Ive got a 99 F250 with the dreaded 5.4l triton. I have been looking for a quick boost in power and nitrous appears to be my best option. I have two questions, first is it safe for me to put a 75 or 100 shot dry nitrous set up on my truck, and what can I expect to gain?(such as seconds I could shave off of my 0-60 time) Any brand recamendations?

 

well, i might go with a turbo set up, ro maybe a twin turbo, nos is destructive, and you need to refill it in each race, to me nos is power in false, you have it but not for long and at the cost of your engine life, 8psi could give you close to 100hp with no so much extra tune up, only my 2cents

 

I will be honest. I know NOTHING about nitrous. I would like to see what everyone esle that has had experience with it has to say about it.

 

Then what would I need for a turbo set up? What would it cost me and how hard is it?

 

A turbo would cost more up front - but you won't have the added cost of buying Nitrous all the time.
You have the power 100% of the time, and you never run out of it.

 

Well now , you can go sc or turbo(centrifugal) whats you aplication? if you want to have boost from idle, go with the sc(twin root) if you dont care to have boost till 1,6k rpm or 2k you can get a turbo, there are kits or you can build it you self(lot of fun, lot if research)

 

I have been using nitrous on my race/street car for two years now with good results. Both of my brothers are nitrous junkies, using massive amounts with killer results. I have been more reserved in my use (it took me 8 years to decide to do it) at any rate now I am using a 175 shot on my 460. It works quite well. I am using a NOS brand kit. The settings they suggest for jet sizes are conservative for the fuel/nitrous ratio. This protects the engine. Those who claim that nitrous is destructive must have had a bad experience or don't understand it's proper use. I would suggest a wet kit (it also injects fuel with the nitrous)

With all of that said, I would get a supercharger or turbocharger instead if I had the cash to do it right.

 

I disagree with you there. Nitrous sure is power, and when used properly, is not that hard on your motor. A turbo or a supercharger will cause extra wear and tear on the motor all the time, however nitrous is only used when at WOT and when you have the system armed.

 

I disagree with most of the comment so far because they are too general.

If installed, tuned and operated properly, nitrous will not damage the engine. Same for superchargers and turbo chargers.

Nitrous kits are significantly less costly than turbo/supercharger kits, though they require refilling which may, or may not be a hassle depending on your geography.

The most common problems I see with nitrous installations relate to stupidity. Sometimes people feel the need to install a 250HP nitrous kit on bone-stock civic (or other equally, grossly undersized engine for such a kit), or the install the fittings and jets incorrectly and have leaks. Leaking bad.

Supercharger/turbocharger kits are much more expensive, more complicated to install, and usually require some time and effort to tune properly. The advantage is that it always works, morning noon and night, every day, without the inconvienence of having to refill a bottle.

 

^Except for the additional octane requirement.

 

If that comment was to me... lower the compression of the engine

Having done several experiments in this area... we found that a 7.5:1 c/r engine with 25 psi of boost produces more power (without detonation) than a 10:1 c/r with 8 psi of boost (without detonation).

Especially in a heavy RWD vehicle, where you aren't as traction impaired as with a lighter vehicle (or a FWD vehicle).

 

^ Tell me about it.

Sadest thing about my application, a 9 (or is it 9.5) to 1 CR.

 

The standard Navi engine had a 9.5:1 compression ratio. The normal 5.4's have a 9.0:1 compression ratio.
My 5.4l originally had a 10.5:1 compression ratio. I got this down too 9.1:1 with some pretty trick custom made metal head gaskets I got a friend to fab up on the laser cutter.
At 13lbs with the 9.1C/R I would only get pinging at VERY high ambient temps (using 98RON fuel), but I had some cool software programming (and 4 - Yes, 4 - knock sensors), I was able to retard the spark advance on a individual cylinders as they started pinging.
It took a while to get the code written for it however...

 

I repeat, lower the compression

BTW, the final c/r of the 500cid twin-turbo stroker I'm building, turned out to be a hair over 7:1.

;-)