Is it worth it?
Thread Starter
|
Senior Member
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 933
Likes: 1
From: in a van down by the river
Is it worth it?
I have a 4.6 in my 99 f-150 supercab 4x4. Right now everything is factory exept that it is straight piped and dualed out. Is it worth spending the money to put in a chip or tuner? I just want a little more get up and go. Especially when i am either taking off from a stop or when im doing 55-60 and i step on it a little to increase speed with out downshifting or when going up hills. Now it doesnt feel like there is anything their until it downshifts. I dont want to stick anymore money into it with pulleys and all that cuz im not out to win races. Just wondering if i will actually notice better power and gas mileage. Id like it to feel a bit more like the 5.4 that i wish i had. My other concern is...will i run into problems down the road with the engine/transmission/ect? What will it cost? Need some good info!!!
Senior Member
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 10,390
Likes: 10
Your first thing to rectify....
Hi - the first thing you need to rectify is:
"...except that it is straight piped and dualed out. "
With that mod, you killed whatever meager low-end torque you had with that 4.6. Which is why not much happens when you punch it until it downshifts.
Put on a good SI/SO exhaust like the Magnaflow catback sold by Mike, then get the 9100/9300 with custom tunes. An AF1 wouldn't hurt either. This is equivalent to a Stage 1 combo I believe, and WILL transform your truck.
Normally the tuner is the 'best-bang-for-buck' approach, but since you are behind the curve w.r.t torque, the tuner would be playing catchup to restore what you lost. So in this case either put the stock exhaust back on or Magnaflow it ( NOT that Flowmaster crap - God, what a waste of refined metals!), then go with the tuner.
Straight pipes ( or worse - gutted cats, which is just plain dumb and negligent), is NOT the way to go with these vehicles.
I'm sure if Mike were reading this he could certainly add some better advice ;-))
cheers
MGDFAN
"...except that it is straight piped and dualed out. "
With that mod, you killed whatever meager low-end torque you had with that 4.6. Which is why not much happens when you punch it until it downshifts.
Put on a good SI/SO exhaust like the Magnaflow catback sold by Mike, then get the 9100/9300 with custom tunes. An AF1 wouldn't hurt either. This is equivalent to a Stage 1 combo I believe, and WILL transform your truck.
Normally the tuner is the 'best-bang-for-buck' approach, but since you are behind the curve w.r.t torque, the tuner would be playing catchup to restore what you lost. So in this case either put the stock exhaust back on or Magnaflow it ( NOT that Flowmaster crap - God, what a waste of refined metals!), then go with the tuner.
Straight pipes ( or worse - gutted cats, which is just plain dumb and negligent), is NOT the way to go with these vehicles.
I'm sure if Mike were reading this he could certainly add some better advice ;-))
cheers
MGDFAN
Former Sponsor
Joined: Mar 1998
Posts: 13,385
Likes: 4
From: Virginia
Hi tryto,
Yes, a proper tune is by far the single best bang-for-the-buck performance enhancement you can do to these vehicles.
I'd give more details, but the message server here is garbling our posts - just give us a call at our number listed below & we'll be more than happy to go over all of this in proper detail with you, go over costs, etc (pricing cannot be discussed here).
Yes, a proper tune is by far the single best bang-for-the-buck performance enhancement you can do to these vehicles.
I'd give more details, but the message server here is garbling our posts - just give us a call at our number listed below & we'll be more than happy to go over all of this in proper detail with you, go over costs, etc (pricing cannot be discussed here).