Would it be smart to take the silence out of the intake for better mpg and hp?

 

Is there a silencer on a 98 F150 5.4L 4x4? If so,where?

 

I'm not completely sure what it does. Do you? I just read that it's in the intake and it adds to ur throttle response

 

I got the smaller version of yours. 98 f150 4.6 2wd

 

When I did my intake mod I looked at the rest of the tubing between the filter and the TB. I would guess they call the flattened section where it turns 90 degrees the silencer. That section is contoured inside but pretty wide open. I dont see any substantial restrictions or reason to mess with it. The only "restriction" point is the 2" inlet in the fender well. You can open that up easily.

 

Ok so just leave the silencer there? Also is there any mods I can do with out spending an arm and a leg. Like for hp and mpg?

 

The silencer is in the "elbow" of the intake. it necks down kind of small and has a hole in it for air to mingle around in there - making it silence itself. It seems not too bad but once you take it out you will see how room it takes up.

I took mine out quite some time ago. I haven't looked back, the truck runs good without it, maybe gained some throttle response and a little sound. Your not going to gain like 10 hp by doing it. But it does not affect the truck either in a bad way.

 

how long would you say you have had it out? i am glad to hear that nothing bad has happened. i am planning on doing this as well as a gotts. the truck already has a high performance filter (was in the truck when i bought it for you haters out there). im not wanting or expecting any miricals especially for spending almost no money. im just trying to squeeze everything i can out of this truck with as little modification as possible. i do a lot of stop and go driving so i do a lot of accelerating. would these mods help any in this area?

 

If there was a cheap way to get hp and mpg, the factory would have done it. There are some improvements but none of them are likely to pay for themselves. The electric fan is probably a good option. Intake and exhaust changes only help on the top of the rpm range, and only slightly. If you did headers and exhaust with a custom tune you could pick up some good power, or keep your foot out of it to get a little mpg.

The best way to get more hp and mpg is to buy a newer truck. What is a new F150 now, 300-315hp and 19-20 mpg?

The "what can I do for cheap" thing has been beat to death. There really isn't anything. I did a muffler for the sound and the Gotts intake because maybe it would help when running hard up the mountain.

How much are you willing to spend to get a 1mpg improvement? How long will you have to drive to re-coup your investment in the improvement? 99% of the time, it simply doesn't make sense unless it is something you want just because you do.

 

My silencer has been out for over a year now. If I had to put a measurement on the mod I would say that it gave me +/- 3 hp at 5000 RPM, and +1-2 db throughout the rev range.

The ONLY thing that is really going to gain you power without spending thousands is a good tuner. And most of those gains are just from the improvements to the shifting strategy. You do get more power and a little better fuel economy.

But it seems like most people would do all these things to make more power and get better fuel economy then they go and put upsized tires on that are aggressive and negate any improvements. These are big heavy trucks, and they do not too bad on their own. But big improvements for little money is a pipe dream.

 

So is taken the silencer out worth it?

 

Taking the silencer out is something that you do on the weekend to get to know your truck a little bit more. then afterwards you can say you did it to see if it would work, then when people asked if it worked you tell them i don't know but it didn't hurt anything. that's my opinion on it with the intake got louder when you mashed it so i don't see any mpg gain if you did what i did.

 

What is the procedure for taking it out?

 

It's a little tedious. It's self explanatory at the same time, disconnect the elbow, this isn't hard at all a couple bolts here and there from what I remember and a couple electrical connections. Then i used a combination of screwdrivers and a razor knife to cut and separate the inner plastic tube from the outer elbow. make sure all the plastic is smoothed out and avoid putting a hole in the rubber surrounding one end, that's the end you have to pull it out of. after that is all done, with some rtv sealant connect it back onto the truck.

 

it is unreasonable to expect an MPG increase and here is why one would even think that to be the case.

In the old days of carbs, a restriction in the intake would result in an increase in vacuum in the venturi of the carb, resulting in a richer mixture and lower fuel economy. But on a modern fuel injected vehicle, it measures airflow through the intake along with temperature and throttle position to determine how much fuel to use. Using a "freer flowing" intake does not result in increased flow unless you open the throttle more. opening the throttle more tells the computer to inject more fuel. But even if flow was increased without opening the throttle, the airflow would increase, so the amount of fuel injected would also increase. You might use slightly less throttle in that case, but the air to fuel ratio would be the same, so for all practical purposes, the fuel economy should remain relatively unchanged. The exception would be if you had to go into wide open throttle mode (60% throttle or more) less often, which would result in better gas mileage. You can achieve this with a change in driving habits with our without intake mods. I find that many people who have claimed better gas mileage have also subconsciously changed their driving habits.