Well, after reading a bunch in the Exhaust and Intake forums, I have to say that I'm as confused as ever as to what direction I want to take my truck.

I received my Gryphon from PHP today, and being a previous Edge owner, I knew exactly what to expect. I have not yet put in a request for custom tunes yet, as I want to make sure I have my truck completely the way I want it before I give Bill my custom request. I do think that I've narrowed my choices down to 3 basic options however.

First, my truck specs:

- 2004 (non-Heritage) XLT Regular Cab 4x2
- 5.4L
- 3.73 gears

Option #1 - Do nothing.
I would just leave the vehicle stock as it is and have custom tunes put on. I would really like an 87 or 89 performance tune as well as a tune for improved fuel economy. The only problem going with this route is that I feel that I'm kind of wasting my $$$ with custom tuning if I haven't really made any CAI/exhaust changes to my truck.

Option #2 - Add CAI intake only.
Heck, if anything, they look and sound cool. I'd probably be going with either an S&B or an AF1, and the ~$250 price tag isn't too horrible. The only problem here is that everyone seems to agree that to get the most out of a CAI, performance exhaust is a necessity, which brings me to:

Option #3 - Spend the $$$ and get both.
My only problem with this (other than spending close to 1K total between CAI and exhaust) is that 1) I actually kind of like the quietness of the stock exhaust (though I suppose a little rumble wouldn't hurt) and 2) having a regular cab, my exhaust choices are limited as most everything is for Screws or Scabs. I'd probably end up going with Magnaflow if I went this route.

So there you go, I'm sure there's no right or wrong answers, but would be happy to hear any suggestions that you guys have.

Thanks!
Jon

 

My truck is stock except for the K&N dropin and a Flowmaster muffler installed at a muffler shop. I have the 87 Perf and 93 Perf and in no way do I feel they are wasted.

You don't have to order an exhaust system. Go to a shop.

 

i have a gryphon with the 87 perf tune and i have a bone stock screw 5.4 and even with nasty cheapy 3.55 gears. all i really got is a gibson exhaust. and wow, i do not whatsoever feel i wasted a cent. go for it dude!

i'm keepin her stock because theres other places i could pour money into right now besides truck mods that only give like 2hp. at least the tuner gives at least 35rwhp!

tuners rock!

 

These are really your only two options. CAI only will lean out the truck.

You've got the Gryphon and canned tunes made for your stock setup. Since you've already paid for the custom tunes, why not get the CAI (and exhaust?) and actually warrant the tunes?

My vote is for #3.

 

Get both if you don't you will regret it and probably end up doing it anyway. Save up the money and get them done at the same time that way Bill can tune for it.

You can have both for around $500. ~$300 for the intake and $200 or so at the muffler shop to have them replace the stock muffler and put you a nice tip on the end.

 

A good muffler shop will be able to hook up a single in/dual out exhaust to your trucks OEM pipes, and then fabricate and hang a second pipe to run from the muffler, over the axle, and out the other side.

 

I was(am) in the same dilema as you!
EXCEPT.....
I HAVE exhaust SI/SO dumped aft axle, I HAVE an edge evo(and am now awaiting my upgrade to a gryphon) and I HAVE a volant intake.
I didn't know i was running lean while using everything, or that I could run lean. And my edge didn't ever throw any codes. So, I assumed my lean condition was causing my irratic idle and my truck to stall while idling??? resulting in my throttle body going bad.. I could be wrong but thats the best theory i have??
so I had my TB replaced. leading me to seek Bills tunes. He said he can work it out so everything can work together, and remove SOME of the drone that intakes are known to do. not all but SOME.
Soooo... I jumped into all these performance mods and didn't anticipate them to conflict or cause problems?? Ultimately I was wrong, and now know my mods don't play nice together and my lack of mechanical knowledge shows!
Now I'm waiting on my remedy from Bill!!
custom tunes! and then i can be a proud PHP customer!

 

sorry i forgot to add.
If you already own the gryphon and haven't requested your custom tunes maybe you can wait?
or better yet talk to bill..
YAH i know everyone say to talk to him.. but thats the best way to get questions answered!

 

the only exhaust mod deeming tuning may be lt headers and if the location of your o2 sensors were moved-adding a cai on a 04+ in my book is a definite red flag 4 custom tuning

 

Pick either the AF1 3-inch or S&B and have it custom tuned for. So #2. Exhaust isn't going to do that much.

 

care to elaborate? or share why? I'm curious?
thanks
Graham

 

Get the intake now and have the tune made. The exhaust doesn't make a difference in tuning, it'll be the same unless you're getting rid of the cats and longtubes etc. So get the intake, the tunes, than get exhaust down the road if you want. The Magnaflow cat backs are pretty quiet IMO.