Hello Everyone,

I have a 2005 F150 5.4 V8. I am going to order the XCalibrator 2 (after hearing so many good things about it how could I not?) but I also want to get the Gibson Exhaust and the Airforce One Intake. If I get the XCalibrator 2 first, will I need to change the program after making these mods? If so is it better to get the intake and exhuast and do the Xcal last? Any Ideas?

 

Hi Motor,

You should consider rethinking that exhaust, as you'll get a better result using the Magnaflow setup instead of the Gibson - in fact, what you want to with those 3 mods do is exactly what is in our Stage 1 Troyer Performance package - check it out on our web site in the Performance Packages section.

The intake and exhaust can be installed without the tuning, though I do recommend doing them all at the same time if possible - the Air Force One intake is hands down the best possible choice, as it delivers the largest raw power gains, is the quietest under the hood, and is made of the highest quality materials, aircraft-grade T304 hand-polished stainless steel. Same goes for the Magnaflow exhaust, nothing else equals their peak power gains or part-throttle torque results, and it too, is an all aircraft-grade T304 Stainless Steel exhaust system with a Lifetime warranty.

That being said, yes, you *can* install say, the intake first, then the exhaust next, and then do the tuning last, if you wanted to. Though most people don't do them in that order, most people do it in the order of best bang-for-the-buck (if they can't afford to do all 3 of those mods at once) - and the bang for the buck order is tuning, intake and then exhaust.

The bottom line is, you can actually do those 3 specific mods in any order YOU prefer, and it would not have a negative impact on the outcome. Now to get the lowest total price on everything, the way to do that is to just order our Stage 1 kit for your truck, as that includes our custom tuning, the Air Force One, and the Magnaflow cat-back exhaust system all at a low total delivered price including shipping - and each of those parts is the very best of their kind, the best quality , best warranty, and delivers the very best performance results. Just FYI -

Feel free to give us a call to go over this in more detail if you like, our number is listed below.

Best of luck whatever you decide!

 

Thanks Mike!

I will look into the Stage 1 Package. However, the reason I was going with the Gibson exhaust is because I didn't want anything too loud. I've heard that the Magna Flow is one of the loudest out there, how do you rate it?

 

I have the Gibson single cat back and regret it. I didn't know about this site at the time of purchase or I would have bought the Magnaflow. I think I actually lost a little torque with the Gibson. My 2 cents

 

Thanks for the input Orlando, I think I am going to go with the Magnaflow. I just liked the gibson dual side exit behind the pass side tire exhaust and I read that the gibson was a pretty quiet. I wasn't sure if magnaflow made the same style exhaust though so I just sent them an email to check if they make one, but either way I the gibson exhaust just got boot.

 

Hi Motor,

That's an excellent and *very* important question - I don't know anyone who would claim that the Magnaflow system for these vehicles is a "loud" exhaust - in fact, it's just the opposite. It's designed to be quiet, yet provide the best flow and still give a nice V8 tone, and our customers love it. Some of our youngest guys, those who are still into LOUD just for the sake of being LOUD, complain that it's not loud enough - go figure.

We test many parts for these trucks, as we do not accept manufacturers claims - many of them will say anything to make a buck, you know how that goes. Magnaflow simply does the best job in terms of not only peak HP gain, but most importantly, part-throttle torque at any rpm or throttle position, which is key for the driveability of these trucks - as you can see in the comment from the other post, Gibson, along with Flowmaster & many other other exhaust brands, can actually cause a *loss* of part-throttle torque and torque at lower rpms regardless of throttle position, even though they do gain some HP at wide-open throttle - this is due to a lack of proper flow engineering to speed up the spent exhaust gases when upsizing the tubing diameter, and this loss of torque is a very common complaint among F-150 owners (and many truck & SUV models in general) who install cat-back exhaust systems, so the choice there is important. All of our vehicles wear Magnaflow - every single one of them - simply because it does the best job.

Sound decibel level-wise, for those who want a quiet exhaust system that still delivers a nice V8 tone go with the classic 3" single Magnaflow cat-back system - that is also what is included in our Stage 1 kit, in fact. Most owners use these trucks for daily drives & occasional tow vehicles, so it's important to have the most available torque *all* the time, at any throttle position, speed or engine rpm - not just at WOT (wide-open throttle), and that particular Magnaflow system does the job best. Now Magnaflow also offers SIDO (Single In/Dual Out) systems that are a bit louder for those who want a bit more aggressive tone/look, and they even offer a Lightning-style dual outlet ahead of the right rear wheel opening, for those who want the loudest setup, or want the Lightning type of "look." So they make several different models for these vehicles, and what we recommend is the 3" SISO setup that comes in our Stage 1 kit. We don't have problems with them "droning" in the cabin, and that is the real consideration - what we call "droning."

So no, I would never call the Magnaflow a loud system, that's the one thing that are NOT known for - all our trucks wear Magnaflow, and I won't tolerate a LOUD exhaust, that's just not necessary from a performance improvement standpoint and spoils the smooth character of these 2004 & up new body style F-150 vehicles. So no problem there.

 

Thanks for all your help Mike! I am definetly going to go with the stage 1 set up but I am going to have to do it one part at a time (hard to justify spending that much money to the ol lady). I'll go with the Xcal II first! thanks again you'll hear from me soon.

 

You're very welcome - and don't worry about doing mods one at a time, that won't hurt the overall outcome one bit, and many people have to do that from a financial standpoint!

 

Need some help Mike. Was reading up on TSB 04-21-14 and was wondering if I needed to get my PCM reflashed or will the XCAL II with your custom tunes do the trick as well? I''ve already ordered the XCAL II with you guys and should be receiving it in the next couple of weeks... Thanks.

 

Hi SM,

No, I don't like to see those reflashes done unless it's really something serious - there's nothing they can really do that will improve inherent throttle response, etc. In fact, the only reflash we have seen worthwhile on the new body style F-150's was on some of the early 2004's, where the temperature display wasn't quite right, and it was fixed in an update (reflash) - like the BME8's & BME9's being reflashed to AGB1, AGB2, or AGB3, for example - those are OK. But that was only on early-build 2004's.

The bottom line is, we take care of any powertrain control issues in our custom tuning.

 

There are 911 MotorPsychos on this website?!! Everywhere else I am the one and only MotorPsycho, being an old (as dirt) Dylan fan. I show up here and MotorPsychos are everywhere! Oh well.

Ken I am going to call you on an Xcal2, but I'm curious. You mention tune as the best bang for the buck. Based on my much, much more limited experience and seat of the pants it has seemed to me that the order is intake, tune, exhaust.

I was more than pleased with the boost in mileage and power I got out of the Volant I installed on my 2004 5.4L F150. You are implying that the Xcal 2 will give me a more lasting grin?

 

i might have to disagree a bit with magnaflow provided THE best power results, although they r one of the best power producing muffler brands (I have magnaflow on my tbird). I believe Borla Pro XS series are the best power producing mufflers. But i dunno if borla even makes a kit for these trucks, and if they did, it would cost an arm and a leg.

 

They do, and it does!

 

Well...hate to be like everybody else but......after reading all of the post's about Troyer's Stage 1 pkg...I had to go for it......I called ...ordered....and wanted it overnighted for this weekend....then they told me about the paperwork...and the info I needed to fill out..... I guess I've gotta wait like everyone else......Let ya know how I made out after install

 

Got my Xcal2 today! Definitely noticed an increase in power! A definite must have upgrade! Thanks Troyer!