I've got an F250 04 SuperCab 6.0 FX4, about 50k on it. Its not a daily driver for me now, but probably will be. Its an awsome truck I love it, my first diesel, and plan on keeping it for many years. Looking to do some basic mods, here is a list, and if you have additional things please add to it or an order in which to upgrade. I have read Alot of posts, HSS 16 pages, ugggg.

1. Power Elbow looks like it would help my 04 6.0, probably going to Dfuser since I Love those 08 mirrors and Hate my paddles. Any buyers.

2. exhuast, I'll do probably 4" Single Stainless 304 if I can afford it. (whats the deal with the turbo down pipe, will 4" vs 3.5" be a healthy impovement??) No muffler also unsure as to the benefits but thats what its like now and sounds pretty good.

3. Gauges, set of 3. no clue really.

4. Air intake, seems like a maybe from what I've read.

5. Some Blistein shocks, yellow no lift here.

6. SCT programmer, sometime down the road

7. Filters, xtra fuel, oil, and coolant makes sense for the long haul, any brands and such?

8. I'm going to upgrade my batt cable to 2/0 and add a connection (1/0) on the front and back for jumping and a winch some day. This I'll make myself, DC power is what i do, telecom and UPS.

I'm getting about 13mpg, is that normal, not alot of highway right now. It gets Cold and Hot in Indiana so temps can be fairly exreme -10 to 100.

Well this is long enough I'm sure. Thanks for your time and input guys. I'll try and post some pics and stuff as I go. (gotta figure that stuff out) JOHN

 

sup john welcome to the site man. An sct xcal2 should definitely help your mpg's as well as an after market intake.(in theory) Probably isn't much of a difference between 3.5" and 4" dp but your gonna love the way either one is gonna make that truck sound. take the cat off and you'll like it even more. don't be afraid to do the aftermarket intake, I've used stock, airaid, and afe stage2 and prefer the stage2 over the others. An option for gauges is the quadzilla commander or bullydog outlook monitor, which I don't think works with the xcal2 anymore though. they are digital gauges that let you set your own defueling parameters whereas gauges on an A pillar don't let you have that option. some might prefer the look of the A pillar over the digital display though. 7 and 8 I don't know much about but plenty of guys here do and will give you some good advice. I'll finish with a testimonial on the xcal2, everything you read about how good it is is true. believe all the "hype".

 

1. I don't know for sure, but I think that is more anecdotal then any true benefits, but it's one of those things if it helps great, if it doesn't it's ok because it won't hurt it.

2. No muffler and no kitty would help with the sound. Mine doesn't sound much different then stock when you are just driving normally, but when I get on to it, it turns some heads(4" turbo back exhaust)

3. The usual 3 are: Pyro, Boost, and Tranny(if auto). If your truck has a boost gauge, it is fairly accurate(I just don't like the range of display and I am thinking aftermarket one, so I got a boost gauge that goes up to 60 psi). Pyro is a must and so is the tranny if you have an auto, boost is the only one that you can do or not do depending on your preference, if you don't do boost do oil or water temp. As to the digital gauges(quadzilla and bullydog), bullydog does not work anymore with anything other then their own stuff due to the tranny gauge upgrade that they had performed on the outlook. As to defueling, I know the outlook wouldn't do it unless the tuner allowed for it and I don't think SCT allows for that type of parameter, so I'm pretty sure neither one would do that, you have to physically back off the throttle yourself to defuel.

4.& 5.& 7.& 8. No clues on those as I haven't done those.

6. I agree with going with the SCT with custom tunes done by Matt at LIPD. Beauty of this is if you plan on doing other mods down the road(injectors, some type of injection(propane, water/meth etc..), bigger turbo) this one can accomodate those changes the others can't.

Hope this helps.

 

Thanks Much for your input.
I have an automatic, just for info. And, what does the pyro measure?

Cya, John

 

Pyro (pyrometer) measeures Exhaust Gas Temp (EGT). Sustained high EGT's can cause turbo failure and other nasty problems.

 

Pyrometer measures egt(exhaust gas temperatures). You want to keep it below 1250 F, you can go over but don't do it for more then a few seconds(short bursts). I have noticed if I can keep it definately below 800(does better if below 700) then that is where I see the most engine efficiency and most mileage gain.

 

you beat me to it

 

I saw on one brand, Hog performance, you had to push back the firewall a bit to fit the 4" tubo back in. So it would not rattle. Does that sound correct?

Thanks, John

 

yes it does i would not beat in the firewall stick with 3.5

 

I didn't have to on mine, strange.

 

Another Question, SCT, is it the brand everyone loves or the xcal vs. livewire.

Livewire looks like it could save me most of the expense of gauges, except the egt, I think thats what Dfuser told me.

 

search livewire on this forum and others. people are still having issues with the screen coloring being "off" and different from the left side to the right side. just from a couple testimonials I've read. seems about 60/40 on the "limewire" some call it. 60 not warmed up to it it 40 people aren't having any issues. Im sure once they nail it and get the bugs worked out there will be a lot of xcal2's for sale and cheap!

 

Ahh I see. Yeah all I've seen has been the xcal, but I'll look up the other.

Thanks, And that's a wicked looking druck you got there with those black rims.

 

thanks that was actually an old pic I just updated it. lifted the rear end up.

 

3.5" downpipe will help with the low end unless you're gonna do some MAJOR mods/race. The livewire still has bugs but the custom performance programming is still the same. You can always go with SCT and gauges or a quadzilla commander