i have a 04 f150 with the small 4.6l in it and am getting tired of how slow it is and when i go to pass some one it takes a min to get up to speed the rpms will shoot up and then ill take off a few seconds later. i know a programmer would help and plan to get one soon looking for a good deal on a used one. i have a true dual exhaust and k&n cold air intake right now. what other mods can i do that are decent price?

 

Is your truck lifted any? Do you have over size tires on it? What gears does your truck have? A set of gears, yea not cheap especially if you have 4wd but it would wake it up some. A tuner with a tune for your truck would help the 4spd shift better and gain some performance. I know just canned tunes made my 05 5.4 shift better. Not a whole lot you can do for cheap.

 

not lifted and stock size tires. not sure what gearing it has but i have never changed them not sure if the old owner did or not. also is there a way to add posi to my 2 wheel drive? got stuck at the beach the other night and if i had posi or atleast limited slip i could have got out.

 

Get a set of 4.10 gears and an Eaton Detroit Locker. Then you will need a programmer - SCT or Diablo with custom tunes. This all will cost you close to 2 grand by the time you get done.

 

ok since i dont have 2k to spend right now what performance can i do to the truck?

 

Programmer first.

 

shouldnt i do other stuff first then just get a custom tune for a programmer?

 

What are you meaning? There are no cheap performance mods for any newer vehicle. Like mentioned above a tuner would be the cheapest and you can get custom tunes for your particular truck from some reputable places. A tuner and a set of gears would make a difference. If money was no object you could do all kinds of things to the 4.6 and make some decent power.

 

im looking at a php programmer just waiting for a good deal.

 

4.6 is slow in these trucks period. A program isnt going to do much. Neither is anything else short of a supercharger. Learn to live with what you got until you can affford to trade it off.

 

IMO that true dual exhaust ain't helping you out on the bottom end either. My truck is supercharged and true duals hurt mine.

 

Yea I think most of us will agree the 4.6 is under powered for the truck size but a reliable motor. The 4spd doesn't help much either but a set of gears and a tuner would help some. Needless to say that's money towards a different truck in the long run.

 

FWIW E-fans and gears made a world of difference on my truck. But again, $$$. I went from 3.55 to 4.10.

 

^^^ This.

OP - both the duals and the K&N did absolutely nothing towards adding performance - it actually was detrimental.

That would have just about paid for the custom programmer right there.

Save for gears, or save fer a new truck.

good luck
MGD

 

I had an 02 fx4 on 35s went through the same battle. I put headers true duals cold air intake bored out throttle body throttle body spacer port and polished intake elbow and a php tuner with custom tunes and it made quite a difference it would definatly get up and go