Just purchased my first 2004 F350 6.0 4X4 Lariat. It will be used half for daily driving and half for hauling aprox 10,000 lb load. What are the first upgrades I should start with to get the most out of my new purchase? Thanks!!

 

do you have a trailer brake control?other than that just enjoy your truck before you spend alot of money on things you might not need.good luck and welcome to FTE.

 

Alot of mods rarely fall under the "need" catagory. We might try to rationalize them, but they rarely fall under "need". 2 that I would say that he would more likely then not need are: 1. Headstuds and 2. Regulated Return Kit.

1. is actually up for debate, it depends on alot of things that would happen that would be particular to his situation. 2. is one that I would say that everyone would need as dead-heading with regard to injectors is an issue that is more common with this the 6.0 trucks then we would like to be.

I could actually make a very reasonable argument about needing a tuner(I really could), although for the average joe blow that wouldn't be "needed" and I'm not talking about "needing" extra hp/tq.

Outside of those two and a reasonable argument for the tuner, most of the others don't fall under the "need" catagory or if they do it's because you had done something else that requires another mod to support it.

 

HUH? just giving the guy advice to use his truck before spending money.lighten up dude.

 

Yes and no, the phrasing that you used said more then evidently you were wanting to say.

 

For modding because you enjoy it, CAI, exhaust and tune are the places to start. Support mods for the tune can be gauges, modified valve body or shift kit. Gears, torque converter, ect. There is a decent selection of bolt on parts available before you have to tear things down.

 

the phrasing i used? i'm not going to get into a pissing match, but your way off.read my 1st post again.sometimes (myself included) people buy something and right away feel the need to add or change things only to figure out later that it was'nt needed.then i wished him good luck.thats all.

 

Hey, thanks for the advice all. Let's not go over board though. I can see both sides of the argument. I might not "need" any mods for functionality, but I might "want" a few mods for fun/performance. I am just wondering how one goes about initial mods to take advantage of extras the truck has to offer. Any sugestions I get are greatly appericiated. Thanks all for the words of advice.

Ponyboy

 

Cetane Booster/Lubricity Additive(of your choice) - Makes your injectors etc, happier.

Coolant Bypass Filter - Good preventative against Oil Cooler clogging which will cause EGR Cooler failures that can snowball to head gasket failures.

4" Free Flow Exhaust - Helps lower EGTs somewhat (especially with towing), maybe a little more power and fuel mileage.

Gauges - EGT at a minimum, Trans Temp if you tow heavy and/or steep terrain, Boost if you want to be entertained

Good Tuner - Better Fuel Mileage AND more power if you want it. Be warned the extra Power available will be addicting, at least short term, and fuel mileage will get worse :-)

 

That's what I have a problem with what you are saying. It's technical and very much semantics, but nonetheless an important difference between what you were trying to say(which I do believe is different from what you actually "said", but I only can go by what you type not what's in your head). I think your alittle annoyed so I'm not going to go into any more depth other then that as I don't believe you would actually "listen" or even "say" that you knew what I was "saying", so I'll leave it at that.

Problem is initial mods usually leads to something else particularly with these engines as they have been somewhat fussy when people start messing with them. It can be done, but be prepared.

Evidence that additives do any good is anecdotal at best, I think it's more of a placebo effect for people then it is anything else and if it makes you feel better and it doesn't hurt the truck then so what.

Coolant bypass you don't need it if you block off the egr and weld the egr shut and plus that will pave the way for future higher performance mods later on as well.

4" exhaust turbo back unless your going to go with bigger turbo and injectors, if you stick with just a tuner then 4" will do right by you.

Gauges at the minimal egt, tranny temp, boost and water or oil temp. The first two have already been explained but the last two I'll go further into. Boost is for more then entertainment for 2 reasons. 1. The stock gauge is actually off by anywhere from 2-4(at times more) depending on how cold it is(due to the electrical current that feeds the gauge). 2. You can actually get a gauge that will tell you exactly what psi your getting unlike what is displayed on the factory gauge(which I think is kinda crappy). Water(or oil temp) is needed because even though your stock water temp gauge is "telling" you that your nice and warmed up, you may not be especially if it just got up to the typical "normal" range. Being at operating temperature and being able to really "stretch the girls legs" go hand in hand unless you want some problems after doing it for so long when the ole girl isn't at operating temperature.

Tuner should be custom tunes. There are a couple of good vendors that do wonders for these trucks, but more people then not have had problems with the generic tuners such as Edge and Bullydog while people with custom tunes have had less problems, they do have problems but I have encountered far less(or atleast it appears far less) then the ones previously mentioned.

Fuel Regulated Return I would also highly recommand for the reasons I mentioned in my first post in this thread.

Also more then likely eventually you'll have to invest in some headstuds if you keep this truck for any length of time, unless the previous owner did it already. You may not, but I'd be willing to bet eventually you will.

No matter what else you do though, get gauges rather or not you tune the truck, stock ones are crap.