Finally after 11 weeks of waiting, my Lariat Screw 4x4 is going to be delivered next week! Although I am extremely excited about the fact that I am getting my new truck, I am also somewhat worried about some Yuppy in a Nissan Titan blowing my doors off! Geez, getting smoked off the line by that ugly thing would be awful!
I've seen on the troyer performance website that reflashing the PCM will allow my truck to exceed 130mph. Thas great, but I drive in the 0-90mph range... Does anyone have any stats on the
0-60 ET post reflash? And what would it take to get my "lead sled" up to speed.
Thanks in advance!!
Bogie

 

Hi Bogie,

It really hasn't changed much for 2004, aside from us getting a little bit better gains than what we average in the 1997-2003's - about 2 tenths better both in terms of average and best improvements over what normally happens from our tuning in the 1997-2003 F-150's is what we see in the 2004's.

In the 2004 3-valve 5.4's specifically, we reduce the 0-60 times anywhere from a minimum of a half-second to as much as 1.2 seconds depending on the exact configuration of the vehicle and how much traction it has off the line, etc. - the range varies quite a bit from the lightest truck with the most gear to the heaviest truck with the least gear, etc., as usual in these F-150's. The average improvement in 0-60 time is about 7 tenths, quite a bit. The 2004's have a number of aspects that can be improved significantly, to say the least.

Nothing has changed with respect to it's bang for the buck value - the powertrain programming is still the single best bang for the buck performance enhancement, as nothing else can improve performance more for the same or less cost.

From our tuning the horsepower gains (and I mean the actual peak-to-peak gains) are usually 23-24 hp at the rear wheels on premium gas (13 on 87). With the complete tune, on the 4WD model the before numbers were 219-222 HP & 287 lbs./ft. of torque at the wheels - the after numbers were 247 HP & 350 lbs/ft, of torque at the rear wheels. (For the 2WD models expect about 5-7 more HP at the wheels in terms of the final numbers, stock or tuned).

There isn't any aspect of performance that is not improved - whether it's top speed, acceleration from standstill, acceleration from any speed, etc. - it's all noticeably and measurably improved, with quicker acceleration and better throttle response, as the huge torque gains at the rear wheels clearly show.

I too, spend most of my time in the 0-90 mph range - most of us do, that's very basic. Just last night I drove our 2004 almost 600 miles at an average speed of 83 mph, rarely exceeding 95 mph - it was mostly 85-90 mph cruising for hours on end, something these 2004 F-150's absolutely excel at - especially if you have a nice loaded Lariat with it's comfortable, smooth ride & quiet cabin. And ours, with it's current mods still gets 15.0 mpg while doing it - something other 2004 Supercrew 4WD Lariat owners would die for, as most typically see 12.0 on average, to not more than 13.0 (with very darn few ever able to hit 13.0) when cruising at 85 mph.

The bottom line is, if you are ready to step up the performance of that 2004 F-150 for more performance, just give us a call at our number list below & we'll be happy to go over the details with you. (We'll be getting more 2004 F-150 performance info on our web site shortly as well.)

Good luck with your truck,

 

Is there an expected release date for tuning that can be done at home? I can't afford downtime on my truck and am also concerned about what happens when I have to take the truck in for service. I can't set the computer back to factory settings. Any info would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

Hi Zeus,

Anytime you want info, all you have to do is use the search feature here to instantly retrieve those posts - we've discussed that target date information specifically many times, for example, so that info is easily retrieved via the search feature - as is virtually any other type of info related to this section's topic, just so you'll know for future reference.

Currently, the 1714 Micro Tuner is estimated to be released late in the 2nd quarter. there's still lots of work to be done for Superchips to make all the different "standard" performance tunes for each different 2004 4.6 & 5.4 PCM code (as opposed to the in-depth custom tunes we're already doing on a case-by-case basis for the 3-valve 5.4 2004's by their owners sending their PCM's in to be flashed). Then there's the actual hardware (CAN Flasher) that has to be sourced, mocked up, thoroughly tested & actually put into production.

All the basic tuning R&D and the CAN Flasher prototype is done and working fine - but it takes time to take that all the way thru to a finished product ready to ship to the masses in large quantities, so figure a few months for that, I'd say.

 

Thank you Mike for the excellent info!
I spoke with Anita (I believe her name was) last week and she told me about some of the mods on her truck. The PCM reflash, and the air intake system. She sounded extemely proud of her truck's performance! Has there been anything else done to her truck?
Also you mentioned that your truck was getting a very impressive 15mpg. What mods have you done?
My truck should be here no later than Tuesday, Yiiipee!! So I'll be calling to discuss in detail what is needed to get my truck to perform better and squeeze as many miles as possible out of a tank of gas!
Thanks again for your priceless input!
Bogie

 

Hi Bogie,

Actually it gets "only" 15 mpg when cruising at 80+ mph - at lower speeds it gets better mpg. For example, cruising at 65 mph on level terrain, 19-20 mpg is attainable *if* you can discipline yourself to just leaving the cruise control set and not touching the gas pedal very often - which is very hard for me to do.

Now in our normal around-town driving here in the mountains, where there is no such thing as flat terrain, it usually averages about 15.2-15.5 mpg overall - which is a very nice gain over what it got stock in those same conditions.

However, it's only fair to point out before anyone reading this gets the wrong impression that we do not make guarantees or outright promises of fuel mileage gains. MPG is not a priority to us - we really don't care about fuel mileage as much as it might seem, we make note of those kinds of results (mpg that is) and & talk about them just because we're data-hounds at heart, and it's a by-product of whatever we did to the *performance* of that vehicle. We're a performance company, so it's the *performance* we make happen, and increased mpg is basically just a by-product of some certain types of performance mods, is perhaps the best way to look at it.

The "performance" mods that tend to deliver the best mpg gains in the 2004 F-150 5.4 are our tuning, intake, & underdrive pulleys - and of course, our electric fan kit once it's shipping, the electric fans conversion is always one of the best mpg-improvers in any vehicle not so equipped from the factory.

To answer your question specifically about Anita's truck - her truck has our tuning, intake, exhaust, an ignition upgrade and underdrive pulleys - and a 6200 lb. weight with nobody on board and a full tank of gas, it's a pretty big pig for a "half-ton" truck having 138-140 mph capability.

We've updated our web site with our Stage 1 kit for the 2004 F-150 3-valve 5.4, and that's what most owners are doing right now. It's an excellent package that achieves 35-40 HP gains at the rear wheels in terms of the *peak* gains at 5100 rpm, but gains are almost that high at just 3000 rpm as well - the improvements in the "area under the curve" are nothing less than excellent.

Drop by this link to read up on it, it's item number 9 on this page: http://www.troyerperformance.com/cgi...edition%20Etc.

Good luck getting your new 2004 truck & talk to you soon!

 

Mike, thanks for the great info. Specifically, will the tuner get rid of the acceleration delay that my 04 has. The concensus seems to be that it is a characteristic of the drive-by-wire in the new 04. When you mash the pedal from a stop, there is a slight delay before it gets going. I'm sure you've noticed this when driving an 04. I love the truck, but I wish it would truly let her rip once I hit the pedal. If the tuner can get rid of that little delay, that would be awesome.

 

I'm on the verge of ordering the custom tuning for my '04's PCM. I spoke with Mike T. for a little while yesterday about it and he was very helpful. I've got a message into him today for another question or 2...
BrewMaster, hopefully I'll be able to give you some first hand feedback soon, I'll keep you posted.

 

Hi Brewmaster,

We've discussed that many times here, it's one of "the "basics" for 2004 owners - thus we refer you to simply use the search feature to instantly retrieve & read all of that info that is already here. Or, you can read up on it over on our web site at www.TroyerPerformance.com in the section where the tuning for the 2004 is listed.

I'll get you some brief info for right now, then you can give us a call at our number listed below if you'd like to go over the details.

Briefly...............

Yes, our tuning will help, in several ways - first, with a much quicker transition over into open loop, so you get the motor to fully power quicker. There is more HP & torque available at any throttle position, and at any rpm - changes we make do indeed help to improve throttle response.

At the same time, we also have to point out the obvious: that our tuning is not going to somehow "eliminate" the ETC system, of course - there is no more throttle cable. So you will always have that throttle body being operated by an electric motor that is controlled by the PCM, based on an electronic signal instead of having a direct connection from the driver's foot to the engine via the traditional throttle cable/linkage - a system otherwise known as "throttle by wire."

But the "total" problem with perceived "throttle response" in general, and how to best improve it also, is multi-faceted - and some of it stems from the fact that the raw power actually available right there at idle & just off-idle is low, and that hurts response further. Aside from the basic ETC system characteristics, we have done a lot of work to determine what actually helps that lack of *immediate* throttle response - especially from stationary or lower vehicle speeds, when you nail the throttle, like you're talking about. This is the same basic thing all us '04 owners are talking about, and we've got a nice package for that which started shipping about 6 weeks ago for phone orders (and can soon be seen on our web site - our Stage 1 kit for the 2004 is already listed there). It's too detailed for discussion here by typing it all out, but in a nutshell, that package will transform the throttle response and power down low, especially taking off from a standstill, the biggest area of complaint. We gain almost as much HP at just 2500-3000 rpm as we gain at the *peak* at 5100 rpm, it's a consistent & very nice shot of steroids all thru the rpm range, right from idle all the way thru to the redline - just what these trucks need.

So yes, the tuning alone will help some - having the powertrain programming optimized for better performance is still the single best bang for the buck value in performance enhancements, nothing has changed in that regard in the 2004 's - Then for those who want to take it a step further and really have their truck feeling nice & strong from idle all the way thru to redline, that package is available.

Feel free to take a look over on our web site in the Performance Packages section (click on "Shop" once the home page at www.TroyerPerformance.com loads - then look at the bottom left for "Performance Packages") for our Stage 1 kit, and then there are some additional aspects to the specific package I'm talking about that we've put together specifically for the best throttle response - we haven't had time to get that one a proper name & showing up on our the web site just yet, it'll be there in the next couple of weeks at the latest - and is available now by phone. As always, please feel free to call us to go over all of this in proper detail for pricing, exact results, etc.

Enjoy your 2004,