Hey guys I need some advise. Combined most of you have tried just aboput everything. I own a 1998 F-150 ext-cab 4.6L 5-speed. I currently am running 265/75/R16 tires. Other than the tires the truck is stock. What upgrades do you suggest for make the truck run better? Where is the cheapest place to get parts? In what order would you do the upgrades? I want to do several upgrades, but I can only afford to do them one at a time. I drive the truck approximately 50 miles a day, so mpg is a big deal too.....Thanks for all the help in advance.

 

Here's what I did and the order in which I did them. I am very satisfied with the end result but it is a labor of love as it took me about a year to do these mods. I had to slip it past my wife in slow measured paces.

SIDO Cat-Back exhaust (Full Boar muffler) - $195 installed
K&N Intake (self-installed in about 1.5 hrs) - $200
SuperChips Tuner 1714 - $399 (takes about 20 mins to load a tune)

I saw minimal power gains from the exhaust upgrade. It just sounded alot better, I did notice about a 1 mpg uptick in fuel economy after I stopped thumping the gas pedal. I felt a pretty good jump in hp and torque from the intake install and lost 1 mpg fuel economy. Just installed my SCT 1714 a few days ago and have really noticed the power increase. I don't know about the fuel economy as I haven't run through a tank of gas yet but will probably not get a good understanding of the mpg until after I get used to the power and stop dropping the hammer.

I believe that its the combined mods that have made this a successful endeavor for me. I will say that the way my truck runs today is what I envisioned when I started 1 yr ago. It will really get up and go now.

Where to buy your parts is a personal preference, if you do not have someone local to you that you like to do business with then I would say check out www.troyerperformance.com. Mike seems to be very knowledgeable and from what I hear on this forum his customer service is good. His prices are competitive.

The only additional mods I will do to this truck is put a more aggressive tread and taller tires on when these tires wear out.

Good luck!

DN

 

So if you had it to all over again would yo udo diff upgrades? What order do you suggest? I though about the exhaust, but unsure which exhaust would get me the best results. I thought about cutting my old exhaust of including the muffler and then installing a flowmaster 2.5" SIDO 40 series with no tailpipe..... What do you think?

 

I'd say that a great mod would be throwing a supercharger in there, but oh yeah, you wanted to keep it inexpensive and save gas... A blower is just about the opposite of that. seriously though, you should probably save up some cash and go for a good programer. Troyer's team seems to really know their stuff, and have some pretty damn good customer service. The superchips tuner is a nice piece of equip, and well worth the price for what you get. I personally have a diablosport predator tuner, and I loved the results, but I need a good custom tune now, and troyer can get that for you right up front. That's just my two cents, so good luck and choose wisely.

 

I know that some may disagree, but I think that a really great place to find parts is on EBAY... just be careful, and take your time. Make sure you check the sellers feedback from other deals, and see that they have a good history. I have saved hundreds and hundreds of dollars in the last few months buying new and used parts on ebay, and it just takes a little bit of time and research, and you cand find everything you will ever need... at great prices. Let me know if you have any questions bud. -Rob

 

Ebay is the best place to get the performance parts you need. Other than my chip, thats the only place I have bought all my bolt ons.

You can get an intake with filter for about $50 shipped on there. You can buy a bolt on exhuast for less than $300. Buy a stock TB (for next to nothing) and you can port it out to about 70mm. I am no fan of immediately slapping a tuner on there and expecting a ton of power. And I am definately no fan of a custom tune for an all but stock vehicle. Its a waste of your money. Take the time to get everything you want, intake, exhaust, whatever, then get a tuner and you only need to customize the tune if you really modified your truck.

 

Yeah, now that I think about it, Navi is right. When I added my tuner, my truck was already Vortech supercharged, with upgraded injectors, fuel pumps, throttle body, intake, Flowmaster exhaust, and a few more I'm sure. When I added the tuner, I felt a big difference, especially like the shifting, and it helped tie together my upgrades, and will be even better after the dyno tuning and custom program next week. I felt a nice difference, but my truck is a whole different beast than a stock machine. So the moral is, WORK SOME OVERTIME, SAVE SOME CASH AND FIND SOME GREAT DEALS ON EBAY.. or wherever else you can. You know where I saved alot of cash? ASKING QUESTIONS on the boards here, and doing it myself, instead of paying some greasy mechanic to do a simple job for me.

 

BCB, I did the same and the shift changes alone were worth the money. I have modded my cars over the years with just the bolt on basics and cheap azz fabrications, and never would come off the cash for a blower. I finally did withthe navi, as it weighs upwards of 8000 pounds loaded up. Its the best thing I ever did performance wise, bar none.

 

Ok, I am working a lot of overtime and saving all of my money. I started looking on E-Bay but I am not finding any "deals" that I couldn't go to a parts store and buy. If I can only afford one mod which on first???

 

IMO put on a catback exhaust for a first mod. I installed a Magnaflow catback as my 4th or 5th mod, and after I heard it for the first time, I said to myself, that's the first change I should of done to my truck. You'll love the sound and the look of the tip!

 

Ok, I did it. I did my first big mod. I removed the factory muffler and tailpipe and installed a Flowmaster Original 40 series muffler with no turndowns and no tailpipes. It sound awesome and wow what power. Thanks for all the advise. Now when I wake up from my nap I'll begin thinking about the second mod!!!! , I am going to need a few beers for this one...ha ha

 

the stereo

 

Get a tuner next, it is the best bang for the buck. I bought the EDGE Evolution for my FX4 and love it. It is like buying a good set of digital gauges and getting a free tuner. It can complete the entire tuning process in less that a minute! I would have bought that first but it was not available until Christmas last year. My first mod was Magnaflow also. You can check my signature for my other mods, but the best one so far is the tuner.

 

Tuner/Programmer is usually the best bang for the buck mod that will give you a noticeable difference in the seat of the pants butt dyno

 

Hey Guys, feel like it's time for a little thread revival! I've recently done some cosmetic upgrades to my beast, and now I'm ready for power. I see what everyone is talking about as far as throwing on the exhaust, but I'm just curious if anyone has started up at the headers? If so, did that make a difference? Also, if we're sticking to this "one mod at a time" tactic, do you do the headers first, then come back later for the cat back?

Thanks!