Does anyone have supercharger on their F-150 SuperCrew 5.4L 4x4? How do you like it? I know they are expensive but I'm looking for an easy way to get some ponies out of my ride!! Any drawbacks to a supercharger? Do you have to have any other mods done in order to accomadate one? sorry for all of the ?'s, like I said I'm not a mechanic! Thanks,

 

i have one on my 94 lightning. its the easiest way to get hp dollar for dollar. you can bolt on 100hp in an afternoon. there is really no other mods you need to accomodate the blower. everything you need should be supplied in the kits. i suggest the brand vortech. their website is awesome. theor customer service is top notch and their prices are competitive. not to mention they make the best blowers in my opinion. www.vortecheng.com they have a kit for your truck.

 

I have not yet sprung the cash (but will as soon as remainder of factory warrenty runs out in september 02) for a Supercharger.

I do have a couple of friends in late model trucks (Expy and che*y)that have installed them. The results are incredible! Someone can easily spend $1,000 - $2,000 on a whole lot of engine mods (Exhaust headers, free flowing CATs, CAT back duals, FIPK intake kits, Chips, etc.) and not get more then 30 HP in gains, these gains are also at higher RPM's (some even at the expense of low RPM torque) And that is if you do the work your self so as not to include the cost of Labor! Chips also require the switch to premium unleaded as do superchargers.

By contrast a low pressure supercharger kit (5-6 PSI) will easily give increases in the 100+ HP range with 100-150 lbs ft of added torque at useable RPM's.

Keep in mind that there exist differant methodes of supercharger design and these will factor in your results. ;-) The most basic of these are turbine vs postive displacement. Think of the turbine type, Vortec / Paxton designs as belt driven turbochargers that offer little gains at low RPM's but really come alive delivering the real goods in the 2500 and up RPM range. The positive displacement type, MagnaCharger / Kenne Bell / Whipple designs can develop a good deal of boost just off idle and there for have better low RPM performance gains then the turbine type. If you have a tachometer in your truck, take note of what your engine speed is during most of your driving and the positive displacement types seem awful attractive.

I the turbine type has it's advantages too. They seem to go for a little less money (both purchase price and installation labor) then the positive displacement type.

For my money I think the low RPM grunt of the positive displacement is the way to go in a 5000 lb truck.

Either way you just can't lose. Way more power per dollar then most any other hop-up engine mod that you can do on a late model motor!

 

I have a Diablo chip in my truck now and was thinking about adding on a supercharger. I noticed that on Vortec's website, they cannot advise of that combination. Does anyone have both? Ha,ha...anyone wanna buy a chip?

Thanks for the input guys!

2002 FORD SuperCrew
5.4L 4X4
All BLACK
Flowmaster Cat-back Duals
K&N FIPK Diablo Chip

 

>Chips also require the switch to premium unleaded as do
>superchargers.

While that may be true, my daily driver (98 Contour SVT)
required premium fuel from the get go, and I've got about
$200 in mods for a 20hp gain, thats at the drive wheels...

>By contrast a low pressure supercharger kit (5-6 PSI) will
>easily give increases in the 100+ HP range with 100-150 lbs
>ft of added torque at useable RPM's.

True, but I'm an Irish/Scottish mutt, And don't like spending
cubic dollars for minimal gains...3-4000 for 100-150 HP??
I've got better things to spend money on...like my house...

>Either way you just can't lose. Way more power per dollar
>then most any other hop-up engine mod that you can do on a
>late model motor!


Old fashion hot rodding, no money type mods, are the best
HP for $ modifications out there, did you know that a cat
is a muffler?? So why use the muffler???hell, my daily
driver has the 3rd cat gutted, plus the "resonator" has
been removed, which freed up about 14hp, the air filter
mod, which cost nothing, gave me another 7hp, as it was
restrictive, if it can't breath to begin with, it can't
make any power...

Steve & the Rockette
'63 F100
'68 F100
'72 Capri 2L
'73 Capri 2.6L V6
'73 MG B GT 2.6L V6(Ford)
'98 Contour SVT 2.5L V6 (Mods)
'01 ZX2 (No Mods yet)

 

I with you on getting the most HP out of no money Canzus, I do wonder where (Kansas maybe) your coming from. No Way would you ever get passed a smog check station with coreless CATs around here or other areas of the country that enforce such Laws of the leftist environmental movement

While not being one to scorn at "free" HP, I even made a low cost mod to my own intake system. I replaced the factory air filter with a Holley filter (similair to K&N). I also modified my air box, including replacement of the small diameter cold air tube with a larger 4" unit that is indeed "Cold Air" as I unlarged the fender hole to accept it.

I do wonder how you were able to measure the 20 HP for less then $200 at the rear wheels. Around here dyno time isn't that cheap, they charge over a $100 just to hook her up. I have a friend that has a friend who owns a shop so equiped. We were bench racing when my buddies pal expressed interest in my little intake mod. After a few beers we went to his shop and checked it out. I have a net increase of 4-7 HP in the 2500-3000 RPM range at the rear wheels. (the high number represents what could be expected with actual colder air curculating as a result of driving vs being "hooked" to the dyno in a shop)And yes we reconnected the old parts for a baseline. This represents a max increase of 2% and is of course being totally unnoticed in a 5000 plus lb truck. Now 20 HP would likily be noticable but are you sure you are getting it?:-X23 or just trusting some of the advertizing guys hype?

My main point is that for "real" increases in HP and more importantily TORQUE, a supercharger can not be beat.

My experiance at the dyno was indeed sobering as tails of late model trucks with hundreds, even thousands of dollars worth of K&N FIPK's, headers, Hi Flow CAT's, CAT Back exhaust systems, chips, etc. rarely see more then 30-35 HP for all their money and trouble.

If more is better I want ALOT more, thus my opinion regarding this sub

Petrol

 

Ok, great insight there fellas. Don't you think that if you are going to spend the money on a supercharger then you ought to get one that concentrates more on the low RPM band than the high? I would think that would be better for not only pulling heavy loads, but also for racing to pull out ahead early.

What are your thoughts on this?

2002 FORD SUPERCREW
5.4L 4X4
Lariat ALL BLACK
Flowmaster Cat-back duals
K&N FIPK Diablo Chip
Coming soon... SuperCharger!!

 

Jimmy you say a blower is coming.I'm interested in buying a Magnacharger soon and was wondering wheres the best place to buy one?

 

Well, I haven't gotten mine yet, but I am seriously thinking of one. I originally thought about the charger for lower end, but now I'm leaning towards the Paxton or Vortec. It is alot of money so I want to be sure and get exactly what I want! What kind of truck do you have? I got my truck just before Valentine's day, so I'm thinking that I should put a few more miles on before I get one. Not sure...

 

Me and another group just went through this another site, so I hope this helps some. If you are looking for lower rpm gains, such as for towing, daily driving, etc, than a roots style s/c like the Kenne-Bell and Eaton/Magna's are what you are looking for. If you run your ride in the higher rpms - racing, higher performance - than a centrifugal s/c like Paxton, Vortech, or Powerdyne are what you want to look into. Some will argue this I know -

A roots style charger will begin making boost somewhere between 1500 to 2000, depending on the setup. A centrifugal charger builds more power as the rpm's rise. Most of the time, a centrifugal will build more power in the long run. Of course there are excepts.

I am in the process of putting an Eaton M90 charger on my X 302 as we speak. As soon as I find a belt to fit it, and get it on, I'll let you know the results. I wanted the daily driving, jet ski and trailer towing, street running power. I don't get to the track anymore, and don't burn the higher rpm's (tranny is set not to shift in higher rpm's anyway by Ford). That is why I went w/ the Eaton.

Hope this helps give you a little more info - and yes, you can run a chip w/ a charger, Ken is setting my chip up now. It will go back on when he gets it back to me...

 

Yeah, the Eaton/Magna M112 is what the Lightning is running. I would think that Eaton would be a good choice. I tried their website, but they didn't show too much info.

Thanks for all your help.

 

Eaton's web site is geared toward Business to Business as they don't seel direct or make complete kits. You can check the web sites of magnacharger, keene Bell, Whipple, etc. for more info or just run a "search engine" search for supercharger sites. I like Ford's approach with the Lightining / Harley Davidson F-150, real good low to mid range power increase. Most "centrifical units, ie Paxton, Vortec, etc. make great top end power but porvide little boost in the lower rpm ranges.

Petrol

 

I wonder if anyone has made an electric superchager? I mean with that you can adjust the boost, turn it off when you don't need it no belts, you could mount it pretty much anywhere you have room. A good test electric motor would an angle grinder that spins 11000rpm or down to 8000rpm with decent fan blades.

P.S. you could this kind of supercharger, and when someone is beside you and they've looked under your hood, they don't know what you have underneath till you hit the switch and they here the wine(I loooooove that sound that turbos make)


82' Flareside with 400 horse under the hood

 

>I with you on getting the most HP out of no money Canzus, I
>do wonder where (Kansas maybe) your coming from. No Way
>would you ever get passed a smog check station with coreless
>CATs around here or other areas of the country that enforce
>such Laws of the leftist environmental movement

I'm in Wa State, and we do have smog checks...just
not where I live...But it would pass the smog check
anyway...It's still got two cats on it. The resonator
was removed, which necks down to 2" then necks up to
2 1/2", along with gutting the 3rd cat, cost $8.00
for a section of pipe...

>While not being one to scorn at "free" HP, I even made a low
>cost mod to my own intake system.

So did I, It's now force fed from the airdam area...

>I do wonder how you were able to measure the 20 HP for less
>then $200 at the rear wheels. Around here dyno time isn't
>that cheap, they charge over a $100 just to hook her up.

$60.00 an hour, 2 hours total, 11 pulls...

> This represents a max increase of 2% and is of
>course being totally unnoticed in a 5000 plus lb truck. Now
>20 HP would likily be noticable but are you sure you are
>getting it?:-X23 or just trusting some of the advertizing
>guys hype?

No hype, but had a baseline from when I first bought
the car, and it made 165HP at the FRONT wheels, (FWD)
and it made 187HP without an airfilter in the housing.
The dyno dude said it'll probably make more with the
ram air effect...I should hook up a manometer to find
out what type of pressure I'm getting in the airbox...

>My main point is that for "real" increases in HP and more
>importantily TORQUE, a supercharger can not be beat.

I'm not going to argue that point...

>My experiance at the dyno was indeed sobering as tails of
>late model trucks with hundreds, even thousands of dollars
>worth of K&N FIPK's, headers, Hi Flow CAT's, CAT Back
>exhaust systems, chips, etc. rarely see more then 30-35 HP
>for all their money and trouble.

I'll not argue that point either, but, just between
me and you and the fence post, Ford has a packaging
problem in the Contours, the enginge compartment is
small, moving the battery to the trunk fixes some of
it, removing the battery tray allows you to get a
large airbox into the engine compartment, and the
2.5L just loves to breathe freely...

>If more is better I want ALOT more, thus my opinion
>regarding this sub

I firmly beleive that too much is never enough...

Steve & the Rockette
'63 F100
'68 F100
'72 Capri 2L
'73 Capri 2.6L V6
'73 MG B GT 2.6L V6(Ford)
'98 Contour SVT 2.5L V6 (Mods)
'01 ZX2 (No Mods yet)

 

Hey guys,

Just thought I'd let you know that there is an Eaton M112 (Lightning SC) brand new for sale on E-Bay. It's just the SC and not the kit. I would love to get it, but need the whole thing.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1813523507

That link should take ya there otherwise look up Eaton Supercharger under truck parts. It's at around $400 now, but you can buy it now at $800. I don't know if that is a good deal or not, but I would certainly think so.