Hello all,

My neighbor sees me working on my car all the time, so he asked me how he could get more power out of his truck. I told him to start: Filter, Exhaust, Chip etc. He wants to start with a chip. Were is a good place to get a chip for his truck. And is there anything else he can do.

Thanks

 

Well I hear Superchips are good ones, but also with those you get GREAT customer service from MikeT. But another chip to look into is the Ford Chip I also hear good things about those. I am also curently thinking about getting a chip just have to decide on if Im going to get tires and what not; I think I am going to get a Superchip simply beacuse of the great things I hear about them and the great customer service. Check out the Chip forum.

Also, intake, exhaust, and the chip are the best places to start. Electric fans and gears can also help out a great bit.

Some more drastic steps are a superchargers, turbos, and NOS. I am also thinking about possibly running a small shop of NOS (50HP) for those times I need a lil' boost. A NOS system for our trucks can be had for about 500 bucks. Superchargers for our trucks run about 3000+, and there are no turbo systems that I know of, but if you know someone who can do the piping a turbo is very doable.

 

I would start with the electric fans as they add 12-15 hp. This increase is definatily felt on the low end, say from idle to about 2000+ rpm. Also he can expect to gain from 1-2 mpg that will help offset this cost. I have averaged between 1.5-2 mpg with my fans carry loads, city and country driving across three tanks of gas. The fans seem to have done about the same power wise as the intake and exshaust put together.The mpg gain with the intake and exshaust had averaged about .5 mpg and was noticeable power wise but I had installed both at the same time. Glenn Taylor.

 

Do you have to get a chip reburned for fans?

 

You do not need a chip reburn if you add an electric fan.

I did my mods in the following order: chip, airaid intake, fan.

The chip noticeably helped power at all rpms. My automatic truck would readily pull OD up grades that it had to downshift for w/out chip.

The intake helped noticeably above 3,000 rpm. No noticealbe increase in power below that. Much more intake roar at wide open throttle.

With the automatic tranny, I could not really feel much power difference with the electric fan, but my mileage increased by at least 0.5 mpg, maybe as much as 1 mpg.

 

Do we have to order directly from superchips?

Thanks for the help.

I'll tell him about the electric fans.

 

What is need\process to change to electric fans?
Thanks

 

Rick,
I was looking to get a little more power and mileage with the electric fan. One of the biggest benefits was one I didn't expec - the truck is now much quieter at idle and around town (except when the electric fan turns on; then it's a louder). The stock fan is VERY heavy and it must take some power to spin that baby all the time. With the electric fan, the fan is controlled by an adjustable thermostat, and you also wire it to go on when the AC pump is operating (this help keeps the AC pump cool,).

Most fan kits are 'universal' and will fit a wide range of vehicles. The one I got was ordered from Summit - it cost about $180 and I got it within 24 hours of ordering. Install was a little bit of a hassle -you have to rent or borrow a large wrench to pull off the stock fan. Pep Boys will loan you one.

Attaching the fan to the radiator and doing the wiring was also more time consuming than I thought it would be - it took a full Saturday, including the time finding, borrowing and returning the fan wrench. If you plan to install one, I would search this site for instructions and options. The instructions that came with my fan were nearly useless, as it was a 'universal' kit. I learned how to find some of the wires I wanted to use from this site.

 

Dave: What was Summit's PN# for the set up you ordered? Other than the wrench and wiring, did it bolt up and fit pretty good? Does it look like a Ford stock install or does it have that 'aftermarket' look? Thanks! jeff

 

Bratman2: what kind of fans do you have? Also how much were they and where did you get them from? Thanks!

 

j.b. - I ordered it a couple of years ago. My receipt shows the Part# then was FLX-150. This is the Flex-a-Lite Black Magic fan. It was $180.95 + $6.95 shipping. The fan has been 100% reliable and has been adequate for cooling my V-6 even during hot summers. I rarely tow, but I think the fan could handle it if I did.

Install was not that bad but it took a little experimenting before I felt I got the best possible mounting arrangement with the 'universal' brackets. It's one of those jobs that would go much faster the 2nd time, but it's the kind of thing you only do once!

With the Flex-a-Lite, while you take the stock fan shroud off, you still retain a plastic panel that extends from the top of the grill over the top of the radiator. This stock plastic panel covers most of the fan and its extra parts. After installation, a portion of the new fan's top mounting bracket is very visible behind the wide plastic panel. The main fan mounting brackets at the top and bottom of the radiator are silver, so they stand out.

You can also see some of the fan wiring - the biggest and most noticeable is a wire that goes directly to the battery. The other visible wires I spliced to the truck go to the AC compressor (this tells the fan to turn on when the AC turns on) and another to a hot wire near the air filter (the red wire to the MAF is what I used to tell the fan the truck is 'on').

Overall, the appearance is not that noticeable but I would say it does NOT look like a Ford factory install - definitely an aftermarket look. If you want a 'Ford' look, do a search on this site for info on installing an electric fan from a Crown Victoria. I think it is Matt90GT that has given instructions on how to do this with junkyard parts. The Crown Vic is a high flow fan and apparently a good way to go.

If you want to install a flex-a-lite, search for old posts by Bill Aquino for useful instructions.

 

Falcon11, I have a 14-inch Hayden and a 16-inch Permacool HD fans. If I had it to do over again I would have opted for 2 14-inch Permacools. I purchased both fans off of Ebay for about $110.00 combined. Bought two Flexilite adjustable thermostats from Summit for $57 more. The Permacool pulls over twice the air as the Hayden fan drawing nearily the same amps. The Blackmagic fan the others are talking about is a good fan also. I hacve heard of some folks using Ford fans such as Windstar twin fan and Crown Vic fans, they would also be good choices. Two new 14-inch Permacools with two Flexilite controllers would run you about $220 from Summit and you would have redundit systems that should bring you home if either one fails. Glenn Taylor.

 

Hi jeostang & everyone,

Those looking for Superchips can order them from us, we have an online ordering system here that you can access just by clicking on the link that is just below in our signature line. So no, you do not have to order them directly from Superchips, we provide them at a discount, and it helps us to support F-150 Online financially.

We also have our Performance Products Inc. Dual 16" electric fan kit for the 1997 & up F-150 & Expedition, which will work with any engine, 4.2 V6 or either of the V8 motors. It has been tested in 117 degree ambient temps out in the desert SouthWest, features dual independent controllers that are adjustable so you can run any temperature of thermostat, and have complete redundant capabilities. This kit uses higher grade components (especially the motors & fans, controllers, relays, etc.) than any of the typical Flex-a-Lite, Hayden, Permacool, etc. components do, as we tested them all in selecting the components to use for our kits. The dual 16" fans feature the most efficient reverse-S shaped airfoil & fully enclosed fan blades, so nobody gets hurt. Power gains run anywhere from a minimum of 15 hp at the rear wheels to some running as much as 18-20 hp depending on the dyno, etc. MPG gains generally average about 1.5 more mpg overall (not just when cruising), with the range running from a low of about 1.0 to a high of as much as 2.5 more mpg.

For pricing, details on installation, etc., just give us a shout, our phone number is listed below.

 

Hey thanks for the great info Mike! Sounds like a great product.

Is that- "Power gains run anywhere from a minimum of 15 hp at the rear wheels to some running as much as 18-20 hp depending on the dyno, etc." Pertaining to our 4.2L? What engine on our F-150's was dynoed when it produced those numbers? How much could we look to spend for the fan kit for the 4.2L? (sorry, I'll call if you cant answer that one.) Also, where do you feel the performance gains from these fans? Is it down low, below the 3,000 rpm mark, or? Will we feel a good increase in acceleration?

Thanks! 15rwHP or more? You have my attention! Any more info would be greatly appreciated.

 

dirt bike dave

Thanks Dave for the info. I'll do some research on the fan.