Tru Flow foam air filter - $$$ cheap - dyno showed a K &N was a 2hp gain on my Mustang 5.0Lw/ removal of restrictive Mustang air filter baffle

Under drive pulleys - $228 - claims 12hp minimum but Mustang dyno's were like 8hp

Hypertech Power Programmer 3 - $300 - go to hypertec.com dyno & see 11hp @ 2100rpm

Y pipe from EBAY - $86 - big claims, not sure what to believe, should make some improvement?

Dynomax Turbo dual outlet single muffler - $269 - I have a ton of magazine dynos & video of various cat back's on a 5.0L mustang & there was like 8 hp I think.

JBA Shorty headers - $435 - I think on a 5.0L mustang it's like 5 hp w/ shorty's.

~$1450 cost & guessing 25hp? It's hard to believe that I won't see any performance improvement over stock w/ this. It's been like 2 decades since I studied my old stacks of Mustang magazines but I read every one cover to cover & every other thing I could get my hands on & focused on dyno results of mods. Anyway, I remember I put similar stuff on my 89 5.0L Mustang & what a HUGE difference it made. Why would there be such a big improvement in my Mustang but everyone is saying I won't see the same w/ the 5.4L engine? If I decide to do this, I will dyno a before & after to see for sure what improvements were made. Has anyone dynoed any of this stuff? Everyone listed is claiming improved gas mileage but if I get more HP w/ the same mileage I'd be happy.

Not that I'm doing this due to height cost I was just curious, someone said Extrude Hone won't make an improvement because the smooth wall was bad for air fuel mixing but this was another big dyno proven improvement throughout rpm range especially when used w/ a higher ratio roller rocker. My intake looked like it was made of plastic, is it? I'm asking because my alumn Mustang intake, when Extrude Honed also made a big improvement but if the truck engine is plastic I guess Extrude Hone isn't an option?

Thanks for any input
Jim
2004, 5.4L, 2V, F250

 

I have an easy answer for that one PHP Tuning

 

Talk to Mike at 5 Star tuning.

Did the SCT tuner and flowmaster exhaust, it's like a different truck.

 

Ditto that! Tuner and S&B CAI from 5star Ypipe mod from SPD and Flowmaster FM70. Been on the tuner for a week. HUGE difference and first tank 13.1 mpg and this truck has never seen 12, consistant 11.5 ish. Surely something is wrong with the calc (or hopefully not) but time will tell.

Put the Y and muffler on today and mostly noticed that it sounded like it was breathing better from the front but could feel a difference on tip-in on the accelerator for sure. Not likely to get much from just a CAI but I am a believer that it has to be able to breath in and out in order for it all to work right.

Granted mine is a V10 but now at least it runs like it should and to me is like a whole new truck.

 

X3 for Mike at 5 Star Tuning!

 

Sct tuner or a properly tuned chip will make a huge difference. If it is tuned correctly by a certified SCT tuner shop then you can get 18-20hp and about 25-30lbft of torque.

 

So these tuners (5 Star, PHP) are prefered over the well known names such as Hypertech, Bully Dog etc? I never heard of these custom tuners before. What is Y pipe from SPD? Who is SPD? I did a search & couldn't find it.
Thanks

 

SCT = It's kinda like Heidi Fleiss... very few people knew of she but she had a great reputation and thriving business!

 

Buy a diesel, I'm running a +150Hp SCT tune right now

 

I never heard of any these other vendors before joining this forum either. I have done a lot of research lately and talked to a lot of folks. There is a lot of good info on here and if you can find a place to look at dyno info you will find that box tunes are just that, one size fits all, where as customtunes can be tweaked for different setups and mods and can provide much cleaner performance. Also, SPDPerformance.com to check on the Y pipe.

 

you can stop looking at that 5.0 stuff in them old mags. these 5.4 are sohc motors and will respond differant. 2004 means you got the PI heads costome tunes and let it inhale and exhale. after that its cams and new gears

 

Yep they are better than the national retail brands...Actually read the About Us page at PHP Bill was one of the original Tuners that started the industry. he has worked for both Superchips and Edge... but these companies have to make all their stuff work out of the box for the full range of vehicles so their tunes are more generic and limited. they also have to comply with EPA and CARB requirements... Custom tuning will get you the most for bang for your buck..

I agree that Diesel is the way to go... It costs a whole lot more to make HP gains on a modern Gas engine than it does on a diesel... Also it is a fact of life that the cost of doing it increases exponentially with the amount of HP gains esp on a gasser!

 

While you are on the subject of brands you have never heard before, maybe you should consider our WickedFlow muffler. It is a mandrel formed straight through design, and is one of the best out there in terms of flow.

While it would be nice to switch to a diesel, remember that diesel engines cost a lot more initially, and the price of fuel can change a lot at any time. Its easy to produce a lot more power if you have a turbo too. A turbo or supercharger kit is the best bang for the buck, most of the other stuff you are looking at either supports mods that require more flow, or is really expensive versus the amount of return.

I would go with a set of headers and a freer flowing muffler, an AFE cold air intake (stay away from foam and cotton filters.) Then I would go with the turbo and a tuner. That could easy gain you as much as 50-60% more power.

 

I have a diesel and you get the easy hp increase to a point but there is a huge buyin to get that benifit. One buying a new truck could get a v10 and add a supercharger and make a lot of power for close to the same money.... I haven't chipped or tuned a gas engine but I hear the throttle response is much improved. A guy I know has a 5.4 fx4 f150 and compared to a 5.3 chevy it is a dog but he dosent see the 15-20hp gain doing much for him. Looking at the rated hp and tq the f150 and the chevy should be very close maybe tuning would make the difference. Seems to be what the guys that have done it around here say

 

Why do diesel owners chime in on gas oriented threads when thier posts have nothing to do with the thread at all? Thier answers always include "buy a diesel" or "you should have gotten a diesel" or the infamous "real trucks are diesel". You dont have a real truck, real trucks have 10 wheels, you have a light duty pickup truck, so get over it.

None of us gas owners wish to hear what happens to a diesel when you put a tune on it, we are more interested in what gains a gas engine gets when a tune is performed since WE OWN GAS TRUCKS. Not only does he not care what type of gains you are getting, your posts are very much unrelated and are essentially an attempt to "one up" the gas owners. I wish you diesel owners would just shut up and keep your crap to yourselves sometimes. It's annoying.

Believe me, I'm not sticking up for gas engines by any means. I have a love/hate relationship with my V10. It has its ups and downs but, I don't push V10 stuff on diesel owners when they ask questions about thier engines. I don't even post unless I have experienced the problems/situations myself.

I guess I should start frequenting the diesel forums and give them info on my gas engine when they have problems with thier DPFs or want to know about performance exhausts. I could tell them how my catalytic converter has pretty much no effect on the perfomance/mpg of my truck and that there must be something wrong with thier diesel since the DPF is similar to my catalytic converter...... You know, crap like you diesel owners post in gas threads.

If you think I'm typing out of jealousy, you are dead wrong. Tell me that when you blow a head gasket or shred a turbo and have to take out a second mortgage to repair your "real truck". I can replace my engine for the cost of your little "repair" and tow just about everything you can.

I apologise if I'm ranting or have offended anyone in any way. I just get tired of weeding through posts that are just plain arrogant and serve no purpose.