I have a 6.0l power stroke, thinking of adding a exhaust 1st then a programer. I'm mostly looking for fuel economy but, would not mind a little extra power.

 

If your goal is fuel economy, an exhaust will dissapoint you. Nothing will be gained. You might like the sound, and your EGT's can be lower, but mostly just the sound. MBRP exhaust is popular here, and I have Magnaflow which I like okay. A 4" is plenty. Don't be fooled into a 5".

Are you thinking turbo back, or cat back?

 

It sounds like your not thrilled with the Magnaflow.

 

It has been okay, but the opinions here favor MBRP. I have not owned both, so I cannot really compare. I don't think you would go wrong with either, but you might save a buck with MBRP.

 

I have the 7.3 but I thought I would chime in. I ordered the Magnaflow and had a simple install question. I called their helpdesk and I was kind as usual. Their support rep made it a point to be rude. He was sighing, he kept saying "what?" like he was only half paying attention. I simply called to ask if the kit I ordered was for both crew cab and extended cab and weather I needed to cut the intermediate pipe so it would fit my truck. He said "No don't do that. All the fords are the same wheel base. Our engineers confirm this."

Anyway. I didnt want to do business with them after that. I sent it back and called RiffRaff. He set me up with a 5 inch diamond eye kit. I had never heard of them but the fit was perfect, customer support was great and Clay was more than helpful.

I noticed very little performance gain but it sure looks cool.

So in short, check out diamond eye too.

 

Don't do either if a big part of what you are looking for is fuel economy. You may or may not see an increase in fuel economy. If you do great, it's a bonus, if you don't that's alright as you weren't doing it for that.

Exhaust: Most of us crazy 6.0'ers like MBRP turbo-back without the muffler. Keep or delete the cat, that's up to you. The cat's on these trucks aren't the HP robbing cat's of old and the muffler is more restrictive then the cat on this trucks.

Don't go bigger then 4"s on the exhaust unless you plan on flowing more fuel then what you can do with just a programmer. That means bigger injectors and it would be helpful to have a bigger turbo with that as well. If you go with a 5" or bigger and all you have is a tuner, then you can lose low end power and for diesels that really isn't a good thing.

Tuner: Stay away from the shift on the fly tuners. They are mutually exclusive with properly tuning a vehicle. They have been known to be incredibly hard on the TS tranny, while you get a well done custom tune that puts down more HP/TQ then those from the shift on the fly tuners and people still have their original TS.

Also going with custom tunes, that helps increase your odds of improving your fuel economy(but it isn't promised to do so, just remember that, you have better chances) as those tunes are written specifically for you and your truck. However, you can increase your chances of better fuel economy with better training of your right foot, although, there will be a point to where you've eecked out all you can get.

While shift on the fly might seem like a fun thing to have it isn't A. good for these more sophisticated computer controlled vehicles and B. after the newness wears off, you'll pretty much keep it in one spot anyway. However, if you have custom tunes and you are wanting to get even more power, you already have a platform that you won't have to chance to accomodate those bigger mods.

 

Good feedback will look into them.

 

What type of tuner should I run to get the best fuel economy and gain a litle power.

 

That tuner(s) that would help with increasing your chances of getting better fuel economy are going to be:

SCT(do the X3, not the LiveWire)
Spartan Phalanx
PHP Gryphon

The first one has the most history with the 6.0 crowd and it has more tuners(the people doing the writting of the tune) then the last two. I have used xCal 2 and the X3 from SCT and I switched to Spartan's tuner when I got on board for the Beta testing. Spartan does cost more, so if that is a consideration stick with the first or last one. While I have no experience with the Gryphon, I have heard quite a few good things about it.

I would like to say again though, it would be better for your mentality if you approached this with performance more then economy. You might get all you want as far as economy with the tunes that you get, but I wouldn't expect it. You might be disappointed.

 

Seems like reasonable advice tex25025. What MBRP exhaust system is being recommend by the 6.0ers you know tex? I was thinking of the 4" TURBO BACK 409 STAINLESS EXHAUST- "Off Road"- Cat Delete MBRP PART NUMBER: S6212409 ('07 F350 SD XLT 6.0L PStroke). Can you offer any advice/feedback received regaridng fitment of this system or a better system?

Also looking at SCT X3 flasher. People warn that I need EGT guage if I am going to run a tune. Really necessary with stock exhaust? Using the tune for towing performance gains.

 

That's what I have, since you live a little further North I would go with the 304 if salt is used on the roads. The 409 is fine but starts to not look so good after a few years of exposure.

<a href="http://s491.photobucket.com/albums/rr272/RotunTuna/?action=view&current=DSCF0290.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i491.photobucket.com/albums/rr272/RotunTuna/DSCF0290.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

 

ive got an 05 with turbo back magna flow that was on there when i bought the truck, last week i started hearing a sound like a broken exhaust hanger, so i crawled under after work and the weld on the muffler had broke off( weld on the muffler its self, its a slip on system) it was broke all of the way around the muffler... it cant be too old, and already broke so i wont be buying any more from magnaflow