I was just wondering, what would be the best performance chip for a 2004 F-150 Lariat, 5.4l 24 valve triton. My main goal is to improve fuel economy, but of course extra power and torque would be nice as well.

 

The odds of improving fuel economy are slim.

I'd recommend a SCT device from one of the reputable tuning shops with custom tunes. Read some threads in this section for some of the good shops.

 

Here is a link from a previous thread:

https://www.f150online.com/forums/ch...rogrammer.html

Personally I am a fan of Bully Dog, but there are tons of offers and products out there.

 

Leave the Bully Dogs for the diesel guys. Their gas programmers are not very good.

That thread is 5 years old.

 

I just purchased (or ordered, it hasn't arrived yet) a Superchips Flashpaq for my '04 F150. Been hearing good things about the 87 octane tune. Claims to give you 25 more HP with 6K towing enhancement. Only thing that sucks is you have to pay $300+ for a one time use. Would be better if you could find a buddy with one that would work on your truck and use it for free, if you can actually do that...

 

Tuners are locked into one truck at a time.

 

Jim, does the tuner have to remain plugged into the trucks OBD in order for it to work? If not, how can it be locked into one truck?

 

I'm only familiar with SCT, Edge and Gryphon. They do not have to physically remain in the truck, although the Edge and Gryphon usually do so that you can take advantage of the gauges. The way they work is that when you go to load a new program, it downloads your stock program to the unit before it loads the new program to your truck. This locks the unit to your truck. The only way to unlock to unit is to reverse the process, putting the stock program back in the truck computer.

 

Bluejay, thank you for explaining. That does make sense, smart move by Superchips. They must have been advised by Bill Gates. Excellent marketing strategy.

 

Yep, we would all be sharing the same hardware and they would sell very few units.

 

Thanks for the input! I'll look into SCT and some of these others, after I figure out my check engine light, hopefully it doesn't break the bank or I won't be able to afford a chip

 

I have a superchips for my 08 F150, I haven't driven it tuned yet. I have personally used a superchips tuner on jeeps before and I had a noticeable difference, but didn't use superchips tuner aloe, as I am not on my truck.
On my jeep I had the tuner, Cold Air intake, Enlarged Throttle body and saw an improvement from 16 MPG to 21

On my truck I have a cat back SI/DO SS MBRP Exhaust, and Gotts intake mod Air in + Air out x tune should = ?we will see

 

The only thing I'm not liking about it is the best options require 91 octane fuel. Which would be fine, but I had just filled up with 87 the day I got the programmer.

 

That's why you get custom tunes, then you can have them written for whatever octane you want. Canned tunes, like what comes in the flashpaq are generic and don't offer as much hp gain as the customs do.

 

I've never heard of custom tunes, but I'm happy with the 87 octane tune for now. I adjusted tire size to 34.50 (which is the size of 325-60-R20 Terra Grapplers). I can tow up to 6000 LBS with this tune, and my RV weighs a bit less than that.

The thing that confuses me is the 2004 FX4 has a factory maximum tow rating of 9,500 LBS. So the 87 octane tune actually lowered the amount I can tow?