Fello 7.3 brothas, I have an 03 FX-4 Lariat w/ the 7.3 PSD. I bought it last Aug, put a few things into it (wheels/tires, 2 1/2" lift) and absolutely love the truck- may not ever get rid of it. Here's my question- I've installed the Bullydog cold air intake- seems like it pepped the engine (response) off the line, you can hear the engine getting more air- haven't seen a noticable in mpg. I am a new diesel die hard, so, I'm looking for my next move or two to get more power and/or more mpg ?? My idea is to install a 4" or 5" exhaust (turbo back, I don't have a cat conv)- which one is better ?? Also looking to slap in a programmer ?? Which one ?? What should I expect as far as mpg increase (get about 15/17 now) if I were to do these two things. Or, is there better options to do ?? thanks

 

4 or 5" either one it doesnt matter unless your going to build 900 hp........

as for the tuners make sure you get a custom setup like DP tuner or Tony Wildman or Power Hungry Performance something like that instead of banks or bully dog..........

and on to the mpg part. that is going to depend on how you drive it. after you get your chip youll probably be in the pedal all the time but once you calm down an learn how to drive it with the chip in and on different settings you can expect a 1.5-2 mpg increase.......

 

first off welcome to FTE!

sounds like you got a good start there! we like pics though

the intake and exhaust are the first place i would start get here breathing deep... always good...

gauges are another good place to start along with the tuner just to keep an eye on your vitals..(egt, boost, and trans temp)

alot of folks including myself are DP tuner fans... exelent power/economy
there are others but my knowldge of them is limited others will come threw with more info on other tuners...

thats just a start the possablities are endless... these guys will teach you how to spend the money and then help you install it the knowledge base here is incredable...

 

^^^^^^how could i forget the gauges?

also welcome to FTE!

 

First lesson to learn is "DONT buy anything that has the names Banks, Bullydog, Superchips, K&N, RBP, and a few others that I cant think of. The reason I say this is because there are other alternatives out there that are better priced and usually work better. Do a lot of reading the threads and it wont take you long.

 

Gauges DP tuner...that was easy.

 

Welcome to FTE and the world of oil burners. Bill & Donny have you covered with the basics. You need a set of guages to moniter the engines vitals. Most importantly is the EGT's. The only difference between the 4 and 5 inch systems is the sound unless you are going for crazy HP. The 5" has a deeper tone to it. The mods to these trucks is limitless there are mods to the fuel system (intank hutch and harpoon) Fuel rail cross overFRx or CCK and the oil system crossover HPX

Invest in custom tuning and not an out of box type. You will be amazed at the difference. As far as the MPG when you first get the tuner forget about it for a couple of tanks it's play time baby. After that if you keep your rpm's 2K or under you will see an increase in it.

Feel free to ask anything here. The people on this forum are the best of the best.

 

Welcome to FTE. Like the guys mentioned above and what most of us do is in steps. Air intake, you got, then exhaust, 4 inch is sufficiant but pick your poison, gauges trans boost and pyro are recommended, shift kit or a performance VB to help your trans then your ready for DP, Tony Wildman and PHP tunes. These guys tune our trucks and are the best at doing it, no off the shelf programmer can do that.

 

Welcome to the club. I recently picked up my 7.3 (been trying to get dad to sell it to me for years...), and I've taken a similar route.

The general consensus seems to be to start with intake and exhaust. I know there are several out there, but most of the guys on the forum seem to be happy with MBRP.

Donny makes a great point too - after intake and exhaust - gauges are a great next step. Aside from looking good... and the enjoyment of watching the boost needle dance for you... the EGT and Trans temp gauges will give you a good idea of how hard your truck is working. As you get more ambitious with modifications - you'll be able to see when you're pushing your truck too hard (if you're towing), and it's an early warning sign if something goes wrong.

I just got my ISSpro gauges in from Clay at Riffraff, and I'll probably start wiring them in tomorrow. The black face and white numbers with green back light match the oem gauges beautifully, and he's even painting the pillar pod for me.

I have to agree about the DP as well - it can hold up to 16 programs that you can change on the fly at the push of a button, they've got 'pre-packaged' programs for just about everything you could want - and offer custom tunes for more modified trucks. (I actually have one of these ordered too - along with the 80hp Mileage tune, 120 hp race, 80 hp tow) The DP does also change the transmissions shift points depending on which program it's running - which saves you having to get a separate chip for the transmission.

I suppose it's only fair to point out that I'm probably a bad influence about stuff like this... i think my signature at the bottom still has all the stuff I've ordered recently, but at least you know I'm not all talk.

My best advice is to give Clay a call at Riffraff. He's in my friends list with contact info in his profile. He's given me good prices on all my gear and won't sell you something you don't need. If it helps - he even organizes tech days where a bunch of people get together with their trucks, and he gives them free help on installs and projects. Worth checking out.

 

Great advice. Wish someone had mentioned this when I was young and impressionable. :-)

 

Good post T8r but that's up to 16 tunes not 12.

 

Here's the order I've gone in -

1 - 6637 (intake)
2 - MBRP 4" turbo back exhaust
3 - Max A/C assist from Dieselsite
4 - Replaced the torque convertor because it broke
5 - on order right now
    a - ITP Diesel pre-pump fuel filter and pickups/return kit (I'll do the harpoon mod when I have the tank out)
    b - Diprocol gauge kit (pyro, boost, trans temp)
    c - Adrenaline HPOP
    d - PHP FU chip package
6 - I'll also do the zoodad mod while I'm doing the rest of this.

After all that's done, I'm not sure what I'll get on next, maybe a turbo wastegate controller? After that, things start to get pricey...

 

Appropriately edited... thanks.

 

Also remember, theres a few mods that are fairly cheap if not free to help keep your truck running nice, so keep reading and ask away..bcg mentioned a freebee, the Zoodad mod.

 

The CCV mod is also almost free. The Harpoon is free.