Mike....Need some info from you.... If you owned a 5.4 HD like mine what brand of "Supercharger" would you put in ????? Kenne Bell...Vortec etc etc !!!!!!

Also...will I have to send you the chip back for any reprogramming ??? Thanks...John from NC

PS...A while back you had invited me to stop by a show that was in your area....I forgot the date and place.....thanks...John

 

Hi John,

I think you're talking about the Norfolk Rally this summer, in Norfolk Virginia, and don't worry, we'll make the anouncement here on F-150 Online for everyone to see, just like we did last year. So far, it's looking like the last weekend in July, but we are still working on firming up activites, dates, etc., so as soon as we're finalized on the date for sure, we'll let everyone know ASAP so they can make plans.

With regards to what blower to install, we prefer the Magnacharger over all of them. It's based on the near-bulletproof Eaton supercharger, which is the same brand of blower that Ford themselves have always used in their supercharged vehicles such as the 1989-1995 Thunderbird Super Coupe and the Lightning.

Vortech is a great piece of gear, excellent quality, etc., but it's just too darned expensive for a centrifugal type of blower, which doesn't make much boost below 2500-3000 rpm. With these heavy trucks, and especially for towing, you want a "Roots-type", or "positive displacement" supercharger, like the Eaton, as it delivers boost instantly, as soon as you crack the throttle open, which makes all the difference in the world in availalbe torque, right there on part-throttle in the lower rpms, where it's needed most. You have to have some rpms on the clock before you make *peak* boost of course, but you get good positive boost instantly, as soon as you crack open the throttle, at any rpms. So in these heavy trucks, that's exactly what you want, and we feel the Magnacharger is the best blower kit on the market today for these vehicles. Installs nicely, always seems to make it's approximate rated power gains, and excellent reliability.

Kene-Bell's blower is probably good quality, they're certainly a solid company, but we have an alarming number of customers who own them who come to use for the custom programming, and they typically complain that they aren't getting the power, and specifically, because they don't make enough boost. We typically hear boost levels of only 3-4 PSI, compared with the 7-8 PSI or so that it apparently takes to make their rated power gains, like most other blowers for these vehicles. This should be a relatively simple issue of pulley size, but it's interesting to note that a number of people have come to us with this same complain of low boost level in the "standard" kit. However, more important to me is the cost, it's just not worth that much more over the Magnacharger, and the power levels made between the 2 at equal boost levels make me prefer the Magnacharger.

There are other ways to go, many guys have kept their cost down by using a centrifugal supercharger, like the Powerdyne, especially before they raised the MSRP from $1995 to $2495. For the money, is a nice way to go, if you can wait for the boost to build, and of course you can "pulley them up" with any centrifugal blower by using alternate pulleys to get more boost at lower rpms, but that also raises total boost level too, so it's just not as effective as a Roots-type for torque. However, it's certainly a viable alternative if you need to lower the supercharging costs by about $1000, and a lot of guys have done that, and are very happy with them.

Ideally, I'd opt for the Magnacharger, hands down. I just wish I could get one for my 4.6 DOHC motor, as it looks like I have to go Vortech in my case.

And yes, when you install a blower, you will have to have us do a custom program in the Superchip for you, don't try using that Superchip program you have now with any supercharger, as it has too much timing and not enough fuel, etc., it's of course a program for a normally-aspirated motor, and that all changes quite a bit when you put the blower on. You'll want to get in touch with us before you install the blower, so we can coordinate on the timeframe, and try to get you the custom program so you have it at the same time the supercharger is actually being installed, ideally.

Good luck!

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Mike Troyer
Performance Products, Inc.
National Distributor of Superchips
(540) 862-9515
Email: mtroyer@compuserve.com
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