Hey all - new here to this forum.

I drive a 2004 F250 SuperDuty Powerstroke FX4. Completely stock.
I'm thinkin about straight piping it, but Im not too knowledgeable on that. I was wondering what you guys might think would be best for my truck?

I haul a horse trailer a lot, due to college rodeo. And it needs to be a reliable truck, because me, being a 20y/o girl w/ horses stranded is not a good idea!

I heard straight piping can add horsepower? And possibly better gas mileage? Because it allows your engine to breath better?

If you could give me some tips and links to good (recommended for my truck in particular) straight pipes, that would be great.
Thanks!

 

I straight piped mine for about 6 months and couldn't handle the drone while towing. The rest of the time it wasn't bad at all and it sounded awesome! I got sick of the droning while towing and put my Walker BTM muffler back on! I couldn't tell a difference going from a the Walker BTM to straight pipe at all. It had the same power, mpg's etc. The Walker BTM is a straight through design so that's probably why it didn't make much difference. If you straight pipe it it will really only make it louder. I'd get a performance muffler that is agressive sounding if it were me! You'll be glad you did while towing!

 

Just straight piping it doesn't gain you much. The real benefit is that it will run cooler EG temps. Which is good for the truck.

If your looking for power and MPG's a tuner is the place to go. That with the exhaust can help out.

 

Well when I say straight piping it, it will have a muffler on it still.. I was thinkin it could go infront of my back tire so it wouldnt turn my horse trailer black.

What do you mean as a tuner? Are you talkin about a chip? Because i looked into getting a chip, but after talking to my Ford friends, they told me it was a bad idea because with that year of truck and engine, it will blow the headers up? Or something of that sort.

I would like it to sound nice, but to get extra horse power and possibly gas mileage is all the better!

 

sorry but this is not good advise. a tunner will most likely not give you a MPG gain. power yes but not MPG. it is possible to get a small gain (most of the time too little to notice), but you should never put on a tunner with the idea of a MPG gain. It is after all a performance add-on.
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Well when I say straight piping it, it will have a muffler on it still.. I was thinkin it could go infront of my back tire so it wouldnt turn my horse trailer black.

If you leave a muffler than that is not strait pipping it.

Quote:

What do you mean as a tuner? Are you talkin about a chip? Because i looked into getting a chip, but after talking to my Ford friends, they told me it was a bad idea because with that year of truck and engine, it will blow the headers up? Or something of that sort.

Yes a tuner is sort of like a chip. same concept just a different way of getting the desierd out put. What your ford friends probably told you is you would blow your heads, but there is ways to tune your truck and still be safe/reliable truck. If you do go that rout be sure to get one that dose custom tunes. that is IMO the only way to go. I like SCT with custom tunes from eric at innovativediesel.com do some reasearch on here and you will find tons and tons of info on this subject.

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I would like it to sound nice, but to get extra horse power and possibly gas mileage is all the better<!-- END TEMPLATE: newreply_reviewbit --><!-- BEGIN TEMPLATE: newreply_reviewbit -->!

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If you took out the cat and put in a 4" turbo back exhaust it would sound sweet, but you will not see any hp or MPG gain from this. If you do it will be marginal.

 

Ok I was a bit mistaken... not a muffler. I think my friend says he wants to put an angled stack on it so that it comes out infront of my back tire so its not hittin my horse trailer.

as for chipping it, i know it is possible for my truck, but i heard there are a lot of extra things and add ons i would have to do and its just not worth it, in my opinion, because it is super expensive for such a mediocre truck.

 

If you want maximum reliability, I think you should leave it close to stock. Do you really need more power? Probably not.

If you want to do reliability mods, a coolant filter is good. But most important is to just keep up on all the maintenance like oil and fuel filters, and use only OEM filters. Change them earlier, not later. Stay away from all the quick lube places. Do you work on your own truck? It sure helps if you, or someone you trust, can do the maintenance.

Sounds to me like your friend wants to get his hands on your truck, but hasn't done the homework to be qualified.

 

Just put a nice Aero Turbine 3.5" muffler in place of the stocker and then your done. If you want cheaper, you can do the Walker 3.5" BTM setup. You can pick up a Walker at your nearest NAPA for $65 dollars or an Aero at Amazon.com

Walker Big Truck Muffler

Amazon.com: 3.5" Inlet/Outlet Aero Turbine Muffler: Automotive

 

Keep it stock. Yours probably like ours in the picture. You'll find reliability better and besides that I get 20mpg non tow and towing a 30 ft travel trailer weighing 8000 lbs it drops to 12 mpg but I can set you back in the seat when I floor it getting onto the freeway towing the trailer.

 

+1 on this one.if it aint broke, dont fix it.i have an 04 that i pull a 36ft trailer with.granted it wont put me back in the seat merging on the free-way, but it'll hold its own.you should get a down turn exhaust tip to keep the soot off your trailer.you could also do a cat-back system relatively cheap if you want to open the exhaust up a bit.welcome to the site clifford truck

 

As many would suggest spend some money on gauges: Oil Pressure, Coolant Temp, Transmission Temp, EGT, Fuel Pressure.

Get yourself a Coolant bypass filter
www.dieselsite.com

Your air filter Ford or Donaldson ONLY.
Oil fliter Ford or Racor ONLY.
Fuel Filters ford or Racor ONLY.
Anything else will cost you nothing but money later.

Use a fuel addative Stanadyne

I tow a four horse slant, use an equalizing hitch, added air bags and use a Prodigy brake controller.

Front of my white trailer has yet to turn black, stock exhaust..

Welcome to FTE.

 

Clifford, You are getting some great advice here. Maintenance is key. Use OEM filters. Get rid of cat. Gauges for protection.

I agree with Bpounds, let your friend clean the trailer out.

Welcome to FTE. And good luck this year! ( I used to call Wilson Creek my home) And it was good to see the Minors on the TV this year.

 

Hey everyone! Thanks for the advice. Its much appreciated!
This truck has probably had the best maintenance a truck could get. Regular oil changes, tranny oil, steering fluid etc. I do not work on my own truck, my dad bought something thru Ford which is a lifetime oil changes on the truck. But I follow a schedule pretty well to get the truck in time or when it needs it. I dont know trucks well enough to dig in to mine, I would rather have someone a lot more knowledgeable doing it.

As for power, I honestly think this is quite a weak truck (compared to driving friends trucks with and without horse trailers). So more power would obviously be nice. A new truck would be even better but beggars cant be choosers, especially when in college and unemployed. :P But I also get horrible gas mileage, and Im a decent driver, not romping on the gas pedal or anything... but it seriously takes me just about a 1/8-1/4 of a tank to get to campus and back and I only live like 15-20mins away. I let the truck warm up accordingly and do everything to standard, I just dont know why my MPG is horrible.. I wanna say its 12 on a good day.. god only knows what it is hauling a horse trailer.

What is an OEM Filter?
And where can all these gauges go? I have an 'oh-**** bar' where most gauges go Im pretty sure..

Amdriven2liv - Wow thats crazy! Im off Thrall right now, but I have a ton of friends on Wilson Creek.
I rope with the Minors as well! They are a good bunch of people!

Anyways - the real question... is putting a straight pipe on this truck in general just a bad idea? I heard it is pretty harmless for the truck, but it kind of sounds like there are concerns, especially if I need more gauges for the truck?

 

Hello CliffordTruck and welcome to FTE. Most of what you or more specifically the person turning the wrench on your truck needs to know is in the first subject of this forum"Tech folders". As everyone has said already forget the exhust and power enhancing add ons until you have your truck running as it should stock. The most prevalent problems have to do with the egr cooler and valve. The tech folder will walk you thru cleaning or replacing the egr valve,do it and see if power and gas milage improve. Your truck will easly tow 8k lbs uphill and get 10 to 13 mpg towing. Go down the list in tech folder to improve performance to the point mpg is 16+mpg without a load. You will see reccomendations for adding after market guages. Get the guages and refer to folders about oil and coolant tempatures to determine condition of oil and egr cooler. Install a coolant filter sold here by sponsers. You asked what "OEM"means(origional equipment manufacture). Despite the overwhelming amount of information (most of it good)to be found here and other forums,the tech folders contain the most important. After digesting the tech folders,check out the thread "Information on the 6.0 for new owners". You will need to recieve an e-mail so may sure you have e-mail enabled. That should enable you to maintaine your truck and get good service,plenty power and decent gas milage. It will make those who put the afore mentioned info togeather very happy if you let us know wherther it helps you. Best of luck to you.

 

Keep in mind with winter blend fuel and the extra warm ups your milage will be worse in the winter. Mines prob at least 2-3 in town.