OK, since I am close to finally owning my truck outright, I want to start adding performance mods. Mind you disposable income is limited right now, but over the next few years I'd like to accomplish the following: Tuner, intake, headers, exhaust. Once those are done, I was looking at maybe the Rancho 4" lift and some 35s to go on my 18 inch wheels.

So has anyone tried the Banks Powerpack?

Or would it be better to get it all separate? Reading through the forums, it appears the most popular are: Troyer tunes with XCALII, AF1 3.5" intake, JBA Long Tubes, and Magnaflow exhaust.

Also, in which order would it be best to get these added? I'm guessing, tunes, intake and then headers and exhaust at the same time? For Exhaust I want SISO with minimal drone in the cab.

Will I need a new tune every time I add something?

THANKS!

 

I'm doing the same as you. I'm doing it in this order:

Exhaust (went with Borla)
Intake (will be getting the AF1)
Tunes (xCal3 or maybe Edge since there is a forum member doing custom tunes now)
Suspension (Ground Force)

 

You mean you ever have unlimited disposable income? Must be sweet...

Nice list. You might think about gears, and since you list ALL factory options, I would assume you already ahve limited slip. How about CAI like a K&N FIPK?

I thought Banks stuff was for Diesels only... Just my $.02 there...

If you had something in specific in mind for your mods, you might be better off building up your mods yourself versus any pre-chosen kit. Those always have some sort of tradeoff you may or may not like...
And just because something is popular, does not make it best for your application. BFG MTs and Nitto Mud Grapplers are both incredibly popular, but they don't quite fit the bill for a bagged street truck...

For the order, that is up to you, but my personal plan for my truck is to...

Gears / Limited slips front and rear.
Lift (or not) and 35x12.50/17s. Most likely BFG MT KM2s. I have been strongly eyeballing the Maxxis Buckshot 305/70R17s though, and I would not need more lift. With a short wife, who we hope will be expecting soon, lots of lift is a bad thing.
Next would be tuner. Not custom tunes like Troyer, but rather something more, reusable like the Edge Evolution, or Hypertech Power Programmer III. I am leaning toward the Hypertech since it allows me to run regular pump gas instead of premium. But I understand the Edge can do that now too. I really dig that pod, so I might go that way... Following the tuner would be a CAI, followed by a custom built exhaust with long tube headers, going into high flow cats, a Y pipe, and finally a large diameter SI/SO muffler. The Magnaflows sound pretty nice, but then again, so does the Flowmaster Super 44. I would expect to have to do a retune to recalibrate the computer after every major change...

Hope this helps...

 

go with the exhaust first. you will like the way it sounds and makes your truck look/sound better. then go with the cai, either the af1 or the airaid, stay away from the k&n. headers are a toss up, shortys wont do anything for you, and long tubes, dont give you that much power; atleast not enough for the price and install time/price. get the edge or the xcal. either one is fine, my preference is the edge, i just like the displays. the rancho is a good kit, but if you ever want to go bigger, go with a 6 or an 8 to start off with, that way it wont be as much as a hasle. after you do the lift, you will need to regear. depending on the lift go with the 4.56 or the 4.88s. the exhaust from magnaflow, doesnt really have much cab drone, either the siso or sido cat back systems, so either way you should be fine.

 

curious to your reasoning for saying to stay away from the K&N as from what i know its one of the few that hasnt caused any issues with our truck running lean?

 

i had it on my truck. it ran lean. for those who have it on their truck and it doesnt run lean, the power gains arent as significant as the af1 or the airaid. basically i feel k&n has just spent tons of money on marketing and their products are not up 2 par with the rest of the cai. mods arent always about the most well known brand. you wont run lean with any cai if you have a tuner though.

 

This thread sounds like I've been doing to my Dakota over the past few years... just keep chipping away at it and make it the ultimate truck.

I plan on supercharging it... or turboing it... but that will be the last thing I do... I first plan on rebuilding the engine, polishing and porting the heads, and using forged internals.

I plan on adding some long-tube headers on it this summer and getting Magnaflow high flow cats...

The difference between the Dakota and the F150 is that I can put in less money to get more horsepower versus the F150... that F150 will likely never see speed. The Dakota can already give me whiplash in 5th gear doing 40 mph without down shifting. Not to mention it's been very reliable throughout us owning it with a 108k on it. Also another plus is that it only gets driven on wicked nice days during the summer... when the girls are looking at me, and they are drooling to have me.

The F150 doesn't have much in store for it... it'll probably stay stock until I send it to the crushers.

 

Thanks for all the replies. Keep the opinions rolling in. The 4" lift is probably the max cause my wife doesn't lilke the trucks lifted too high. I've heard so many problems related to the Edge, so I think I prefer the XCAL. I know headers don't offer a lot of gain, but I figure I might as well upgrade the whole system, right (Intake, headers, exhaust) eventually high flow cats and then the rest of the engine!

And no, I don't have unlimited disposable income. I'm in the military and saving for a house and I have a family, so the truck gets whatever is leftover, enough for one good mod a year...