I cant help but feel a little inferior...
 

I just drove a coworkers Hemi Dodge Ram Crew cab 4wd 20in rims and this thing really made my 5.4v "300hp" feel like a slug. Especially off the line, the Dodge spun the larger 275 width tires where as mine wont even spin the trashy 235 width hangooks. Not to mention the engine just sounded a helluva lot nicer even stock. Ive got magnaflow catback so my exhaust sounds nice, but the engine just ticks like a diesel. I just got home for the first time in 3 weeks to drive mine and got in it pretty good both in interstate and city, even with the reflash, K&N, and magnaflow it just seems alot slower than it should for "300 horses". Is a tuner/chip my only choice to increase throttle response. I know many on here like the XCal2 and Ive heard the 1714 brought up alot, I just cant seem to justify spending $500 on power that should be there from the factory. Am I up against a wall? :(

Its that 45 more horse power. I test drove a lot and I mean a lot of truck's before I purchased my F150. The Hemi was great, but the interior lacked. I drove a Sierra Denali for 3 years, so it was time for a change. That's why I didn't go back to GM.
Of all the trucks I test drove. Nissan, GMC, Toyota, Ford and the Dodge.
The Ram by far spanked them all.
Not sure if it's a weight thing or computer thing.

Yeah feel the same silver bullet. My truck won't spin its tires for anything. Even when its raining! I have only put flowmasters on mine, but plan on doing some major mods, cause those 300 horses just don't feel that strong. The torque is good for pulling my ski boat though.

Dude, if you can't spin them when its raining there is something wrong. My truck would spin my 32" BFG Rugged Trails with no problems in the rain. :eek:

Really? It will sometimes, but it won't keep them spinning for long. Its a strong truck though and really don't care about other trucks cause most of them don't compare to the styling on the 150's

Yup but just think about it this way. It'll save you tires. :lol:

If you want performance from a Ford, buy a freakin' Mustang GT. Enough with the negative posts on the best damn truck ever built.

Sorry, I wasnt negative just telling the truth, sorry if that offends.

My post simply sought to ask whether I could muster any more performance out of the truck competitive to the Hemi and still keep my warranty and be NA. I was also sharing my experience and thoughts/dissappointments. I want a truck which is why I bought a truck, now I dont see it as unreasonable to demand good performance out of a truck. I have an 11sec car sitting in the driveway, so its not that I want the truck to use it as a racecar, its simply a matter of getting all those little 300 horses out of the engine, through the computer and to the pavement. Im asking opinions on how to do that short of buying a Dodge lol. Thanks.

If you have an 11 sec. car then you should know that any vehicle will get faster with mods (money). If money is no object then just slap a supercharger on the F150 and have more than enough HP to pass a Dodge. I realize you said you wanted to keep your warranty and be N/A and my understanding is that the warranty will still be good as long as a certified mechanic does the install. Superchargers are becoming common in obtaining more HP from the factory, so what's wrong with going with a forced induction if it's a safe tune. Look at the 03/04 Cobra. :thumbsup:

BTW, It didn't offend me cuz I know my truck isn't the fastest thing on the road nor am I looking for it to be. I sold my Mustang to get a truck and wouldn't trade mine for anything on the road. As far as making a 4x4 fast....to each his own. I've seen video of a guy with a blue 2004 reg. cab Chevrolet Z71 running a 10.81 in the 1/4 mile. I believe the guys last name is Parrish or something like that. His truck was all over the net a year ago. This just proves that money can make anything fast.

Hum...We can take a ride in my 150 and spin the 20s all day. :D We will even smoke a few hemi rams if you are up to it. ;)

Well what Im asking guys is do you think the Xcal2(or 1714, bama, etc) will give me better response off the line and increase the HP/trq under the curve. Im not looking for peak HP gains because that wont help me much, Im just looking for more power throughout the power band. Would $500 spent on the Troyer Xcal2 be a worthwhile investment. I want an honest opinion.

Get rid of those pitiful 3.55 gears and put in 4.56's. I've always used 4.10's in the past cause the 73 and 87 460's did not like high revs but this 97 hits 5000 no problem and those 4.56 gears jump me to the front of the pack every time. :banana:

YES...YES..YES. When I first bought my truck I was very dissapointed... bought the xcal 1 and WOW. Blows me away at how conservative this truck is tuned from the factory. Get an Xcal from Troyer or if you don't want to spend that much there are many used 1714's and bamas, etc out there for great prices.

I also agree with fasterhorses (to a point....4.56's maybe a bit high for your current tire/wheel setup)... gears would do you wonders. Your trucks not that much heavier than mine and I'm in the mid 14's with only 4 mods. My truck is actually smoother and gets the same (maybe slightly better) gas mileage than when it was stock. So far I've spent about $750 on all my mods together.

I fought with the same thing you are.... I shouldn't have to spend $xxx to make my truck keep up with brand X. Well.... we do.... so mod it, deal with it, or buy brand x. I know you'll make a wise choice. :thumbsup: ;)

And for your added enjoyment.....

last weekend I raced a brand new Hemi, reg cab 2wd w/ a 3.92 limited slip. After I beat him by almost a full second we met back in line and started to talk. He looked at me and with all sincerity said "I'm really a Ford man but bought this Hemi cause I hear they were so fast... now I wish would have bought the Ford" ..... I just smiled (poor guy). Everyone always thinks the grass is greener on the other side :p

i just bout my pickup from my boss so i was in it everyday till i bought it from him and it was the slowest thing in the world my 99 would hand it a new one easily, well ever since my new one hit about 36000 miles it is a screamer i dont have a tuner or the reflash its a supercrew 4x4 lariat and i think its as fast as my 99 2wd 5.4 was now. in the last month its turned in to a different animal on its own and it still gets 17 mpg where my 99 got 11mpg so i couldnt be happier i think the only thing im missin with out the reflash is the downshifting but as long as it runs good and gets me to where i need to go thats all i care about, now if i could find some one to help me pay for it i would be in heaven (300 a month isnt bad but its kinda hard when ur school schedule sucks) sorry if i got off subject

Would the Xcal do anything for an 06?
I read another post about certain year F150's needing a re-flash.
I thought it was only for 04, maybe 05? Not sure.

The interior is what sold me on the F150 as well. I decided one day to go looking at trucks and hit all the dealers. I saw the new F150 and then knew that was the one.

Yep.... My truck is an 05 and did not require the reflash (same as an 06). The Xcal adjusts the 'drive by wire" settings, your shift points, your speed limiter, etc. Basically it does alot more than just add "Horspower".

That's the choice you have to make. The power SHOULD be there from the factory but it's not so it's up to you to decide if you want to spend the money to have it. If you do, you WILL feel the difference. :thumbsup:

Another option I haven't heard mentioned is to turbocharge it. I know it would be expensive, but it doesn't use power to make power like a supercharger does. Probably $5-$7K, but it is always there lurking and waiting to be used. :coffee:

I didn't know that the ability to spin tires was an indication of power. When I was in high school, we'd blow the tires off my friend's '80 something Toyota Celica at the drop of a hat. :confused:

Get it tuned and get some gears for best effect.

So the Xcal is a programmable tuner.(engine management)?

Does the Xcal do anything in relation to the air fuel ratio?
I know factory car's run very rich because of gas and to same their ass.
Not sure about truck's though.
I know some mustang's that I tune run under 10, under WOT. That's pretty rich.
I try to get them in the ballpark of 11.0 to 11.9 for blown application's and 12. to 13. for natural.
The funny thing, you notice a big difference getting the air fuel ratio closer to stoichiometric(14.7)

All the slow hemi trucks must be in my area because not a one I’ve met up with wants to go again :angel:

Thx for the replies guys.

I have 3.73LS for the record, not 3.55 gears. I wanted the 3.73s specifically for the low end grunt but also the top end manners. To be honest, I didnt beat on the truck when I first had it, I babied it, hell it only had 5 miles on it! So now that Im well broken in and a little more heavy footed, I am noticing these things.

I realize that breaking the tires loose doesnt mean you have HP, but lets face it, we have rear wheel drive trucks and spinning these skinny tires(mine are) shouldnt be an issue. A celica with tiny donuts should also spin the tires but thats due to popping the clutch, skinny tires, and the wieght transfer off the tires causing them to lose traction. I used the example of not being able to spin the tires in order to illustrate how slow it is off the line. From now on I will refer to it as slow off the line(and slow period :lol: ) to prevent confusion quinton.

Now Im not going to go out and buy a Dodge, that would be silly. I just would like to be able to keep up and still maintain my Ford status, I dont think I could ever drive a dodge.

The other main concern is warranty issues and engine safety. I dont want a custom tune to lean it out too much or jack up the timing too much. I would like better throttle response and a more performance oriented SAFE tune running either 89 or 93 octane. Xcal2 or 1714 or any others are greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Go to the “Chips & Programming” forum and read up on the XCal2; IMO it’s the best mod I’ve got :beers:

Our 5.4 3V will chirp and spin the rear tires. They just wont smoke em! My 05 SCREW would not even chirp the tires until I put about 1500 miles on the ODM. Now they will chirp or spin fine.

I was actually surprised to find that fords with the powerstrike diesel and a few mods can smoke the tires all the way down the road.

I don't know what kind of slugs some of you are driving, but my stock '04 will light 'em on dry pavement, wet pavement, whatever, with no problem! :rocker:

SilverBullet,

My 04 supercab FX4 felt like a slug when I first got it. I did not feel any stronger until I got about 15,000 miles on it. The first thing I did was put a Magnaflow SI/DO muffler on it, then an Airaid which seem to help quit a bit from 2500 rpm on up. The last thing I did was get an Xcal2 form Mike Troyer which helped in many ways (shift points, power, and overall driveability). If feels much better now but I am still looking for more so that is why I am going to the next dyno day at Mike's so I can find out exactly what kind of HP it is making at the rear wheels and hopefully Mike can tweak my tunes to make a little more. You have to remember these truck are heavy and weight can be your worst enemy in the quest for acceleration. As an example when I put my bull bar on I had to remove my tow hooks and I was amazed at how much those thing alone weigh, at least 15 to 20 pounds apiece. I drove several hemis before i bought my 150 and was not impressed except for and 03 reg cab 2wd which was a fast little truck! The 05 2wd 4dr hemi I drove was not very impressive to me at all. From what I have read on this board any trust me I have read most everything, there seems to be fairly wide range of performance characteristics for these trucks in stock form and even after modifications. I believe Mike Troyer has referred to this in his many posts. My advise to you is to get an Xcal2 from Mike with his tunes, that seems to be the best bang for the buck and then come to one of the dyno days and find out exaclty what kind of numbers your truck is producing. Hope this helps and FYI, I have spent approx $1000.00 on performance mods alone, HP is not cheap.

Though I agree with Quintin about spinning the tires... I can see where your coming from. When I first got my truck I tried to spin them just to "see if it would"..... and it was rather dissapointing. :(

With the Xcal...... wouldn't roast em..... but would definatly turn them over for a few feet.

Mix in some exhaust.. a little pulleys.... and a dash of Volant (or whatever your choice may be), and voila! I can roast them for ... well.... quite some ways. (though I have felt rather stupid after each time i've done it).; Usually she shifts into second (with a light bark) before it stops spinning.

.... it's all about the recipe. Troyer does have it down....... but honestly it never was a big secret. Get more air in (CAI), get more air out (exhaust), improve shift points & firmness/ air fuel ratio/ drive-by-wire response (Xcal), get rid of parasetic loss (pulleys, alum drive shafts, e-fans, etc)

Tbird69, I'm with ya.

My truck whips them so good, much better than my 2002 F150 5.4L, and I am driving an 04 Lariat Supercrew 4x4 with LS, so the differential does help. I am going to get you guys a video soon, could be today, I promise. And my truck is completely stock. It's hard to spin them without the brake, but sometimes I can. Regardless, in the higher rpms it pulls much harder than my stock 02.

I guess I just got lucky or don't know what fast is. Somebody comment on this.

Hemi
 

I test drove a Hemi Ram bout a month ago and it would not spin the tires from a stop. I dont know what the configurations were but it had slow take off. It was not a 4x4 and was a crew cab Hemi. Matter of fact it was kinda sluggish in my opinion. Maybe your friend has some aftermarket goods he aint talking about.

I test drove a lifted hemi crewcab, on 35" Nitto Mud Grapplers, 3.92 gears (dumb a$$es), 4x4. That thing was SOO slow, and review my posts, I admit when the competition is better with no hesitation. Absolutely no power at all, I argued with them about the gearing and how they need to fix that, they said that is perfect for 35's, and even their dually's only have 4.10's...but they're also diesel. I should have test drove a completely stock hemi, I want to see what all the fuss is about! :eek:

Bout the 1745 tuner for the 2005 5.4L and you can tell the difference when you mash the gas. About a 30 hp increas with catback, intake and tuner. I sold the off the shelf 1745 Superchips microtuner and ordered the Troyer tuner last Thursday. We will see if there is that much difference just have to wait and see.

You can tell a major difference in my opinion because of the shiftpoints that the superchips tuner gives you. The stock shiftpoints just bog down whereas the tuner gives you a firmer shift. 250 rwhp and 359 torque at dyno and 138mph.

Pretty sweet if you ask me. Also beat a Chebby the other day. Felt so friggin good! :rocker:

I lost to a Chevy last night, but I beat a small mitsubishi with a 2.0 4cyl. It was a 3 way race, and we raced a couple times, I would beat the truck off the line by a hair and then he'd smoke me after 55-60mph. Its the white chevy in my gallery. Cops came and caught the guy in the white truck, but let him go. I should be able to beat him if I had an exhaust/intake, we'll see. He has exhaust right now, thats it. It's a 5.3L vortec, regular cab (weighs a lot less). He had 3 people in the truck, I had 4, so I let them out the second run and it didn't make a big difference, I still lost with 3 people in his truck. They were all skinny little f*cks.

Buy a Dodge with a HEMI :thumbsup: