Hello everybody. Im new to the forum and looking for some info. I know this stuff has been covered extensively but thought I'd get some clarification. First off, my truck is a 96 F-250 crew cab PSD. 165k miles. No mods yet other than a K&N Air filter and a new tranny. (automatic) My issue is I am looking for a little more power. My truck just seems a little sluggish when pulling my 24 foot 5th wheel or stock trailer, especially in the mountains. I am planning on doing the 6637 intake swap and a 4" turbo back exhaust. I dont mind loosing the cat on the exhaust but would like to keep the muffler. I'm not looking for a loud truck and blowing alot of smoke. The next step was going to be a tuner but a friend reccomended that I do an intercooler first to keep the EGT down and that the IC could possibly give me the extra power I am looking for without installing the tuner. Is this correct? What do you recomend for an exhaust? Does the IC makes sense to do first or should I install a tuner first? Obviously like everyone I am on a budget so I cant afford everything at once. Also, will any of these mods improve fuel mileage. I am currently getting around 15 mpg? Thanks everyone. this forum looks great. I am kinda worried about it though. I'll start with this stuff and next thing you know here comes the new turbo, injectors, etc. etc. etc.......

 

well it wont improve HP but it could easily save you from buying a new turbo, get gauges, pyro, tranny temp, and boost. it'll cost ya about $250.

the next thing you should do is focus on your exhaust intake like you were talking about. thats the easiest place to start. go to napa or fleetfilter.com and ditch the stock air box and filter. then go to tymar and get a downpipe. then get some 4" pipe and run it all the way to the rear axle.

you'd be surprised about the muffler. you really outta try it without the muffler first. i think you would like it. if you dont like it go with something that is free flwoing like the stock PSD muffler or a spiralflow like what jegs sells. the easier it is for the exhaust to escape the cooler she'll run.

yea an IC can help with HP but i dont think you'll see a huge difference, could be wrong though. you really wont need an IC until you start getting into injectors. i have hauled my 30' G/N loaded with a 9K lb truck pulling through the mountains of Tenn with my wildman chip and no IC and i have not had a problem. if it ever starts get warm i just let off the gas pedal a little. i did the exhaust and intake and gauges and she seems to run fine.

-cutts-

 

Do the guages, if your getting high readings on your pyro then you can do an intercooler but an intercooler will be over kill and not worth it IMO on a nearly stock truck with exhaust, intake and even a chip/tuner and is a huge hassel. I'm running a K&N, down pipe, 3.5in straight threw exhaust(no muff or CAT) and shimmed my fuel pressure regulator to 78psi and I'm happy with what I have now even with the 3.55's. I did put my fuel presure back to 56psi and a big slug the truck turned back too. Shimming it sure helped IMO and put her right back to 78psi. I'm thinking of going with a tuner but not on my high priorities as I'm not really after the power but more for Milage. Tuner is my next mod.

 

So what do you mean by shimming the fuel pressure regulator. Is this an easy modification? Do you need some kind of line pressure gauge? I also am not looking to be racing my truck so I dont need that kind of power but definitly would like some. How does the straight through pipe sound? Is it loud?

 

go to steves site and then hit ctrl+F and search for Shim the fuel regulator... also scroll down the page a few topics and it is covered 2 or 3 times

http://pages.prodigy.net/stevebaz/_i...az/index3.html

it is invaluable to a PSD owner, esp us beginers

-cutts-

 

SHIMMING THE REGULATOR TO ME FEELS MORE OFF THE LINE POWER, GREAT FOR TOWING, i UDERSTAND YOUR NOT RACING THE TRUCK, BUT IT SURE WOULD BE BENIFICIAL.(sorry about the caps)

The down pipe makes a HUGE diference especially with dropping the CAT. What I did is cut the pipe right in front of the CAT and got a 3.5 inch ID pipe and ran a straight pipe back to behind the muffler, keeping the stock pipe over the diff. saved the hangers off the old pipe and welded the old hangers onto the new pipe. That would be your cheapest exhaust mod.

Even cheaper actually would be get the down pipe and just take a bar and a hammer and pound out the guts in the CAT. The CAT maybe difficult to remove from age and the re-install it. This would be your quitest route.

 

OH, as for sound, I did the CAT gutting first, hardly notisable in sound difference, then did the down pipe with gutted CAT, sounds real nice, you hear the turbo really open up, its just a nice wistling noise all day long. With the muffler, it is louder, not bad at idle, empty its pretty good on aceleration if light enough on the pedal. On the highway its alright. Its really loud when you really lay into the throttle and under full load WOT condition its really loud. Seems like after 2000RPM's the exhuast overwhelms the wistling of the turbo and you get that barking sound from the exhaust.

 

link does not work...

 

Probably because this thread is 15 years old.

But I appreciate your use of the search function. Check the stickies in SD forum. They will have about everything you are looking for