New Member
Recent 2000 SD 4wd V10 Owner
85000 miles
No mods yet.

Here are the comments. Been lurking for a bit, just reading and taking it all in. Lots of great info here. Seem to be a lot of technically competent truck owners who are willing to take the time to post their experiences. 'Preciate that! Still got a lot of reading to do before I ask some things, but...


Here are the questions at hand:

First things first, have only had the truck a couple of weeks and have not done much towing with it yet (mine will be /has been utility-small tractor around town and to the deer camp about 2.5 hours away). Seem to be averaging about 12.5 - 13.5 mpg around town and with short tows.

FIPK-to or not to. Have a great mechanic who owns 150 5.8's and has run 350's (V-10's) as wreckers who has tried and said "they sound good but didn't improve performance". What do yo think?

Cat-Back Duals-to or not to. Again, same mechanic said about the same thing, "sounds good" but didn't see an appreciable difference in performance.

Changing spark plugs. This hasn't been done as best I can tell. Should I try to prevent potential problems now or what?

Changing to synthetic lubricants-to or not to. It doesn't appear to be burning any oil. The previous user only towed infrequently and didn't off-road at all. Pros/Cons?

Thanks in advance for the help/comments.

 

Welcome Madison!! The K&N FIPK... I'm assuming that's what you're talking about... it will sound good, but as far as gains are concerned most will be nominal. A dual cat-back setup will sound good in conjunction with the FIPK, but again... the gains will be minimal, and more than likely nothing you will notice at any useable RPM. You might gain about 15-18 hp through both of those mods... MAYBE. It's always good to through on a fresh set of plugs, maybe even a new fuel filter.... this will only prolong the life of the motor and it will probably be more noticeable than the FIPK. As far as oil goes.... if it's not burning it (or even if it is) the Motorcraft 5w20 is a great oil for this engine, I've ran that for 176k miles and no problems yet. Synthetics may run smoother, but if there is no problem... nothing needs changing right? Depending on the sound you want... there is a guy who owns a v-10 who has it sounding really good, I forget his SN... but I'll try and find it if you are looking for a good sound. Once again, welcome to FTE!!

 

Definitely change to the correct plugs, installed properly as out-lined in various posts, and change the fuel filter. The other things may just be a waste of money unless you like a different sound or just like to play around with your excellent truck.