It was actually the Flowmaster that created the drone. With the Magnaflow 3" si/so there is no drone. It's actually quiet. I almost wish there were a bit more sound from it. It's definitely the better muffler for this truck with the supercharger on there. I like the straight through design. It's kind of interesting. Logic would tell us that a straight though will almost definitely reduce low end torque. My seat of the pants meter tells me otherwise. I believe that the fiberglass effects the flow charicteristics at low rpm but at high rpm the gasses are going straight through. Also that fiberglass does a good job of muffling the sound.

The Dynamat is a good idea. I don't mind hearing some noises but the drone in the cabin made it hard for my girl and I to have a conversation. We can do that now, though I sometimes have difficulty paying attention to what shes saying because I pay very close attention to the road and what my truck is doing. She checks in every so often to see that I am paying attention to her also.

 

it was the 3" catback from them that retained the 2 1/2" piece from the y pipe- my buddy just swapped a si so flow 40 on his and the dsrone was obnoxious

 

Hi.

Sorry to say, but I agree with JHL - everyone I've talked to has had the 'drones' with aftermarket systems.

As for me:

> a Gibson SI/SO 3" catback --> drone
> swapped with a Magnaflow SI/SO 3" --> still drones

The Dynamat solution seems reasonable - that floorpan and rear cab wall need damping anyway for the sound system ;-)).

I've always wondered if there isn't something else in the exhaust system's design/routing/support points that is contributing to this....

Personally don't like the connection at the tranny mount, and the lack of support from that point to the muffler. I think the Expy's get an additional hanger there as well as a resonator. Anyone ever hear of an Expy droning?

Did we hijack this thread or what??? ;-))

cheers

 

I must confess, that I was beginning to live with the drones, until I went to install my amp and sub woofer setup.

That's actually when and why I installed the Dynamat... I honestly figured I wouldnt be able to hear the drone anymore over the stereo! But I am not a youngin anymore and I just dont crank it all that much these days. I was very pleased with the Dynamat results. I used a whole roll on the front doors, and let me tell you when you tap a knuckle on the outside of one of them.... THUD!!! I think I used a total of two more rolls on the floor, behind the back seat, and the roof.

The road noise is gone, the drone is gone, and when you shut the doors it sounds like a mercedes door closing... thud!

I highly recommend the dynamat treatment for any f150 owner! One note get the good stuff with the aluminum on one side it works the best!

 

I dropped in a TrueFlow foam filter, there is a difference in power, however small.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Superchips_Distributor
Hi Darren,



You'd be much better off to pick up a complete air intake kit rather than just a drop-in air filter - for example, with the Air Force One intake, which gains more power than any other intake kit for these vehicles, the 4.6 generally picks up about 15 HP.

QUOTE]

What are the warranty issues with an airkit? Would it be best to wait for the manufacturer's warranty to expire for doing this, or an other mods to the truck?

 

Hi Gord,

Let's first talk about what you can actually do *SAFELY* on your vehicle without causing a problem with an aftermarket intake kit................

That actually depends on the model year - what I mean is, in the "traditional" vehicles that have a MAF meter (Mass Airflow Meter), the original MAF meter is retained when you install just about any decent intake kit, and usually the engine will be fine - the A/F ratios are not thrown off beyond the ability of the PCM to correct for on it's own - thus there is no problem.

HOWEVER.........

Once we get into the newest 3-valve Ford engines (like the 4.6 3V in the 2005 Mustang or the optional 5.4 3V engine in the 2004 & newer F-150), they have a much different setup in this regard - there is no MAF meter, there is only the MAS (Mass Airflow Sensor) - and so many changes made to the air intake tract will lean the engine out dangerously.

As things stand today, for the 2004 & newer 5.4 3V F-150 the only aftermarket intake kit worth having (meaning that does NOT cause the lean condition and that also actually adds significant power gains) is the Airaid unit.

So if you want to change the air intake tract on a 5.4 3V F-150, use the Airaid unit.

Now just speaking in general, you have the right to make any change you want to your vehicle and have the warranty remain fully intact **as long as those changes do not actually cause damage to the vehicle** - and that's an important distinction. That is the LAW - specifically, the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act. So it's up to the vehicle owner to use parts that will not DAMAGE the vehicle - and as long as you do that, then by law, your warranty remains intact.

For example - when we sell a supercharger for these newer 5.4 3V F-150's, the supercharger kits we provide are also backed by a REPLACEMENT POWERTRAIN WARRANTY for 3 years or 36K miles - thus replacing the part of your original 3/36 bumper-to-bumper warranty that could potentially be voided by using a supercharger.

Now milder mods, like a properly designed intake kit, or say a cat-back exhaust system, etc., are not going to damage the vehicle, and thus are generally safe to use - just be aware that the 5.4 3V engines uses a different MAS setup, and that most of the aftermarket intake kits sold for that vehicle we consider not to be safe to use long-term - so anyone changing that part on the 5.4 3V F-150 today needs to use the Airaid unit.

What it really all gets down to is a matter of working with an experienced & knowledgeable F-150 performance specialist that can guide you thru all of this, and keep you away from parts or modifications that are known to cause problems - this gets more and more important with each passing model year, as todays vehicle's get more complex. More R&D and knowledge is required to safely modify them for more performance.

To learn more about your legal rights regarding your new vehicle warranty, drop by SEMA (www.sema.org) - these are the people we largely have to thank for us having the right to make *intelligent & safe* modifications to our vehicles.

I hope that info helps, & please feel free to give us a call to discuss improving any aspect of your truck's performance - and good luck with that nice new truck!

 

As things stand today, for the 2004 & newer 5.4 3V F-150 the only aftermarket intake kit worth having (meaning that does NOT cause the lean condition and that also actually adds significant power gains) is the Airaid unit.

So if you want to change the air intake tract on a 5.4 3V F-150, use the Airaid unit.


Mike, sorry if this has been covered elsewhere, but after trying to educate myself on performance upgrades for my new 05 KR, I was under the impression that the Air Force One intakes were the best?

BTW, this is a great site and I appreciate all of the advice from you guys. I'm so glad I didn't just jump at some mods without learning about them first.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Superchips_Distributor
Hi Gord,

Let's first talk about what you can actually do *SAFELY* on your vehicle without causing a problem with an aftermarket intake kit................
QUOTE]

Thanx so much for the info, Mike, much appreciated

I, too, appreciate all the help from this site.
Cheers!