Wow! What a great site! I've been lurking for a few days, reading like a nut and I think it's time I pose my direct question.

I just bought a 1998 F150 4x4 Supercab (automatic) with the 4.6L v8. It has 86000 miles and it's in great shape. As far as I can tell, the only modification is the exhaust. It's dual pipe (but not true dual exhaust) and it sounds great though I can't say for sure if it's an aftermarket muffler/cat. (Haven't gotten under it to look yet.)

It has great pickup in the mid range for passing and whatnot (but I wish it would downshift quicker.) However, it can't smoke the tires on dry pavement Hence this post.

I've been pretty much sold on an xcal2 from Troyer as being the best single upgrade I can make. I will probably throw an aftermarket intake into the mix as well but I don't know for sure which one.

What I need to know is, given my rather simple goal of smoking the tires off the line, am destined for dissapointment? Will a 4.6 smoke without major modification or should I sell this one and find a 5.4? Truth be told, I really don't technically need to "smoke" my tires, since I am not a big fan of buying new tires all the time. I really just want to have enough power to be dangerous if neccessary.

Thanks for any experience you 4.6 owners can offer.

 

I just took a quick look at numbers and I think the 98s is the same 4.6 motor in the 05s. (Except drive by wire throttle). I have flowmaster single in dual out 40 series, K&N cold air intake, and a superchips programmer. From factory I couldn't hardly bark the tires even on wet pavement. I had a limited slip rear end 3:55. With everything added above I could spin them really good on wet pavement and bark them, even some times do a little burning. Keep in mind our trucks are very heavy in my case 4 wheel drive, supercab. I changed my final drive to a 4:10 (ford racing gears) limited slip with stock tires. The truck feels like it has an extra 20hp off the line just by the simple gear swap 1500 bucks well spent. Now it will really do some good barking. Please note still not a 5.4 motor but for a 4.6 dang good. So my advice to you is a tuner is a good place to start and leaves you open for many changes gear swaps, bigger tires etc. Good luck hope this mini review of mods help

 

Thanks for relaying your experience brown255. I wonder, can you get the same performance boost from one of the cheaper custom chips that Troyer offers? For example;
http://www.troyerperformance.com/cgi...catalogno=5500

 

Id check into some gears too.

Before I put on the bigger tires I could smoke mine. I can still get my new bigger tires to bark sometimes, and if there is a little bit of gravel on the pavement right where I stop, I can leave some pretty decent black marks (ok, one black mark-open diff) down the road just from nailing it. And I mean just a few pebbles right under the tire, and no more on the road. Maybe you just need to start with a tune up (plugs, wires, cleaning stuff, etc)?
I guess gears and tires can make all the difference in that though.

Id sure think you would be able to smoke them after those mods.

You will get the same amount of power from the cheaper 5500 chip as you will with one of the more expensive programmers. It still has Mikes custom tuning, just not all the fancy stuff the programmers have (user adjustability, code puller, etc). For data-logging and other changes you would have to send the chip back to Mike though, instead of being able to get it through an email I believe.

 

I am beginning to wonder if it's going to take a supercharger to get what I'm looking for

Argh! I am starting to geek out over this way too much! It's like I used to be with my PC's! I knew I should have just kept driving my 94 Isuzu Pickup. No expectations, no stress, just putt along... Nah!

 

I've got a '98 4.6L, SCAB 4x4 with 215,000 miles, stock size tires, and I can chirp pretty good off the line. Intake and exhaust is mildly upgraded. But you can power brake the chit out of these trucks. I can sit in one place and roast them all day (3.55 LS) if I break traction by power breaking. But as someone mentioned above, it's just too damn expensive to do that....

 

Great line.
I can smoke mine all the way through 1st gear.

 

Hey jmcmike,

I have a dang near brand new #6600 SuperChip which is the step above the one you linked to. The info on this chip is on page 2 on Troyer's site (item #SCT6600). It is a 4 custom tune compatible (plus stock tune), which you can literally change between tunes with the flip of a switch. I had it for 4 days, but my '97 F150 threw a rod before I could use it. (It had 137,000 miles on it + me driving like idiot = busted rod)

I cannot use it anymore because I am in a '05 STX and the PCM's are different so I gotta go with the X-Cal II (on order). It's yours for $150.00 if you'd like. That's over half off the price! I will cover the shipping cost to you, too. You'd have to get it retuned from Mike again for a small fee unless you have the computer code HAV4.

So, if interested, feel free to email me at capitalist@neb.rr.com or I can email you my phone number.

Good luck in whatever you choose, you can't lose.

 

Check your email.