I need some opinions from some of you experts in the performance area.

I bought a new 2004 FX4 SuperCab 5.4 3.55. I love the solid feel of the truck, especially on the highway since I do a lot of that. I currently have about 9000 miles.

My problem is I'm not convinced it's putting out a true 300 HP. Now, I don't race this thing but it sure doesn't feel like it accelerates all that well, especially in 2nd gear. Yeah, it will break loose the tires easy from a start and has good low end grunt, but it just doesn't seem very responsive after that. I have stepped on it in 2nd gear at times to see how it does against the guy in the Dodge, Chevy, Tundra, etc. in the other lane and I seem to get taken every time. Also, it seems that there is a delay in normal driving from time I hit the gas to the time the truck starts moving, and it really seems to delay when it comes to downshifting.

I spoke to the dealer about this and they put it on their magic control panels and determined everything was within spec. The service manager suggested I put a few more miles on it to see if it "loosens up a bit".

I also own a 99 Expedition with the 235HP 5.4. It seems to have much more throttle response and pull and downshifts much better. I know the truck is heavy but I doubt it's any heavier than an Eddie Bauer Expedition.

I'll probably get the dealer to let me drive another one just to see if there is a difference. But I just wondered, shouldn't this thing kick the competition around some? The last straw was when a Honda minivan pulled me getting on the freeway today.

Am I nuts?

Thanks for listening. I feel better.

Jim

 

First off, I'm pretty sure the 300hp is at the fly and not at the tire. (somebody will correct me if I'm wrong no doubt)

Secondly, you need to get a tuner from Troyer at
http://www.troyerperformance.com/cgi...catalogno=1714

 

Welcome azrider,
Maybe I'm all wet, but I thought all the fx4s came with 3.73 gears. Anyway, if you have 3.55s and tall tires, you're cutting a lot of hp there. Add the fact in that the weight of your truck is probably a little over 6000 pounds hinders those horses a little more.
There are a few things you can do to speed that sled up a bit. Depending on how much you want to spend, you can get 20-100 more horses out of the new 5.4s...Kevin

 

Putting more miles on it like your service manager suggested won't "loosen it up a bit" to the point where you're going to increase the performance of your truck. The fact is that you will have to spend some cash in order to increase the performance of your truck. Here are four things that I would recommend that you do if want to increase the performance of your truck:

1) Get the latest PCM reprogram from your dealer (not really a performance increaser per se, but it may get rid of some glitches that could improve your throttle response) .
2) Get an SCT Xcalibrator micro tuner or 1714 micro tuner (the biggest bang for your buck as far as performance is concerned).
3) Get a new air intake system (Airaid, Air Force One, Volant, etc).
4) Get a new exhaust performance system or muffler (Magnaflow, Flowmaster, Borla etc).

You could get more performance mods like underdrive pulley's, e-fans, etc., to increase the performance of your truck, but I believe if you just do those four things, you will be very satisfied at the performance that your truck will produce. That's basically the mods that I have, and I'm very satisfied with the performance that my truck produces.

 

Thanks for all the replies.

I ordered the truck with a 3.55 axle thinking it would improve gas mileage on the highway. I don't think it does. It also has 17" wheels and is completely stock.

The 300HP rating is at the flywheel, as is pretty much all all advertised HP ratings. According to road test I've read, the truck weighs in at about 5700#. My Expedition is 5500#.

The road tests also mention the sluggish downshifting. If feels just like the 96 Suburban I had - of course it went through 3 trannys by the time it got to 100K. My 235HP Expedition with 90K has excellent up and down shifting.

I'll see if the dealer will work with me on swapping the axle back to a 3.73. But as far as performance parts, I may do that later but my take is this - why should I have to add them to make a 300HP F150 respond like a 235HP Expedition?

Thanks for the links, though. I plan to keep this truck for 200K miles like my previous '91 F150. In my exhaustive comparison shopping, I found the workmanship beats the other American trucks by far. I just won't be messing around with any Titans on the road, that's for sure...