I decided to invest into a supercharger. I decided to go with a KB. I have a HDF150 2001. What exactly should i buy when buying this supercharger. I am clueless when it comes to this. I have been hanging around the f150online.com forums and have learned alot. Oh yeh is it true that I have to change out my factory tranny with a high performance tranny...

 

You should go with an Eaton. No wait, an ATI. No, on second thought, you should get a MagnaCharger. Actually, perhaps ...

Sorry, anything involving superchargers on this board spirals down into a "you should get X supercharger instead" where X is the exact opposite of whatever you want to get

You don't need to buy anything additional when you get a KB kit as they are complete. They include everything you will need to run them at 6 or so PSI. If you want to go higher than that, however, then you will likely need additional components.
Two things destroy a transmission:
1. Heat
2. Torque

If you are going to be pushing your truck hard, or doing towing and hauling, then at the very least invest in a good valve body and transmission cooler. The valve body will shorten shift duration and reduce clutch wear and heat. The transmission cooler will obviously keep the transmission cooler. Factory_Tech (aka Gregg Evans) is the man to talk to.

As for torque, the only way to prevent it from destroying a transmission is to build a solid transmission using high quality components.

A positive displacement supercharger (such as the Kenne Bell you are looking at) will generate a lot of low-end torque. When you dump this torque into a stopped transmission (such as when starting hard) it becomes easy to break things.

The transmission in your truck is probably the 4R70. It really is not a heavy duty transmission and that makes the problem worse.

In the end what is the answer? Well, it depends on how you are going to drive your truck. If you really like to get on the throttle and race from the stop-light, you may need to look at something stronger. If you are easy on the truck, and just want more power for towing, then the stock unit will probably be ok. Obviously if you plan on running higher levels of boost, a stronger transmission becomes a requirement.

Either way, it may make more sense to just to go with a valve body and transmission cooler for now and wait until you blow it up and then replace it with something more solid later. A transmission will usually give you some warning before it goes and you could replace it then.

-Don

 

Thanks for the advice. Now here is a very stupid question. I plan to install the supercharger myself. I am somewhat mechanical inclined. Is it possible, if you install the supercharger wrong, can you blow or destroy anything?

 

Sure anything is possible

The fact of the matter is, installing a supercharger is straight-forward. If you can read and follow directions, it is a simple matter. If you can't follow directions then you will end up in trouble

The biggest danger with a supercharger is running the engine lean. All of the superchargers modify the fuel delivery to correct the AF ratio, but if this isn't done right, you can melt a piston.

Chances are, you will do just fine. Lots of backyard mechanics do these isntalls all the time.

-Don