From the overated claims file...
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Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 10
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From: Beautiful Idaho
Yeah, if Ford built my "351 Boss" Triton motor, then they could stick it in my new for 2004 F200 Supercrew! Yeah, I made that up, it's the name I gave for my other idea, take a F150 7700 Package truck, put on the Supercrew Cab and extend the frame rails to the rear to accept the standard extended cab short box bed, like 6. .5 feet, instead of the Screws 5.5? I'd call the it the F200 Super Crew!
All the versatility of the full size 4 doors with the convenience and cargo capacity of the standard short bed. And of course with 3/4 ton running gear and my new 5.8 Boss motor.
If Ford built this truck, I'd be out the door right now.
All the versatility of the full size 4 doors with the convenience and cargo capacity of the standard short bed. And of course with 3/4 ton running gear and my new 5.8 Boss motor.
If Ford built this truck, I'd be out the door right now.
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Joined: Mar 1998
Posts: 13,385
Likes: 4
From: Virginia
Hi misteramx,
Are we correct in assuming by that name that you are or were the owner of an original AMC AMX? Just curious, as I love those AMX's, & a fellow I did some business with back in the 70's was the first to put a steel-body AMC car into the 10's in the 1/4 mile, back when the Dead Sea was still sick.
Some of your points are well taken, but there are much better companies to deal with, us for one. We test many parts, and instead of carrying every brand we carry only what actually works best. A top-shelf performance package will in some cases add even more power from the sum of it's parts than what those same parts will do individually, so there are indeed situations when the gains are indeed cumulative just as JMC pointed out in his post.
You're absolutely right in that a lot of mods you cannot just add up their individual respective gain claims and have that total be what you'll get. There are far too many variables, such as vehicle condition, fuel quality, altitude, and all the atmospheric data (weather alone is a *huge* factor in computer controlled vehicles), all of which has a large impact on power made & power gained. Add to that the fact that with some manufacturers, what you're getting is a best case scenario, or the gains were from an engine that wasn't stock (intake manifolds & cylinder heads are an excellent example), and on and on, there are all kinds of games that are played.
One of the biggest problems are people thinking that the word "dyno" actually means some kind of mythically accurate device whose numbers are correct andf factual, when in reality the truth is very far from that in far too many cases. The difference between inertia & eddy current chassis dynos alone is huge, add to that the varying levels of experience of the actual dyno operators & techniques & methods used to do the actual pulls, and it all adds up to a lot of potential for large discrepancies & errors.
One of the things different about us is that we do as much testing as we reasonably can, and some of our customers are right here every day reporting back their results, drag strip numbers, mpg numbers, acceleration tests, as well as dyno data. Out of all of that, I place dyno power numbers last in terms of value, as that is where it rates in our years of experience. I do like to see A/F's from dyno pulls, but the peak power numbers themselves don't always mean a lot. I'm far more concerned with the shape of the curve, the area under the curve, and the A/F's & actual performance of the vehicle versus it's weight & aero load.
JMC mentioned Neal the HP Freak in his post, a fellow who is a long time F-150 Online member & a customer of ours, as an example of how the parts he has obtained from us have indeed hit their numbers and then some. Our tuning alone gave him over 6 tenths off his 1/4 mile times, for example. A few people give Neal a hard time, mostly because they can't believe he's got a 2-ton+ pickup truck capable of ripping off low 14 second ET's in the worst Summer heat (despite numerous videos of his runs being posted), and quicker in cooler weather with traction. That truck is easily capable of dipping below the 14.0 mark, and that's in naturally aspirated trim with no porting of the cylinder heads, stock crank, rods & pistons. He's one of the best examples here of the modifications that we provide living up to their potential, and there are many more.
The pistons in both the 4.6 and the 5.4 F-150 motors (non-Lightnings) in these F-150's are fine up to about 450 horsepower even with a supercharger, as long as it's tuned correctly. We have literally *hundreds* of F-150's with superchargers added that don't have any engine or transmission problems at all, and see normal 130K+ mile service lives. In the 5.4 motor for example, it has a beautiful forged steel crank capable of handling in excess of 800 hp, the 5.4 rods are good for about 550 hp, and the cast pistons are high silica content units (for heat tolerence)good for an easy 450 hp. Of course, this is all assuming proper tuning, a crucial element.
It *is* possible to bolt on another 75 to 100 horsepower and even more on these motors with "bolt-on" modifications in naturally aspirated trim (no nitrous, no supercharging). Of course, you have to know what you're doing, you have to know these engines and what they can actually take, the thickness of the top ring land on these pistons in the 4.2 V-6 as well as the 4.6 & 5.4 V-8's is one issue of concern particularly in a supercharged configuration, even moreso for nitrous of course.
The bottom line is there are in fact *plenty* of great modifications that can be done to these vehicles to significantly improve the performance and even fuel mileage, to a lesser extent. Like anything else, you either need to be extremely knowledgeable about this platform and the various parts available, or what makes much mroe sense, working with someone who is an expert in these matters, which is what most people do. We have people who come to us with their brand new F-150 and want another 60 hp, or another 150 hp, or who want to get into the 13's in the 1/4 mile, or who want to road race & do all kinds of things you'd never normally think of a pickup truck or SUV as being that kind of vehicle. Overall, more often than not we're dealing with the normal daily driver that simply needs better performance for all-around driving as well as towing, etc., while maintaining their warranty and 50-state emissions certification. We do it all, from mild to wild, whatever each individual wants.
If you'd like to get a realistic idea of just what can be done with these vehicles, please feel free to give us a call, we'll be happy to go over this with you.
Good luck!
Are we correct in assuming by that name that you are or were the owner of an original AMC AMX? Just curious, as I love those AMX's, & a fellow I did some business with back in the 70's was the first to put a steel-body AMC car into the 10's in the 1/4 mile, back when the Dead Sea was still sick.
Some of your points are well taken, but there are much better companies to deal with, us for one. We test many parts, and instead of carrying every brand we carry only what actually works best. A top-shelf performance package will in some cases add even more power from the sum of it's parts than what those same parts will do individually, so there are indeed situations when the gains are indeed cumulative just as JMC pointed out in his post.
You're absolutely right in that a lot of mods you cannot just add up their individual respective gain claims and have that total be what you'll get. There are far too many variables, such as vehicle condition, fuel quality, altitude, and all the atmospheric data (weather alone is a *huge* factor in computer controlled vehicles), all of which has a large impact on power made & power gained. Add to that the fact that with some manufacturers, what you're getting is a best case scenario, or the gains were from an engine that wasn't stock (intake manifolds & cylinder heads are an excellent example), and on and on, there are all kinds of games that are played.
One of the biggest problems are people thinking that the word "dyno" actually means some kind of mythically accurate device whose numbers are correct andf factual, when in reality the truth is very far from that in far too many cases. The difference between inertia & eddy current chassis dynos alone is huge, add to that the varying levels of experience of the actual dyno operators & techniques & methods used to do the actual pulls, and it all adds up to a lot of potential for large discrepancies & errors.
One of the things different about us is that we do as much testing as we reasonably can, and some of our customers are right here every day reporting back their results, drag strip numbers, mpg numbers, acceleration tests, as well as dyno data. Out of all of that, I place dyno power numbers last in terms of value, as that is where it rates in our years of experience. I do like to see A/F's from dyno pulls, but the peak power numbers themselves don't always mean a lot. I'm far more concerned with the shape of the curve, the area under the curve, and the A/F's & actual performance of the vehicle versus it's weight & aero load.
JMC mentioned Neal the HP Freak in his post, a fellow who is a long time F-150 Online member & a customer of ours, as an example of how the parts he has obtained from us have indeed hit their numbers and then some. Our tuning alone gave him over 6 tenths off his 1/4 mile times, for example. A few people give Neal a hard time, mostly because they can't believe he's got a 2-ton+ pickup truck capable of ripping off low 14 second ET's in the worst Summer heat (despite numerous videos of his runs being posted), and quicker in cooler weather with traction. That truck is easily capable of dipping below the 14.0 mark, and that's in naturally aspirated trim with no porting of the cylinder heads, stock crank, rods & pistons. He's one of the best examples here of the modifications that we provide living up to their potential, and there are many more.
The pistons in both the 4.6 and the 5.4 F-150 motors (non-Lightnings) in these F-150's are fine up to about 450 horsepower even with a supercharger, as long as it's tuned correctly. We have literally *hundreds* of F-150's with superchargers added that don't have any engine or transmission problems at all, and see normal 130K+ mile service lives. In the 5.4 motor for example, it has a beautiful forged steel crank capable of handling in excess of 800 hp, the 5.4 rods are good for about 550 hp, and the cast pistons are high silica content units (for heat tolerence)good for an easy 450 hp. Of course, this is all assuming proper tuning, a crucial element.
It *is* possible to bolt on another 75 to 100 horsepower and even more on these motors with "bolt-on" modifications in naturally aspirated trim (no nitrous, no supercharging). Of course, you have to know what you're doing, you have to know these engines and what they can actually take, the thickness of the top ring land on these pistons in the 4.2 V-6 as well as the 4.6 & 5.4 V-8's is one issue of concern particularly in a supercharged configuration, even moreso for nitrous of course.
The bottom line is there are in fact *plenty* of great modifications that can be done to these vehicles to significantly improve the performance and even fuel mileage, to a lesser extent. Like anything else, you either need to be extremely knowledgeable about this platform and the various parts available, or what makes much mroe sense, working with someone who is an expert in these matters, which is what most people do. We have people who come to us with their brand new F-150 and want another 60 hp, or another 150 hp, or who want to get into the 13's in the 1/4 mile, or who want to road race & do all kinds of things you'd never normally think of a pickup truck or SUV as being that kind of vehicle. Overall, more often than not we're dealing with the normal daily driver that simply needs better performance for all-around driving as well as towing, etc., while maintaining their warranty and 50-state emissions certification. We do it all, from mild to wild, whatever each individual wants.
If you'd like to get a realistic idea of just what can be done with these vehicles, please feel free to give us a call, we'll be happy to go over this with you.
Good luck!