if I don't want to.

I'm looking at picking up a predator tuner as my initial performance mod. It seems like the least expensive way to play with the trucks already excellent performance. Further down the road, I'm thinking a four inch exhaust is a must have item. I've been reading a lot of posts on EGT. This is going to sound really ignorant, but what's the point of the gauges? Are they just a safety measure?

Thanks for your response... Drive safe. M

 

i had a lift on my truck and i heard a few clunks every now and again.

definatly get the gauges. they will tell you if your about to have a melt down in the tranny or the egt's

 

I'm still learning myself, just got my truck about eight months ago. I took it in to the dealership and spoke to the service supervisor about the chips and other performance enhancing kits. He said you will want to have the additional items installed to monitor the engine more closely as the chips etc could cause a piston melt down if they are not monitored. He had called in an inspector to look at a psd with a melted piston and the inspector concluded that the truck had been modified with a chip, which had been removed before being taken to the dealership for warranty work, and he was about to void the warranty as a result. That was yesterday.

This site is a great place to get information and has been enormously helpful to me.

 

This forum is an excellant souce of info. I'd advise setting aside a few hours and searching various topics.

Guages - I didn't believe in them until I installed a Tranny Temp, Pyrometer and Boost guage in my dad's '99 4x4 F250. It's amazing what is going under your hood and in the trans. I drove in stop-n-go traffic for 2 miles (80F outside temp) and watched the trans temp climb rapidly up to 200F+. The pyrometer shows a big increase in exhaust heat when towing even a small trailer. Guages are something to put the top of the "to do" list.

Automatic Transmission (if you have one) - Thanks to this Forum, we knew that Ford put some less-than-perfect trans in these trucks. They need to run at cool temperatures. An aftermarket Trans cooler is highly recommended. Also, we noticed a rattle from somewhere near the Transmission. Thanks to the Forum, we knew about the Torq Converter problems that pop up on these trucks. We were able to replace the Torq Converter before it gave out.

Exhaust Pipes - Look into 4" exhausts and 4" intakes. Ford restricted the engines on the diesels. They need to breathe.

That's just my 2 cents worth. Here's a list of things we've done to the truck, it might provide you with ideas for your truck. If not, they are good things to Search for and read about. Good luck with your truck!

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ISSPRO Gauges (Pyrometer, Boost & Transmission Temp.) in “A” piller pod mount

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Many things can be done to these PSD's to make them perform really well. Mine is now putting 333h rwhp and 853 lbs of Tq. Very reliable gains. I did not sped huge amount of $$$ to get it ther either.

Monitoring - Guages are a priority: Pyro (monitor Exhaust temperatures), and for a Auto tranny temp gauge, the factory gauges are more like idiot lights. A boost gauge is a nice to have and looks good on a pillar mount.

Transmission - Auto tranny, a cooler if your did not have one, most of them came with one, and a Sonnax/Tricumulator shift improver kit. This will help firm the shifts and prolong the life of that tranny. When you add these, chnage the filter and put Mobile 1 ATF. It made a world of difference on mine. For a manual they make a short shifter, which helps a alot, less travel than the stock.

You could also put a T/C override to control when you want the T/C to lock. This great for transferring power from the engine to the tranny, and specifically when towing, as the PCM tends to turn the T/C off. Its really annoying when you can't use the power you have.

Exhaust - If you live an environment that has salt on the grounds, or where rust is a problem, go with stainless system 4" full exhaust. It well worth it. I live in Texas (Southern) and got me the Aluminized system. You could also just replace the restrictive factory muffler with a more free flow Walker 21470 muffler. This helps a lot and is the cheaper way to go. You find them at Napa stores for under $50, or do a search on the web.

Chips/Programmers - There are many out there. So fas the Edge Evoltion 9Prgrammers) seems to stand out from the rest. I have had the Super chips 1705 and now I am using the Edge, and all I can say is WOW. The predator seems to cause higher EGT's but has an Edge on power over the rest.

Air Intake - The AFE Stage II is the best out there, if you want to spend the money. The newer FORD AIS system is also a great system that is available from your local ford dealer. I went with a cheaper option S&B re-usable round filter. It works great for me.

Other stuff - If you have a late 99, you could remove the AIH plug and gain 20% air flow. There are kits out there to replace it. You could stack more power over you programmer or chip for Edge and other vendors out there. I have one on and like it.

I can't post links for you on where to find this stuff, but feel free to ask more questions.