I am the proud owner of a 2004 F150 SuperCrew FX4 (see my list below). While I know what mods I would like to do, I do not have an adequate budget to do them all at once. So, given that I intend to do all the 5 top bang for the buck mods (intake, exhaust, chip, efan and pulleys), which do you think I should first, second, so on and so forth? I can probably do 1 every month or 2 until completed. Since I have heard (read) so many positive comments concerning you and your company, and since your prices appear to be competitive (even before calling), I would like to give you my business. So perhaps if there is any information I need to have when I do call, you could cover that, too. The only mod not showing up anywhere is that I intend to upgrade the OEM stereo with a little more 'oomph' (if you know what I mean... )

Thanks in advance, Mike

My gallery: https://www.f150online.com/galleries...y.cfm?gnum=3900

 

Hi aka,

Congrats on your 2004!

You've been doing your homework and thus already know the basic order of bang for the buck for the most popular mods - so I'll give you some brief info for now, then you can call us for any specific details...............

The basic order of bang for the buck, in terms of the actual improvement in the vehicle's performance, is: tuning, intake, exhaust, underdrive pulleys & electric fans - in that order. Now you can do any of those specific mods in any order you like, but that's the order of bang for the buck.

Everything on your list is available right now with the exception of electric fan kit - Today, nobody has a kit that I'd put on a 2004 F-150, so I'd suggest waiting for ours which should be ready sometime in the next 4-6 weeks - we just need time to do 1-2 last R&D sessions and then the photo shoot for the installation docs.

As you may have read from some of my previous posts, our own 2004 SuperCrew Lariat 4WD weighs 6200 lbs. with a tank of fuel but nobody on board - well, with myself and another 200 lb. technician and some test equipment on board (6600 lbs. + total weight) and it's current mods, we pulled over 73 mph in the 1/8th mile - a full 5+ mph improvement over bone-stock. That's in the 1/8th mile, not in the 1/4 mile - we haven't had time to test yet on a properly sanctioned 1/4 mile track. The funny thing is, a new Dodge RAM 1500 w/Hemi rated at 345 HP and a cat-back exhaust was only able to pull 68 mph in the 1/8th mile, and it's lighter than our '04 F-150 4WD SC - yet we outpulled it by about a half a mile an hour when our truck was in bone-stock trim. Ours is not some "extra-strong" truck from the factory by any means - we've dyno'd it many times on a good eddy-current chassis dyno, and the best it ever pulled at the rear wheels in bone-stock trim was 222-223 HP at 65 degrees F ambient - worst was 219 HP.

Current mods on our 2004 are mild - tuning, intake, exhaust, underdrive pulleys and an ignition upgrade. Stock, our truck couldn't even get a whisper of a hint of turning the tires over coming off the line - and now it will *fry* the tires out of the hole. That is of course a very poor way to attempt to judge the effect of performance modifications of any kind, and one I've not used on the 1997-2003 models - but I do use it sometimes with these 2004 3-valve 5.4's, which use ETC (otherwise known as throttle by wire) and thus are well known for having a particularly poor off-the-line throttle response. So the 2004's respond *very* well to bolt-on modifications - our tuning alone gives it 24 HP at the rear wheels, and that is the actual increase in *peak* HP - not just a gain at like 3400 rpm, that's the actual peak-to-peak HP gain at the rear wheels.

At any rate, just give us a call whenever you're ready to start doing some mods to it, and we'll be happy to work with you getting your new 2004 performing better.

Enjoy your 2004 FX4,

 

Thanks Mike! I appreciate your willingness to share your knowledge with an old "farmer boy" like myself.

If you don't mind anwering, I have a few more questions on tuning: If I was to buy the tuning from TP today, would a "CAN Flasher" be sent to me when it is available or would I have to order it at an additional cost? Would there be a benefit to waiting for the "CF" to become available (other than not having the truck available for 48 hours) rather than tune it now? Is it anticipated that there will be more than 1 program on that "CF" like some of the Super Tuners or would that be down the road a while? In case you couldn't tell, I'm trying to determine whether I should wait for tuning until the "CF" is available and do a couple of the other mods while I'm waiting. The only thing the truck is being used for at this point is as a daily driver with a few extended road trips thrown in - still breaking it in.

Thanks again Mike!

 

OK, I got to ask what is a "CAN FLASHER" ????

 

waterkc
I only know what I read on the Troyer Performance website. If you go to 'Shop', then 'Superchips', find and click on the part entitled "Superchips Custom Tuning for the 2004 Ford F-150 w/3-valve 5.4 Engine". You will be taken to a dialogue explaining what this tuning involves. CAN stands for Controller Area Network, which I have no idea what that is exactly. What I do have an idea about is this: The new 5.4 has a different type of controller than in years past and, (correct me if I'm way off base here, Mike) they are still developing the hardware to deliver the program to the PCM while is it still in the truck. Until it is ready, in order to get the PCM reprogrammed (flashed), the PCM must be removed from the truck and sent to Troyer overnight in both directions so that the truck is out of commission for approximately 48 hours during working days.

So Mike, am I close?

 

Just replying to get back to the top of the threads. I think we lost Mike... (that's my guess, anyway)

 

Hi Fellas,

Yep, that covers it pretty well.

A "CAN flasher" is simply a nickname for a device that has the ability to flash the PCM on a CAN-equipped vehicle (controller area network). It will still be called a "Micro Tuner" when it's released.

Those who have us flash their 2004 3-valve 5.4 PCM's now *WILL* be given a special deal on the 1714 Micro Tuner when it becomes available, and it will be a deal that nobody else will ever be able to get any other way - but it will not be "free," it won't be $50, etc. And no, we will not be going into any of those details about that special deal here (that's against F-150 Online's rules) - only via phone.

My advice is, in all candor - though we'd love to have your business right now, and you'll love the difference in performance this makes - unless someone is actually ready to do this now without thought as to what they'll have to pay for the Micro Tuner later on when it's available, just do some other mods for now and wait until the CAN-flash capable Micro Tuners are actually released a few months down the road.