I drive the 2002 f-150 BOSS 5.4 edition and I have a Vortech Supercharger pushing 10 psi, Vortech fuel regulator, Headers, true dual, mass airflow sensor, K&N, and a few other little mods... I am not quite sure what the best chip or programmer would for this application. I can't find any chips that are compatible with the charger, and there are a few expensive programmers out there that look good. Anyone have a similar setup and some advise? Any idea how many horses I should be pushing with my mods? I have not had a chance to dyno it yet. Thanks for any advise.

 

Give Troyer Performance a call and talk to Mike about custom tuning. He’ll get the boss dialed in spot-on

SCT’s XCalibrator 2 loaded with a set of 3 Troyer Performance custom programs, available for any OBD-II FoMoCo vehicle 1996-2005

 

Hi BCB,

We have custom tuned literally hundreds of supercharged F-150's, and nobody can tell you exactly what your truck is making - and a dyno tells you only what that one dyno says at that one time - it may read 30 Hp different the very next day! It might be making 250 RWHP, or 280 RWHP (and of course, far more at the flywheel)

What you'll want to understand is that power is not some invariable number, nor are dynos dead-nuts accurate - they are a good approximation. Your power varies every day, significantly on a blower motor - you can easily make 30 Hp more one day and 25 Hp less the next. These computer controlled vehicles are more susceptible to all the normal atmospheric factors (temperature, humidity, baro, density altitude, etc.) than older carbureted engines. Just don't think of power as some absolute number - no matter what you do, your power will vary considerably from one day to the next, and from one dyno to the next.

What is required in your case is a proper review of it's mechanical configuration, and then proper custom tuning. That FMU needs to be taken off of there and correct size injectors installed along with proper tuning. FMU's (Fuel Management Units) are a dangerous device designed to lower the cost of superchargers to get more people to buy them - instead of installing the proper size fuel injectors and tuning the engine, the FMU is used to spike the fuel pressure forcing the stock puny 19# injectors to flow more fuel, and they tend to fail from time to time - it may last years, and it may last months, you never know. Best case, it does not provide consistent & even control of A/F ratios. I have personally seen numerous engines blown due to the FMU failing, or just it's vacuum line coming off - it only takes a couple of seconds to blow holes in pistons. Now of course, all I have to go on is what you posted, keep in mind, I have not seen your truck.

The problem is that apparently, your vehicle has not been datalogged, thus it could not possibly have been properly custom tuned. So you have no idea if it is safe or not - it may be very close to OK (for having an FMU), and then again, it may be running dangerously lean at heavy throttle but be OK elsewhere - we just don't know at this point. What we know at this point is that it has not blown up yet, and of course, that's great news

Please understand, I do NOT mean to put down what you have! You have a *very* cool truck there, and one that you have obviously spent a great deal of money on and that you care about deeply, and I congratulate you for that - it's just that as a professional tuner, I see some things that potentially concern me, and that need to be looked at.

If you would like to give us a call, I can go over with you exactly what is on the vehicle and then what it takes to get proper custom tuning so that you can get the power you should be getting from that setup. I would suggest giving us a call when you get a chance so we can go over everything in proper detail - we may find that a lot of things are perfectly fine, and that it simply needs proper injectors, getting rid of the FMU and then a competent tune - and we usually gain 25-40 RWHP when we do that on a supercharged F-150, just to give you a rough estimate.

I hope this brief info help,s & please do feel free to give us a call - and congrats on a great truck!

 

I have a 2001 4.6 supercrew with a Powerdyne supercharger at 10# of boost. Mike Troyer tuned the truck with 42# injectors and no FMU using a 90mm lightning mass air the overall drivability and power is much improved. This summer I added a vorteck air to water aftercooler that much improved the performance. I need to have some retuning done fot the set up as many things have changed in my set up, but all in all a custom tune is the only way to go.

There is more than just HP gains you will probably want to do a factory tech plate kit or valve body to the transmission and then the torque managment can be reduced in the tune to give you better shifts and transmission longevity, the trans will also run cooler. Mike has tuned many of these trucks with superchargers added so he definatly can help you're truck.

 

well, that's alot to absorb... but I needed to get the straight story. I purchased the truck with these mods already in place, and I'm not entirely sure what has gone into this truck. I got a great deal, and the truck runs great, and is in mint condition, so I went for it. How involved is the process of removing the fuel regulator, and putting in new injectors? Do I need new fuel pumps to go with them? How much will it cost? I know that getting the tuning down is as simple as calling you guys at Troyer, but the other aspects have to be taken care of down here in Florida. What is the "lightning 90mm mass air"? I want my truck to be safe, and last a few years. It hauls *** now, but i dont want to blow my engine. I guess I just need to call troyer and ask the questions.... but if anyone has any advise, please post it. I have been building mx bikes and crotch rockets for years, but the truck scene is all new to me. Thanks for looking out guys.

 

To be a safe tune you need 42# injetors and get rid of the FMU Just blowing a hose off can cause the FMU to go lean and torch the engine, may never happen but it could. If the truck has the stock fuel pump then yes it will need updated to atleast a 190# pump Not that hard to do. replace injectors? very easy can be done in 30 minutes. take off four bolts lift the fuel rail pull out the injectors lube the Orings on the new ones and reinstall. Remove the FMU as simple as removing the vacume line and pluging it, I would recomend totaly removing it all you do is disconect it from the original fuel return line, it's job is to restrict the fuel return to the tank which raises the fuel pressure from 40# to as much as 90# to fool the fuel injectors to flow more fuel. The 90mm mass air is a larger mass air that comes on the ford lightning it is a dependable piece that most tuners have very good transfer functions set up for there tunes. You're stock mass air will eletricaly run out of air flow and will not be able to tell the computer how much air is flowing into the engine and there fore it cannot properly adjust the fuel to the engine, the larger mass air can account for the larger demand and make the proper fuel and timing adjustments. As you said if you decide to make these changes you will have to call Mike and talk to him directly. He can supply all the parts and price everything as a package deal, with the tuning. Probably the best thing to do before even calling is get it to a dyno and have them dattalog timing, aircharge temp, open loop status, long term and short term fuel trims, and most importantly air/fuel ratio using a wideband O2 that way the person doing the tune can getan idea of what is going on. The only way you know if the truck is safe is by air/fuel ratio or exaust gas temperature. Hope this answered some of youre questions.

 

I got the whole enchilada from Mike. I have a 10lb procharger and I wanted a SAFE and RELIABLE tune. So I contacted Mike and he set me up with the larger injectors, MAF and 3 safe tunes for my Blown S'Crew. Yeah, it runs strong without these, but for optimum peace of mind I went to Mike. PS. The package deal is quite good

 

Hi bcb (badchargedboss),

Sorry about that, I knew it would be a lot to absorb - forgive me!

I just try to give you as much info as I can while still being brief, as I can only spend so much time typing. you know. It sounds like you picked up on a VERY nice and unique truck! Even though you bought it used, and thus may not know about some aspects of it, we can still easily help you with all of that, so don't let this overwhelm you.

I have no doubt that it seems to run fine, they usually do until a problem rears it's head. Most supercharger kits DO upgrade the stock fuel pump, so you should be OK there - and the data we'll get when you datalog it (and that is easy to, we'll go over all of that when you call us as well, don't worry!) will tell us that for sure. Worst case, upgrading the stock fuel pump is very inexpensive and is not hard to do - so don't let that part keep you up nights!

Removing the FMU and installing the larger injectors are not hard to do, either. Anyone with any kind of decent underhood experience can do it, or we cna even have you bring the vehicle here to us to have us do it, if you like - a lot of people do come a long way for us to do that. Or, we can work with a local shop in your area, like your local Ford dealership for example - we work with a LOT of people that way, where we will tell you what needs to be done, and we can talk directly with the Ford dealership mechanic doing the work etc., to make sure everything is copacetic.

Keep in mind that what we are talking about here are not MAJOR things in terms of difficulty or even expense, it's just that they are very important to insuring that your supercharger setup is reliable and safe for the engine long-term, and *that* is what all vehicle owners are most concerned about - some insurance against not having problems down the road that could have been avoided - and it's in that vein that I have been making some suggestions, please understand, it is not my intention to play "salesman" with you - we simply want what you want, a properly configured, tuned, and safe truck to have a ball in with a lot of power!

AS you can see from some of the other responses in this thread, they are other people with involved supercharged setups we have had the honor or getting squared away & properly tuned, getting FMU's of and using program injectors,m MAF & tuning, so that they are reliable and do not have the potential for problems that yo have with FMU's, stock injectors, Potentially questionable tuning, etc.

So whenever you get a chance, just give us a cal & we can go over everything with you in proper detail, get a chance to speak with each other a bit, fill you in on some things, etc., so you can get comfortable, etc.

Good luck & hope to speak with you at some point in the future!

 

Mike, and everyone else,
I just wanted to take a quick second to thank you guys for giving me some valuable input. I really appreciate that you would take the time to explain to me, in detail, what my suggested options are. Mike, I will call you for sure very soon, and I look forward to working with you are your company to get this truck tuned and happy... not to mention squeeze out a little bit more power. I will be in touch soon. Thanks!!!!

-Rob

(btw, customer service and communication are huge selling points for me, and you have exemplified both of those so far, and I'm not even a customer yet! Without trying to be a salesman, you still managed to sell me your service. I see why so many people look to your company for help.)

 

Hi Rob,

Thanks for your response, and for your very kind words - I hope we can live up to them for you!

Good luck & talk to you soon!