Alright so this might be kind of a long post, but bear with me please. There are two things I dislike (would rather not say hate haha) about my truck: 1. It has a V6 and 2. It is 2WD. You might be saying, "Well, why in the hell would you buy the truck then?". Well I am 16 and my dad brought it home for me to look at (this was almost a year ago, I am almost 17). Bottom line...I loved it and I was willing to take anything. Maybe I should have waited because I probably could of had a V8 with 4wd, but I don't. What I am looking to do is simply wake the engine up. My friend has a Nissan Frontier with a CAI and an exhaust. It beats my friends F-150 5.4L easy (which I guess isn't that surprising due to the fact that the Nissan isn't a full size). Their is a possibility that when I leave for college (most likely Colorado State University or Texas A&M) I will sell this and get a V8 and 4WD, but that is unlikely. I could probably sell my truck for 8 -10 grand (and I mean this truck is SPOTLESS, inside and out), which would still leave me helpless, I would need another 7-8 grand for a nicely used XLT V8. So....what are some performance options for my truck, from the greatest performance increases to the least?

PS. I don't mean to sound like some punk *** greedy 16 year old, I'm really not like that and I take care of my stuff like you wouldn't believe. Just looking to make the best and the most fun out of what I have (which is a lot compared to most 16 year olds). One more thing...I know there are many posts asking the same thing, but many times people get the answer (sell your truck and get a v8, well unfortunately right now that isn't an option). And yes, I know my truck wasn't meant to be a race car, thats not what I am looking for. If I CAN, I WILL sell it n the next year or two and get a v8 with 4WD, just not sure if thats in the cards yet.

 

take care of your truck and give it to your son if and win you have one if you want speed go bye a rice bunner.!!!!!

 

...that wasn't much help but thanks

 

There isn't much you can do to that truck (that is low in cost) to make it perform like a V8, or even that Frontier. My advice is to just hang on to it for another year or two and see where you're at if you're wanting a V8\4wd. This is all coming from a fellow 4.2\2wd owner. Granted, I spent the money years ago when I joined this site to make my truck perform better (and it does!) and look the way I wanted it to, but I spent some coin to make that happen. Mods are listed in my sig. Doesn't sound like you are in the position to do this just yet.

 

thanks for the reply. well i am looking to get a CAI and would love to get a chip as well.

 

Good advice ChrisT. Myself Im not concerned with power and being able to get up to speed faster than the next guy. Im concerned about being able to pull the things and haul the things i normally do with this truck. Can my truck fit my needs? it doesnt hold other people up taking off at a stop light. It has enough pulling capacity and it has a bed for hauling stuff. I have hauled three bobcat bucket loads full of gravel and had the bed squatting pretty bad and as far as taking off with that load in the back the engine had plenty of power to do so. I hardly pull stuff or haul stuff any way so I like the mpgs. I have moved all my stuff over six times in the past four years with the truck. The only thing this truck is lacking to me is in the interior options and the looks. im in the process of changing those

So here is a recap-
Will the motor pull the capacity you normally pull? If not you may need to get something bigger/more suited to your needs.
Will you ever use 4wd? Here is my opinion-I dont go four wheelin in a $30,000 vehicle. It doesn't make financial sense. If I wanted to go four wheeling I would do so in a 2,000 or maybe even 3 or 4 thousand dollar vehicle. I take care of my truck not run the dog crap out of it-you may feel differently.
4wd gets worse gas mileage
Again, four wheelin is HARD on a vehicle
If you have a business pulling stuff or getting in rough spots yeah I can see owning one like that but otherwise it doesnt seem practical to me.

 

Another note-the best gain per dollar that you are gonna get is getting a custom tuned programmer for $500 in my opinion

 

I think that would probably be my best bet, where would you recommend getting something like that?

 

As far as the offroading thing goes, I completely agree, if I was looking for something to truly romp around with I would get a cheap Jeep Wrangler, not saying I still dont have a little fun with my truck every once in a while, but I don't go 40mph over whoops that will knock the crap out of my truck.

 

look around for some Ford or truck-based performance shops locally. they also sell online. I got mine for $399. it peps up the truck quite a bit

 

ok thanks, yea i hear with the tune it wakes it up a lot.

 

power hungry performance

 

Sorry didn't mean to kill your thread