I need some help on choosing what kind of engine mods to do to my 05 F150 FX4 it has the 5.4 3 valve with a 3.73 rear axle ratio and the truck is very very slow I mean slow I have taken it back to the dealership 3 times and they cant find anything wrong with the truck It does not seem to have any power. And to make things worse I have just gotten out run by my friends 1994 GMC ext cab 4x4 that does not have any work done to the motor and has 180,000 miles on it pure emberasment so any help would be greatly appreciated Thanks in advance.

 

Call Mike Toyer... Its That Simple

 

By a 94 gmc 4x4 i dont think so, the truck are no speed demons but i had no problem smoking my friends 95 chevy 4x4 with the 5.7 beat him by like 5 or 6 truck lengths no *****.

 

Bullgator.....I have the same engine in my truck only with the 3:55. You don't know what slow is till you drive my truck lol

 

I have one more question what type of gas mileage are you guys getting the best that I have gotten to date is 12.6 on the highway on cruise going 75 mph I think that I may have gotten a bad truck from the factory it does not tow good and is (terribly slow) and gets awful gas mileage my brothers 2003 crew cab F150 4x4 is faster and has a lot more power and gets better gas mileage so what do you guys think that I should do ?

 

Some guys have good luck having their PCM re-flashed.

https://www.f150online.com/forums/sh...ight=pcm+flash

I average a little over 14 MPG on my '04 Screw 5.4 3.73 rear. Combo of city and highway. I've yet to take her on a long trip so right now 14 ish is my best. Right where it's rated to be.

Power seems good to me. I am thinking about a tuner and some tunes from Mike Troyer. Seems to get rave reviews from those who've already done it. Have some other stuff to get first though, but it's a viable option for you. Good luck man.

 

i have the same problem. my mpg is pretty below average here, the dealership doesnt want to do a thing about it. its not too slow, once you get the mass moving its definetly faster than my dads 00 scab 4x4. and theres NO way a 94 chebbie beat you unless you had ur foot on the brake. my 92 with a 5.7 would get passed my people pulling trailers...

 

HI Bullgator,

We can easily take care of that for you. Just spend a little time reading any of the MANY posts here from our customers who have had us tune their 5.4 3V trucks, and they all rave about it - These 300 HP 5.4 3V's (and a lot of other F-150's in general) in many cases cannot even make their stock RATED power levels, because the shift points are too low, or they cannot go open loop, cam timing issues, etc. We take care of all of that, and when we get thru with it, you still have full reliability, and do not endanger the powertrain. The transmission shifts FAR better, the top speed limiter is gone, and the truck will RESPOND to your right foot just as it's supposed to. And the inherent throttle lag that ALL these ETC (drive by wire) 2004 & newer new body style trucks have from the factory - that is gone, we take care of that, too.

In fact, we have specialized in tuning the F-150 platform longer than anyone else - period.

And contrary to what was posted no, Ford CANNOT add any significant power to that vehicle with some "dealer update" - that so-called "power gain" simply comes from clearing out the previous adaptive strategy adjustments, which does make the truck feel a bit peppier for a little while - and then it goes right back. They also make one other change on the very newest 2005's, which is to slightly raise the part-throttle upshift points a little bit - we know all of that as we have *every* single Ford factory PCM strategy - every one of them. And there isn't a single one of them we cannot blow away by a very significant among, in terms of horsepower, torque, throttle response, shift characteristics, powertrain response times, etc., etc. End of story.

So no, you CANNOT go to any Ford dealer and get some "performance" tune that is going to magically wake these trucks up like we do, that is a myth, plain and simple. And by the way, that is nothing new - that has been offered ever since the 2004 5.4 3V's first came out! It's not some "secret" that only is given to those who complain bitterly about a lack of power - and done only for those who don't like their performance. It's *nothing* compared to what we do - we have *many* customers who have done exactly that, and then had us tune their vehicle, and who went right back to their Ford dealer to tell them just how little they did for them - which is to say, darn near nothing compared to what we do.

For example, we have gained as much as 37 HP and 60 lbs.ft of torque at the rear wheels on just 87 octane (thought 25 HP & 50 lb/ft. is more normal) - and upwards of 50 HP and over 80 lbs./ft. of torque at the rear wheels on premium gas!! As well as cure the horrible lag in throttle response they all have from the factory - and NO Ford calibration is going to do that. Sorry, it just isn't going to happen.

Bullgator, if you really want to get the truck you paid for, give us a call and we will wake that truck up and make it perform like it should have (actually much better) from the factory - it's very easily done, and we also provide you with a set of 3 different *custom* tunes set up for exactly how you need to use that vehicle & how you want it to feel & perform - that is what we have been specializing in for 14+ years now, longer than anyone else.

So don't worry, you CAN in fact have a vehicle that is a LOT more fun and far more responsive to to drive, we can easily take care of that for you - don't despair, that can easily be done.

Thanks for your post, & best of luck whatever you decide!

 

Mike, let me ask this question, then.

If you can *chip* a stock truck and get those kind of gains, why doesn't Ford do it at the factory for all of 'em?

Thanks.

 

That's an *excellent* question that has been asked & answered many many times here before - so using the SEARCH feature is the best way to get all the details on that.

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

Automakers in general tend to "dumb down" these vehicles for what they think is the lowest common denominator, and whatever they think will help them sell the highest number of vehicles - not what will give the the best performance, throttle response, driveability, etc. this process automatically means that not many owners are going to be perfectly happy with every aspect of these vehicles from the factory.

For just one very obvious example, they do things that I personally find insulting all in their effort to make these vehicles more appealing to women, ever since they found out 10-145 years ago that women buy more than half of all new vehicles sold in this country, and that women are involved in the purchasing decision over 70% of the time - so they have done things that have really hurt performance and throttle response, shift characteristics, etc., in their efforts to make them "smoother," etc.

There are many reasons why they do what they do, all of which takes far too long to type - so I suggest using the SEARCH feature here to read any of our dozens upon dozens of pasts post about this topic over the past 8 years here, and you'll get an idea of why they do what they do.

Remember - there has *never* been *any& vehicle built "perfect" for everyone form the factory - everyone wants to make their vehicles unique, and improve them in some ways - sometimes in VAST ways. For example, I would *never* think of driving on of these new body style 2004/2005 5.4 3V trucks in stock trim the way they run from the factory, with their utterly pitiful power, throttle response, shifting, lack of powertrain response, cumbersome handling, etc., that would *never* satisfy me or anyone else remotely considering themselves an "automotive enthusiast."

And each one of my 13 Corvettes has been the exact same way - they need ported heads, cams, better brakes, tires, wheels, superchargers, and many other things to make them what *I* feel they must be to suit me - that's the joy of individuality, and no country is an individual about their vehicles as America is.

It's the age old game of personalizing your vehicle to the manner in which YOU want it - not what someone's hired help dictated to you - you know?

And personally, I can't imagine anyone being pleased with every aspect of every F-150 that's ever rolled off the line - 4x4, Lightning, Harley, or otherwise. Given just how much room for improvement there is, there's no way I will ever drive a STOCK F-150 for any purpose OTHER than accumulating data/doing R&D to improve our enhancements, so that these vehicles are actually improved, rather than badly compromised.

 

Mike, I've spent MUCH time wandering through previous posts on chips and tuning. I can work the *search* function better than most, I bet.

Still, for life of me, I cannot figure out why ANY automaker would not want any vehicle to roll of the line that does not get the best gas mileage AND the most performance out of their engines. If a chip can produce those results, why in the world would ANY maker settle for less?

Now, I understand individuality. That's why these guys like to drop, raise, modify exhausts, use different tire sizes, grill billets, fancy paint jobs, tricked out stereo systems, Efans, underdrive pulleys, etc, etc...........

But for a automaker to NOT adjust the engine for *peak* performance plus optimum gas mileage with a pure stock truck using minimum octane levels is beyond what I've perused through here, or any other automaker forum for that matter.

I can't quite put my finger on it, but something just don't smell right.

Thanks for taking time to respond, though.

Joey

 

Hey mike I have a 2001 f-15 4x4 5.4 v8 and it seems to suffer from alot of the same symptoms that bullgator has. Some days it just feels like the truck doesnt have alot of power and othersd i dont really notice it. Also i used to be able to do burnouts, and i cant do them anymore. Im not sure why this is. but i noticed that my truck needs some pep..

you got me covered??

 

Hi laxwarrior013;

If all your maintenance has been exemplary up 'till now ( and not the factory's definition of scheduled PM ), you're running quality fuels, truck is not throwing codes, etc... you've come to the right place. He sure woke mine up ;-)).

Cheers!
Vic

 

Joey,

I suggest that you bone up on your SEARCH skills then, to retrieve any of my literally *hundreds* of past posts here over the past 8 years about that exact topic - that info is in fact here and after the first hundred times or so, I refer everyone to the search feature.

I doubt the Webmaster has removed that info, to the best of my knowledge everything that I have ever posted here is still here - but how knows, maybe he archived some of it - at any ate, I cant' take the time to explain it all over again for the 102nd time.

There are also MANY other threads here - MANY- where many other people have also discussed this exact topic before, so you CAN find that info if you work at it.

Good luck!

 

Hi laxwarrior,

Sounds like you've pounded on that truck pretty hard (like most of us), and may not have not really serious maintenance that hot-rodded trucks MUST have to stay on tip-top running conditions. Drive it like a race car & you have to *maintain* it like a race car, you know?

That is NOT a 3400 lb Mustang, it is a 3 TON pickup truck, so it;s not going to light up the tires every time.

And one VERY important thing to remember is that your truck will make 30-40 HP more HP in say, 60 degree weather (or less) and 50% humidity compared to what it will make in 95 degree weather at 85% humidity, it's a HUGE difference - humidity not only reduces oxygen content in the air stream thus reduce power, but it also makes it FAR harder for the ignition system to cut the plasma trail that the spark must follow to actually create a spark!

How old are the plugs, what kind, and at what gap? How old are the coil packs? The fuel filter? When was the last time you cleaned the MAF meter's hot wire apparatus or cleaned out the entire EGR tract properly? How old are the O2 sensors, original (most likely)?

See, you can't do that and expect the truck to run well, all those items and many more have to be replaced on a frequent basis if you want maximum performance, driveability and fuel mileage from that vehicle.

Now to give you a proper answer to your question (and sorry to go on, but I need to point out some things hat so many of us truck owners take for granted), YES!!!

My custom tuning certainly will "have you covered" ion terms of giving you a significant power & performance gain - but it cannot make up for a tired transmission nor an engine that has been driven like a race car without getting race-car level maintenance - you get my point, I'm sure.

Please understand I don't mean to sounds like a jerk or a smart alek, not at all!! I just have to point out these kinds of things when I see that kind of post, as there are many things that make power go up and down that just don't seem obvious to most vehicles owners, - that's all -so I hope I explained this with a little bit of humor.

Just give us a quick call at our number listed below & we'll be happy to set you up with tuning that will light a fire under that truck for you!