What has been the best mod on your truck? What added the most power, and was the best bang for the buck? I know Talley would probaly say nitrous was his best mod. But I know not all of us have the big mods that add 25+ hp. Mine I would have to say is the Chip. It added the most power out of all my mods and was a resonable $199. Just looking for input on other cheap mods that add a good amount of performance.

'99 auto. 4.2L F-150
-Volant intake
-Poweraid TB spacer
-Taylor high performance spark plug wires
-DiabloSport 4 bank chip
-Gibson exhaust

 

This has been brought up several times, I think whoever has the chip will definitely say the chip. For the money, it's the best one easilly (so I hear). For me, I've only done the "Big 2" and I know the combo helped, can't tell which one did more.

 

I think I would agree with Charles F.

A chip would not only be the bang-for-the-buck leader, it would also make the driveability so much better in other ways besides the power improvement that it would be tough to beat as a stand alone mod.

I will be doing a chip as my next power mod. At the same time, though, I will be adding 4.10:1 gears (which would be my #2 bang for the buck mod). This gear ratio puts an automatic equipped truck in the same top speed/acceleration range as the 3.55:1 geared 5 speed trucks. Actually, a 4.56:1 gives approximately the same acceleration potential, and the 4.10:1 gives approximately the same top speed. The more I think about it. . .I think a 4.30:1 would be best for the automatics. Hmm.
OK, correction. . .I'll be doing 4.30:1 rear axle gears with the chip instead of the 4.10:1's.

Later,

 

Yes... 4.10 automatice just still doesn't match up to the 5-speed w/ 3.55. it comes very close but it still doesn't match. I've done alot of research on this and I would also second the 4.30 gears for the automatic 4.2. However this would be for racing enviroment only. the 4.10's are better suited for daily driving.

Here is some thought:
_________mph@5400rpm_____mph@5400rpm
____5spd.__w/3.55____auto__w/ 4.30__w/4.56

1st__3.90__34.82_____2.84__39.48___37.23
2nd__2.25__60.35_____1.55__72.34___68.21
3rd__1.49__91.15_____1.00__112.13__105.73
4th__1.00__135.81____.70___160.18__151.05
5th__.80___167.77

as you can see for the 5400rpm shift point... the 5 speed will always have the extra gear advantage... but the 4.56's come the closest to matching the 5-speed w/ 3.55. However, I think the 4.56's will be overkill. the 4.10's wouldn't come as close, but the 4.30's make a perfect match in my opinion. now... when I upgrade to 3.90 or 3.73 gears on my 5-speed, just think of how much an auto would have to have to keep up.

My STOCK 00' 4.2 regular cab AUTO best 1/4 = 17.790
My STOCK 02' 4.2 regular cab 5SPD best 1/4 = 16.686

more than a second faster... stock!

 

Oh... and the best bang for my buck for my mods in order from best to worst:

1. Straight Pipe = $2.50 per HP
2. Ported throttle body = $3.75 per HP
3. Nitrous = $4.66 per HP for a 75 shot
4. ASP crank pulley = $7.50 per HP
5. Superchip = $11.75 per HP
5. MAC intake = $18.13 per HP
6. ASP race crank = $23.75 per HP
7. Electric Fan = $28.25 per HP

and future mods...

1. Ported heads, extruded intakes and cam = $40 per HP
2. fuel pump, 80mm maf, 30# injectors = $500 to fix fuel problems
3. JBA headers = $43.75 per HP
4. ATI Procharger @ 11psi = $26.36 per HP
5. MSD DIS-4 = $80 per HP

as you can see... some mods get expensive real quick.

 

Talley you rate your ASP crank pulley over your chip? Why is that? I figured your chip would be a much greater improvement compared to your pulley. Was the pulley worth more of the money than the chip in your opinion? How much was it and how much power did it add? Also how much power did it add compared to your chip? I was thinking I might be done with my mods do to the lack of $$$, but now I'm thinking of that pulley. Could you really feel the difference with the pulley installed compared to the chip? Thanks.

-99 auto. 4.2L
-Volant intake
-Poweraid TB spacer
-Taylor high performance spark plug wires
-Diablo 4 bank chip
-Gibson exhaust

 

Seeing how Lee at ASP used my truck to test the prototype pulley... he ended up giving me the pulley at a very good price. Retail on the pulley is 179.95... My wholesale cost for the pulley is 121.08, but he gave me the pulley for $60 dead even. that was including the belt too. When I got it dyno'ed the pulley gave me a 7.6RWHP increase. So you take $60 and divide it by 8HP and you get $7.50 Per HP. In your case if you were to buy it would be $22.44 per HP. I noticed a better reving engine and a better pull up above 4,000rpms.

so for me it was a great bang for the buck... but for you it wouldn't be as good as the chip. twice the cost actually.

 

Yeah that's what I figured would be the issue with a pulley $$$. What would you recommend that would be cheap and a good performance adder to go with the mods I already have? Just trying to see if there is anything cheap I missed that is well worth the money. Thanks.

'99 auto. 4.2L
-Volant intake
-Poweraid TB spacer
-Taylor high performance spark plug wires
-Diablo chip
-Gibson exhaust

 

port and polish your throttle body and while it's off your truck... go ahead and half shaft it. doing this will let it flow ~375cfm. Doing this will be good for ~3-5BHP @ 4,000rpm+. Not much but you can feel the difference when your passing on the highway. You will need about $15 in parts to do this and about 30 minutes of your time.

Another thing you can do is upgrade your stock plugs to a better suited Motorcraft AWSF32C Copper plugs and gap them to .042 - .054 for naturally aspirated situations. this gave me a nice increase in power just by swapping out my stock plugs that only had 20k miles on them and putting in the 32C's. now I run the 22's for the nitrous and have them gapped at .030.

I recommend a new set every 15k miles... they only cost 8.94 a set after texas tax at O' Riely.

If you have an auto, I'd suggest getting a shift kit. They can be had for ~ $35 - $150. the transgo costs around 100. any one you get make sure you put it on just the 1st setting because added with a chip you'll be amazed at how much harder it shifts. any more with a shift kit and you'll suffer neck injuries!!

My uncle has a new valve in his 01 L and a chip programmed for harder shifts... that sucker slams into gears!!!!.

 

 

How would I go about porting and polishind it? You think you can give me some info on how to do it correctly and where I could get the parts? Only thing I've really done with the TB is put a spacer in. Also info on half shafting it would be apreciated. Just want to make sure I get all the right parts and do it correctly. You can email me at SBajza21@aol.com. Thanks.

 

I'll post the how-to in the morning... i'm tired, it's 3:08 AM here in houston. goodnight!