Hi Folks
I've got a 02 F150 7700 scab that is primarily a tower and a hauler. I'm starting to think about mods and I have a few questions.

1) Will a superchip effect the longevity of my drivetrain. Will the higher shift points and increased performance wear down my engine, trans, etc. faster? (I'd like to get at least ten years at ten thousand miles/year)

2) Do I want to keep my stock exhaust? It seems most of the info I get from this great site says that an aftermarket exhaust will cause me to lose some tourque to gain some HP and some noise. This isn't an option. I need my tourque.

3) Will I realize any significant performance gains from An FIPK if I DON'T go to a freer flowing exhaust?

Thanks
I gotta feeling this site is going to cost me alot of money.

 

Hi Bumpkin,

You've asked some very good questions there, and certainly very important to anyone with an expensive new F-150, etc.!

1.) Well, not really, but kinda/sorta. You'll generally see a little bit longer service life from the friction materials inside the automatic transmission (bands & clutches), thanks to reduced slippage from our improved shift characteristics. No, there is no negative impact on driveline longevity in general, which is I think your real concern. What matters far more than an engines potential peak power output when pushed to the limit is how the vehicle is actually operated and maintained. There is no reduction in basic powertrain service life from using the Superchip.

2.) You can keep your factory exhaust if you like, you do not have to change it to use the Superchip. You're right about the vast majority of cat-back exhaust systems giving HP gains but also causing a loss in torque from idle thru about 3000 rpm, just what these heavy vehicles don't need. However, there is one cat-back system we've found that won't do that, that will give more torque at any throttle position & rpm, that is the Magnaflow system. If you'd like details on that, just give us a shout, our contact info is below.

3.) Yes, you're always going to see power gains from reducing the significant amount of restriction in the air intake tract of these vehicles, even without an exhaust.

That having been said, you will see the most out of each of these 3 modifications by doing them all (chip, intake & exhaust), as they work very well together as a package to compliment each other: Superchip, Air Force One intake, and the Magnaflow cat-back exhaust. But that doesn't mean you *have* to do any of them to do any other, we have some people who only do the Superchip, and some people who will do everything including a supercharger and everything in between.

You can do all of those modifications, or none of them, 1, 2, or all 3, that is up to you. Each of them will add power on their own, and in conjunction with each other as well.

You might want to give us a call to go over this in detail, as the exact components you select will certainly have an impact on just how happy you are with the results. The exhaust is a biggie, as you pointed out due to the potential loss of torque, but that is avoided with the right system.