Hello all.... I've got a '94 F150 flareside supercab 4x2 with about 79k miles on her. It has the 5.8 engine and E40D tranny w/3:55 gears. I have installed a 6" lift and 32" tires, a hi-flo cat and flow master 40 series mufflers.
I am planning on a future gear swap to 4:10's or even lower.
I pull a 27' 6000lb travel trailer and have experienced some pretty expensive tranny issues. (hence my plans for the gear swap)... Anywho, amongst a few other basic mods, I am wanting to install one of these power chip doohickies to help with performance, and tranny/shifting improvements...
What would you all recommend and why?
Are these driveway add-ons or does a drivability shop need to install these?
Thanks a bunch!

 

Hi Law,

Keeping slippage to a minimum and the fluid temperatures below 200 *will* help the tranny to live so those areas should also be addressed in terms of keeping the transmission alive - and never use Overdrive when towing in the pre-1997 F-150's either, that's a no-no and a big tranny killer in the pre-1997's - they *can't* take cycling between 3rd & 4th (Overdrive) gears.

Since you are lifted and running taller tires, and you have to tow 3 tons+, I suggest using 4.56 gears instead of the 4.10's - the 4.10's will get you fairly close to turning the same # of rpms you did with the stock tires & 3.55 gears, but it won't really help your situation like the 4.56's will - the truck is now lifted and has taller tires, too - so you need even more gear - I'd suggest a minimum of 4.30, and 4.56 even better for towing 3 tons out back with a 5.8 motor, which only has 200 HP to begin with.

The Superchips tuning will certainly help, you'll get more power available at any throttle position or rpm - about an 8%-10% power gain, and about 13%-15% more torque is the typical result on those 5.8 (351) motors.

And yes, the motor also needs to breathe, so it should have a good intake kit and a cat-back exhaust system on there as well - steer clear of Flowmaster, as that will only cost you torque below about 2800 rpm as they do not have the flow engineering required to give a satisfactory result for a heavy truck - they can do OK on a 3400 lb. Mustang, but Flowmaster is generally not a good exhaust for a heavier truck, due to the loss of torque - this is critical in a towing application.

The Superchip can be installed by the vehicle owner, as long as they can read & follow the installation instructions they're generally not a problem to install for the average vehicle owner/shadetree mechanic - so it does not require a professional mechanic or any kind of "driveability" shop. As far as the gear change, for that I'd recommend using a professional shop. For things that are simple bolt-ons, like an intake kit, etc., those you can generally do yourself.

In addition to the Superchip and what it will do to help improve the shifting of that vehicle's transmission, I would also recommend installing either a Transgo shift kit or a Factory Tech valve body, too - while the Superchip will certainly help the tranny by making some program changes to help reduce slippage, the tranny also needs physical help in making it capable of flowing more fluid *volume*, too - line pressure & delays alone aren't the whole answer, that tranny will need mechanical help to live under that kind of load - meaning a shift kit or valve body. that will reduce the clutch fill times, and that will reduce slippage - this will also help specifically to increase fluid volume flowing to the Overdrive band, a weak point in those trannys. Just FYI.........

Give us a call & we can go over all of this with you in proper detail - we specialize in improving the performance of this platform, so we can help you with virtually all of this - our contact info is just below. You can also spend a little time taking a look over on our web site at www.TroyerPerformance.com

Good luck!

 

Thanks for the well thought out and explained answer..
Guess I better order one....
200hp though? Ive looked up my engine before and read it was around 240hp.. Then, add my dual flowmasters....lol

So, what info are you going on when you mentioned the thing about the Flowmasters? Those are what I have now, and I know a ton of people who have them on their trucks and SUV's and absolutely love them....
So, gimme the inside dirt so I can change mine out if I have to...lol
Thanks again..

 

Hi Law,

There are numerous versions of the 5.8 engine, most were generally rated at anywhere from 200-220 HP SAE Net in the E & F series vehicles. The 93-95 Lightning's 5.8 motor, which came with GT-40 heads, a different camshaft, etc., was rated at 240 HP SAE Net stock - and actually made closer to 265. There may have been another 5.8 rated @ 240, I just don't recall that being the case.................

Exhaust gas velocity at lighter throttle and lower rpms is the issue (setting aside the actual raw HP gains for a moment), and that is where Flowmaster and most other manufacturers products don't yield a positive result on these vehicles - though any of them will gain HP at higher rpms & heavy throttle. Please feel free to use the search feature icon in the top right portion of your screen to retrieve and read any of my many previous posts on that topic, we've covered this many times.

To go over anything detailed or involved will require calling us, as it takes 100-200 times longer to sit here typing something out as opposed to talking on the phone - which is why I mentioned in my last post to call us to go over details.

We can cover more in 10 minutes over the phone than by typing for over an hour, so if you;d like to go over any of this in more detail, please feel free to give us a call, & thanks for your understanding on that.

 

Absolutely.... Thanks...