ok so i have a 2003 ford lightning, and i want to take and put on a crank pully to take and give me some more boost from the engine. how much boost is safe to add on top of stock boost pressure before i have to take and add other modifications to handle the boost. the crank pullys i was lookin at could add 4 - 8 psi of boost on top of stock boost psi. is it safe to add that much psi without doing any other modifications to the engine such as injectors or any of that garbage?

 

If I may be so bold as to quote Mr. Skelton:

"Click "search, then "advanced search," then enter your search term, then click "search titles only," then click "search now."

Everything that you ever wanted to know.

 

start with a 4#,filter, good tune, maf,tb, etc.....

 

Yeah man please do a search and you will be able to see YEARS of discussion on this and make an educated decision. if you are not astute enough to search on here you may want to leave the truck alone for a while.

 

If you add boost, you are going to need a custom program(tune,chip,programmer)to run safe and properly.Boost itself isnt going to make that great of a difference in power without a tune and it WILL ruin your engine.

It would also be a good idea to get an aftermarket intake.

Dont bother with any other mods until you want SERIOUS 500HP +. Trust me, after a chip/pully/intake, The cost factor drops from 100% worth price to 10%

dont get any throttle bodies or spacers or no other crap unless you are adding a new blower.Its all a waster of money.You will get NO seat of the pants difference.

On the other hand, if you do a chip/pully/intake, you will litterally ***** your pants difference.Thats no lie. Theres an INCREDIBLE amount of power in these trucks left behind from ford.Id say about 75-100 TRUE HP

There is NO other vehicle i know of that reacts to tuning like the lightnings NONE PERIOD!!!!! specially when you can add about 75 hp for 700 bucks!!!!

also, i reccomend a 6# pully for the maximum power stock block.NO MORE

put it this way.My trucks ran average of 13.8s@100 stock. with chip/pully intake they run 12.7s-12.9s@104

my new truck which has every bolt on to man runs 12.50s@108 (not much difference)

 

As suggested - use the "search" funtion here and spend a couple of hours getting the "live" experiences for free of dozens of users of various pulleys, etc - and then you'll be in the best position of making a good decison for yourself to best utilize your time and money and for what you expect to gain.

 

so if i get a #6 pully with an aftermarket intake on the truck i dont have to do any custom tuning or anything right? i can just leave everything else alone the way it is?

 

how do i do this search...where do i start? i dont see any search box

 

Wrong! You must get a tune when changing the pulley if you do not and run more boost you will be running dangerously lean and you will damage your engine. Call a tuner near you and they will be able help you out.

 

Here is a link to do a search!
https://www.f150online.com/forums/search.php

 

you won't be sorry if you get an XCal2/6# pulley/air intake. Any of the site sponsors can hook you up w/ a great tune via mail order but it's much safer to have your L dyno tuned to know the a/f ratio is in a good "spot". Also I'd highly recommend a FTVB and Ford 5.4 4x4 tranny pan. (search for ftvb....you'll come up with numerous threads.) PSP, JDM, JLP are just some of the great tuners you can go w/. Sam @ Coastal is good too if you're in that area. Also PSI Motorsports is a good place to go in/around Houston,TX.

-peace

 

relientk107 what everyone is saying is if you dont know the answer to your question "yet" (and believe me YOU WILL) that means you have not heard all the opinions and pro's and con's "yet" AND THERE ARE MANY.....

These days it's not as bad cause they dont make them anymore and not too many worry about their new car wrrnty. BUT go back 4-6 years and the biggest thing a new L owner would have to come to grips with is
#1 Kiss your wrrnty good bye the second you touch it
#2 there's a good chance your going to need Heads or a Motor eventually
#3 read #2 again and remember what you gave up in #1

So FIRST you need to understand the rules, BUT the good news is tuning has improved 10 fold over the years and any GOOD TUNER can keep you safe with 4-6 lbs of pulley, I recommend 4.

As said a Filter Tune N Pulley ='s instant 12 second Lightning so YES it's the right thing to do, and as also said dont waste your money on anything else yet. Good Luck and Welcome

 

If you up the boost you will also need a colder range spark plug!

besides the tune you need new plugs. NGK tr-6's or denso IT-22's would be perfect.