I moved to Denver and noticed a marked change in performance of my 03 F150 Fx2 4.6L SuperCrew. Sluggish on small hills, a dog in the mountains with no load. Current gpm is 17. Can't afford to trade to fx4 right now.
A friend has suggested I consider the following:
* install the K&N Cold Air Intake
* buy programmer and reconfigure
* Flowmaster exhaust
Question; is the above worth the $$$? should i consider doing all or some of the above?
If exhaust system is recommended, what configuration should i do, dual exhaust off the engine, or just downstream of the catalytic converter. $&*#@?

Any suggestions or help is greatly appreciated!!

 

A programmer will give you the most boost out of anything, kind of pricey though. Wish I had the money for one. The flowmaster isn't the best choice for added power, since you're trying to get more out of your truck I would go with a magnaflow or dynomax muffler, or any brand that has a straight through design,I think flowmaster is mostly for sound, others will disagree though.

 

Thanks for the advice.........any thoughts towards the intake

 

Are you really using 17 gallons of gas per mile (gpm)? J/K

If you spent $1000-1500 on all those mods you listed plus electric fans, you'd be lucky to get 1mpg better. 18mpg vs. 17mpg @ $3/gallon gas will save you $1000 of your investment in mods after 102k miles. Oh, and you'll be buying premium fuel with a superchip, which makes it even less cost effective.

17mpg for any F-150 is pretty darn good. Sell it and buy something more fuel efficient if you cannot afford the gas.

 

Sorry 'bout that...........it's (17 mpg) just a typo. I realize so many complaints are with mpg but you mis-understood the issue............truck is sluggish at mile high altitude and reduced power on hills is the issue. if i want great milage i'd back the deisel VW out of the garage at 48 mpg.

 

Your best bet is to call Mike up at Troyer Performance. Talk to him and tell him what your complaints are and what your budget looks like and see what he can set you up with. Just because you buy a programmer doesn't mean you HAVE to use premium. (Custom tuning with the XCal2) Mike can custom tune your truck to fit YOUR individual needs, desires, and uses. (and yes, he has custom tuned trucks that live at high altitudes, such as yours) He will probably tell you that the best intake for your truck is gonna be an AirForce1 intake kit. I like the magnaflow exhaust systems...but that's all a matter of personal preference.

His number is (540) 862.9515.

 

Fiisrt off you do not have to run 91 or better with a chip. I would look at the edge tuner or xcal2 from mike. The edge gives you good performance with a lower price. Mikes will give you a custom tune so you can get the max out of the truck. I have the edge on my 4.6L and just love the power. I do run it on level 3 with 93 octane and it cost about $5 more to run it. I get some better gas mileage (if I keep my foot out of it) so its a wash. The exhaust and intake want do to much for you unless you do a tuner.

Now if late you plan on getting another truck the xcal2 can be programed for it down the road.

 

you said you moved up to denver right? I would start by unplugging that battery for an a few minutes, with the headlights on. Completely drain the trucks stored power. Turn off headlights, plug battery back in. The computer will retrain its self for the higher altitudes, and less oxygen.

And you can get a chip or tune that has a 87 performance, or 87 max towing, should help you out if you want to stay with regular grade gas.

You could buy an aftermarket intake, but its much easier to just mod the stock one, for similar results and less cost. Also agree on a straight through flow type muffler, also refered to a turbo or bullet design muffler.
-Patrick

 

I agree, if you can afford it go with the programmer, and then intake and exhaust to support it.

 

While there are performance chips that use 87 oictane, they don't provide much more power. They do improve shifting a lot, though. The power comes from more energy content fuel and the tune to take advantage of it.

Since you have a 4x2, I say change your rear diff gear. If you have 3.55, go to 4.10. $500 and nothing will improve your acceleration more, not even a chip.

 

I am in Denver also. I don't have any problem with power but I have an 05 XLT 5.4 373. I did put on a magnaflow, volant and I do have an edge tuner. The altitude does kill a good amount of HP but with the above additions it has sure helped. I run 85 octane when on level 2 and 87 octane when on level 3. It's a total waste of $$ if you go on higher octane because of the altitude. What part of Denver are you in? I'm in SE Aurora.

 

I'm in Castle Rock and absolutely love it here. Would like to find someone around here that has a programer for my ford that i could borrow for a day. Lunch provided.!

 

x2
4.10s with street-sized tires (285-60R18).
Second-best mod I ever did, right after the blower.
Torque multiplicaition is a very good thing.
And I didn't notice an MPG penalty. These trucks are pigs.

Also, I'd have your MAF checked out to make sure the baro function (barometric pressure) is OK. Mine went bad and didn't throw a code.

Way back in the day, this happened to me. Truck was a dog, couldn't figure it out. My AutoTap won't check baro readings, but my buddy's Snap-On scan gauge could...and it was giving a wacky reading. A new MAF from Autozone fixed it.