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I have a set of Doug Thorley headers and Y on my 04' since september and thus far they are great. Low end is a way better than stock. Mid and upper power increased as well however low end is the most noticable. I can really tell the difference on the hills, the truck holds the gear longer and on hills where it would shift into third before, now I can hold OD the whole way up. I noticed a big difference with the headers. Others may say they are a waste, but IMO there wrong.
I'd go with a set of Thorleys or Banks headers/Y-pipe and a custom SCT dyno tune. Both will wake up the truck quite a bit.
When you say "a bit of money" it would help to clarify how much you have to spend and what you want the results to be.
If power is your primary concern, I'd go for the supercharger setup. Of course, your reliability will go down, and you will probably find yourself then needing to buy a new transmission and rebuild the engine eventually. As an example, my friend put a Whipple blower on his F-150 4.6 (running 6 psi). The truck was fast, no doubt, and then about 6 months later (while drag racing a Lightning) he suffered pre-ignition and melted a piston. At least, that is my guess, as he had zero compression on the #1 and #2 cylinders ("holey pistons, Batman!"). He also was running a stock computer, which probably accounted for most of his problems. I am pretty leery of bolting any major power modifications to any vehicle that you want to remain reliable. Even on some of the factory naturally aspirated engies that have a higher specific output, you see some pretty interesting programming schemes to keep preignition and detonation from happening.
If you just want to wake the truck up, exhaust and tune are probably your best bet. Those will probably also keep your truck reliable.
I'll tell how I came into the money. Last week I was informed that I won a Harley Davidson Road King in a Drawing through the Company I work for. Since I have never ridden on a bike I took the cash option well over the amount I want to put into my truck. I would like to stay under $2K. Since there are a few more things I would like to do with the money.
Lucky SOB, the only thing I've ever won was a 200lb. Pumpkin when I was a kid.
My Thorleys cost me around $1400 shipped and installed at a local shop. Custom dyno tuning with the programmer will probably run around $500 or so, not 100% shure what dyno tuning costs per hour.
The plus side to the headers is getting rid of those crappy studs that snap off.
Hey, that's a cool way to get some money! I hope you didn't think I was prying, I wasn't actually asking how you came into the money (that's your business, not ours), just how much you wanted to spend on the truck. I would've taken the cash, as well.
It sounds to me like what you probably want to do is exhaust and a tune. The folks who've actually done the tune can tell you more than me, but personally I think if I buy one I'm going to go for the DiabloSport Predator since it seems to give you the most options and allow you to tune your truck the way you want it. I also bought a set of the "EBay headers" and will also get the similar EBay y-pipe, and will probably do something about a better-flowing cat and muffler.
I just came into a little bit of cash and wanted to know what the best mods are for my 2001 V10 F250 4X4. The only mod I want to avoid is the gear ratio. Any other cool ideas would be appreciated.
Other than coming into a little bit of cash... Great question, I have the same truck, purchased new, now I have over 100k. Last year was new wheels and tires; Foose Spank 8 wearing 285/75/16's. This year will be a new exhaust. I'm not sure I'll have the money for the headers (have heard a lot of good things about Doug Thorley), but I'm very interested in hearing what folks here have to say about after market cats.
Good luck and congrats on the winnings. Peace...<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" /><o></o>
I'm gonna go with the others and suggest something you said you weren't interested in...GEARS.
I know I tow a heavy travel trailer...9000#...BUT I notice the performance improvement of the 4.30's and V10 each time I drive the truck. This gear choice simply wakes up the response of the V10.
Don't handicap your V10 with the wrong gears...is yours a 4x4 or 4x2? 2wd is obviously cheaper...but for under $2K you can properly gear your V10...THEN if you want to look at other options after you drive the truck...well the other options are there...but it is my opinion...like others...that GEARING should be your first thought...don't discount the importance of it.
I've HAD 3.73's behind THIS V10...now I have 4.30's...I NOTICE the difference...
Sorry to suggest something you specifically said you didn't want...but I just want to give you my $0.02 that it is the best FIRST option...sorry...