Hello all,
Long time reader - occassional poster but now I've got a project and I'd love some advice from this great group.
My lease is up on a 2004 FX4 - best vehicle I have ever owned!
I'm heading into the dealership Tuesday to put a deposit on a new one. I'm going to buy this one and make it my "Dream Truck"...
I've spec'd an 07 FX4 plus, Black, fully loaded (20 inch wheels, NAV system etc) and a 6.5 foot box.
I'm posting here as I'm going to order it from the dealership with an inter-cooled Roush supercharger & exhaust system - I have a ton of questions.
I live in Toronto, Canada - I'm ordering from Meadowvale Ford who have a long history with Roush and are one of a very few dealers in Canada able to sell Roush Trucks - hoping I've made a good choice here.
I am not ordering a full on Stage 3 truck as I love the stock look and I often drive some fun back roads.
Some questions:

• Should I be looking at any mods that won't effect the ride height of the vehicle: i.e. Sway bar.
• Oil - thinking I should run stock for the first couple of thousand & change early / often until broken in... I know I will switch to synthetic, any suggestions on when?
• Spark plugs - Roush have "cooler" spark plugs on thier web site but don't call for them specifically with the supercharger - should I run stock or have the dealership swap in something different - any other ignition mods I should be thinking about?
• Gauges: anything critical here to keep an eye on things? Recomendations... that fit asthetically well in the FX4 cab?
• Exhaust - the Roush list the 5.5 foot box - I am going to order the 6.5 box... will the dealership be able to make the kit fit or should I be looking at an alternative? (I will ask them, but there's a ton of experence here)
• Dyno / tuner shops... Anyone from Toronto reading on the forum have a recomendation - again, my first project truck so looking for references re who to deal with.
• Fuel Millage - wouldn't be buying an F150 if this was a major concern but the reading on this is very inconsistant... most reviews (i.e. Edmonds) talk about very poor millage with the Roush but folks postings here don't seem to be experincing this. If you were "testing" a Roush F150 I imagine the millage would be poor - giddy-up! being the order of the day, but driving every day, will I really see a big drop off when I'm not playing?
• What have I forgotten?

I promise to post pictures and provide plenty of real world feedback as the project comes together... dealer thinks I'm looking at 6 to 8 weeks to order so I have some time to take input from here and work with the dealership.
I looking forward to your thoughts,

 

- Defininately at least look at a sway bar. You'll need it. Frankly I don't think its enough. I've got the full Roush suspension and I appreciate it being there with the Roushcharger.
- I'd switch at the first change.
- Roushchargers come with the cooler plugs in the vehicle, and when you buy the kit to install a Roushcharger it comes with the plugs. You need to use these cooler plugs.
- Boost and a/f ratio.
- No, it won't fit without surgery...
- Can't help you there. Troyer Performance did work on mine (and I've done my own tuning on it as well, I've got the full SCT dealer package).
- You'll see mileage go down a bit. The charger, even when its dumping boost (below 80% throttle, unless you use aftermarket tuning) puts an additional load on the engine.

 

Thanks for the quick reply... I'm sitting up reading through the forum, lots of great stuff in here. I'll have to talk to the dealership about the exhaust. I did discover about the plugs in reading your article on the install - nice work.
On the gauges - is there a brand or store you'd recomend to find a nice fit.

 

Its not brand I would be concerned about... just buy the higher end guages available. For instance don't buy the $30 or $40 gauge. Buy the $150-$250 air/fuel gauge that calibrates itself every time you start the vehicle.

I'll be installing Autometer guages this week in mine. Would have done it sooner but we've had so many projects lined up that its been hard to get it done earlier. Air/fuel isn't terribly important with a Roush tune if the O2 sensors have less than 25,000 miles because Roush really nails the a/f ratio, but its still a good idea to be able to watch it.

 

Ordered today! Factory, 6 to 8 weeks... FX4 +... 6.5 ft box, Blk, SuperCrew, loaded. Going to start with Roush intercooled, Roush duel exhust & the upgraded Roush front stabilzer bar.
The dealership has checked with Roush and they're sure the duel exhust kit will fit the 6.5 ft box so it's in thier hands... apparenty the extra lenght is in front of the cat...
I can't wait... how do you kill 6 weeks?

 

So is this a Roush truck or a standard F-150 the dealership is going to add Roush parts too?

 

Stock truck with Dealer bolt Roush, exhaust, stabilizer. Dealer is a fully authorized Roush Dealer (very few in Canada, Medovale Ford) - They had a beautiful F150 Stage 3 and a couple of very cool Stage Three Mustangs. Stage 3 is a great truck but I love the 4x4... building a sleeper truck I guess... 100% stock FX4 plus, stock hight, wheel sizes etc... I'll do best to upgrade the hidden parts (next step might be performance shocks... maybe a brake upgrade). I'll likely add the gauges you recomended above and take the project from there.
Any recomendations? What should I be planning for the ultimate sleeper FX4?