New to site and new to the Ford AND Diesel circle. I want to get some helpful advice on what difference all the MODs make to the truck.
1) What does cold air intake help?
2) What does a larger exhaust system do?
3) What is a cat-back exhaust?
4) What does an exhaust brake do?

I am in this truck for the next 10 years and want as much enjoyment out
of it as possible. I know that these answers come easy for most of you, so have mercy on us newbies.

Thanks All,

 

1. A cold air intake will bring in more air to allow your diesel engine to breath, these are turbo charged motors that demand a lot of air, especially when chipped! The filters that are included with most cold air kits are washable/reusable which will save you money over the throw out one you replace every time you change your oil and can help with fuel economy.

2. A larger exhaust will cool exhaust gas temperatures which is great when running a chip. They will help the engine breath better, resulting in better fuel economy and an overall more efficient running motor.

3. A cat back system starts at the catalytic convertor and goes all the way out to the tailpipe, compared to a turbo back system that comes right off the turbo and goes all the way back out to the tail pipe.

4. An exhaust brake will close a butterfly valve in the exhaust to trap the exhaust in your combustion chambers creating back pressure in the cylinders. This will slow the motor down and greatly assist in slowing your truck and trailer down. A good quality exhaust brake will dramatically lengthen the life of your service brakes and provide safety and confidence while towing in some elevated terrains etc...

Hope this helps

 

Modifications should be considered as part of a complete system. You may not get the performance you want and can even decrease performance if you do not consider all parts. For example, put on a gigantic intake without doing other mods will probably cause you to bog and run like a slug.

As part of my answer, think of an engine as an air pump, because that is what it is and changes to affect the flow of air are a big part of performance.

So my answers...

1) Cold Air intake does that, it sucks cold air from somewhere other than the engine compartment, hot air. Cold air is more dense and gives a little bit more power and the intakes usually are less restrictive. Usual claims are 10-20 horses, I think most of this is from less restriction.

2) Larger exhaust if done RIGHT and with other mods, frees up the backpressure and can let the engine pump more air, thus making more power. A side benefit on some Fords is that it will let the engine run a bit cooler since the stock exhaust often builds up a lot of heat. You need to consider carefully what RPM range and performance you are looking for. Too big an exhaust can decrease performance for many typical applications. HP gains/losses are all over the ballpark. Essentially you can tune your performance range with proper pipe sizing.

3) Cat back is an exhaust system that plugs into the exit of the catalytic converter and replaces components all the way to the tail pipe. It is often the easiest and cheaper way to free up the exhaust. Headers is in front of the exhaust and not part of a cat back. Headers are often a good performance upgrade. Usual claims are 20-40hp and it really depends on the rest of the system.

4) Exhaust brake. I have NO experience with diesels , but in general diesels don't have good engine braking so I have read so they put on an exhaust brake. I think they are essentially an exhaust cutoff to generate exhaust back pressure which slows the vehicle down. This is that wierd noise you hear the big trucks making when they are slowing down and it sounds like they downshifted.

Most enjoyment is had thru proper maintenance. Add ons improve the performance as long as you treat it as a system.

Good Luck,

Jim Henderson

 

Before you do anything, please research what the modifications may do or not do to any warranty your truck may be under.

I plan on driving my truck for a long time, but I won't even put modified air in the tires until the warranty expires.

 

I think you can run nitrogen in the tires without voiding the warranty.

TX

 

Redford brings up a great point. When considering mods, also look at how/if it will affect your warranty.

The great news is depending on the motor in the truck, there are two great forums to page through to learn and to get answers.

I joined the site in Feb and bought my first diesel a week later. While I've only done one oil change since buying, I've learned more than I thought possible from this site.

If I knew about this site when I first started buying my F150s, I'd have saved a ton of money by now.

 

Thanks guys for all the good advice, and for taking it easy on the new kid. I just put on a Westin Bull Bar, PIAA lights and Brightlines billet grill inserts and WOW what a difference. I ordered the Bully Dog Triple Pup that will be here Friday. I did the try it before you buy it (8 Engine Hours) and man o man am I hooked!

 

Be sure to disconnect the Bully Dog BEFORE you take it in for any warranty repairs.

 

You may want to check out the 6.0L forum a little further down on the main page. There are a lot of guys in there that know this engine very well, but don't venture in this section very often (not sure why).

While I am sure the Bully Dog setup is nice the vast majority of the members in that forum would suggest you to return it and get the SCT Excalibrator 2. It comes with 3 stock tunes and can hold 3 more custom ones. This will actually reprogram your computer to control your engine and transmission where the Bully Dog unit just feeds your computer phony numbers to get the engine to act how it wants and doesn't do anything for the transmission. There are two forum members from Long Island Performance Diesel that frequent the 6.0 forum and are sponsors here. They sell the Xcal 2 and write their own programs for it. They are well know for their great programs and excellent customer service. I plan on talking to them when I am ready to purchase a programmer but I am still breaking my truck in so I am waiting.

Other than that welcome to the site and enjoy your new truck.