I got a good chance to check out my top speed the other day. I had a guy cutting me off and then holding me up. needless to say I passed him and kept it floored for about 4 miles 'till he was behind me. My truck topped out at 101 to 102 MPH. It would hit 108 to 110 on the slight downhills. but in straight and level it is a true 101. I know my speedo is very accurate at 70 and I assume it is close at 100 too. I expected more. due to the fact that I have headers, K+N, 3 inch exh and a superchip.

When I first got the truck it would pull an indicated 98 and then slow to 96 as the speed limiter kicked in. It seemed to want to go way faster than 98 and I suspect it would, if it had no speed limiter.

If anyone has any thoughts and suggestions please let me know.

I need more power. All this work I have done has not resulted in one iota of increased power. The superchip is the ONLY thing that even helped, and I suspect that gain is mostly in the low end. The truck is around 0.2 tenths faster in the 0-60 and 1/4 mile. 1/4 trap speed is slightly lower! (by 0.5 to 1 mph) Through testing I found it was the superchip that gave me the slightly better times. The gibson and headers did nothing to improve the performance. the K+N did not help either.

More power please!

Chris

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98 SC 4.6L stepside, Gibson headers, Gibson single exhaust, superchip, Intake mods, Piaa's, high end audio stuff.

 

Here's some easy and free things you can do. You may want to keep your truck as light as possible. So if you're hauling stuff in your bed or have several lbs. of stereo gear; you might want to keep it empty. Try removing the tailgate, this will help slightly by reducing wind drag. Although, I've read in the Lightning forum that it didn't help that much.

Now the expensive stuff. Take a look at your gears. Maybe changing them to a 3.73 or 4.10? A couple F150 owners did change to a electric fan which gave them 1+ mpg. and maybe 5-10hp.
And of course the grand daddy is the supercharger. It will cost you between 2K-5K depending which one you get. I had one in my '94 Chevy K1500 and loved it, but I haven't decided whether to get one on my F250 yet. Every post I've read on superchargers has positive remarks. So you might want to look into it.
Or you can just get rid of your truck and get a Lightning.

Bill

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1999 F250 LD S/C XLT 4x4
5.4L, 3.73, 4R100 trans.
Flowmaster 40 series, K&N, Poweraid, Superchip, Rancho RSX shocks, Stull billet grille, 2-PIAA Pro80XT's (120W), 2-KC Daylighters (150W)
265/70 R17 BFG AT KO's on 17x8 American Racing Atlas rims
Kenwood 7000 CD, Alpine 3342 Signal Processor, Alpine MRV-F353 5Ch. Amp, Pioneer TS-A6865 3-way speakers. CompuStar alarm/autostart. Coming soon: MTX Thunderforms box

 

Cujet - was your top speed run with overdrive on or off? Off may give a higher speed.

 

Top speed AND quarter mile times require more all around gears. If you want quarter mile times and can eliminate a little top speed, GEARS can make a big difference for the money and without engine mods.

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2000 F-150 XL,RC,LB,5.4,4R70W,3.55LS,
Class III tow/Payload #3/Convenience pkgs.,
4-wheel disc/ABS,Chestnut/Parchment 40/60,
Ford bedliner & gas/wheel/spare locks,
3" cold air box modification,Superchip,
Dynomax ultra-flow welded 3" cat-back.

 

HI!... CUJET : I would suggest a gear change also. In some cases going with a lower gear ratio will actually make you have a higher top speed because it moves you closer to your peak h.p rpm. For example when I had 3.55 gears in my truck it would only be at 2823rpm at 100mph (in overdrive). My peak power is around 4500rpm. After I installed my 4.10 gears, I was at 3261rpm (in overdrive). Now I know that's not a huge jump in rpm but it helps. My top speed on my truck right now is 132mph. I got up to 134mph once but the wind was with me and the stretch of road I was on was on about a 2% slope. I can easily bang off 125mph in about a 1 mile stretch but after that it takes about 2 more mile for me to get the extra 7 mph. I can get up to about 112mph in 3rd gear at 5400rpm. You also got to take in account that you only have a 4.6 engine and that your are a SC.

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NEAL [ the horsepower freak ] NEWMAN
'99' F-150 XLT SPORT, oxford white, reg cab shortbox stepside,5.4, auto, 4.10L.S, captain's chairs, bedliner, GTS carbon fiber headlight covers, ***** CEPECK clear halogen driving lights, GTS slotted tailight covers (painted oxford white), FORD locking lug nuts, tinted windows,true duel exhaust with 2.5 inch mandrel bent pipes and FLOWMASTER 3 chamber mufflers with 3' tailpipes exiting before the rear wheel like the LIGHTNING, HELLWIG rear stabalizer bar, 3 AUTOMETER guage pods, filled with tranny temp, engine temp, and oil preasure AUTOMETER "PHANTOM" guages,custom fabricated air intake trac and huge K/N filter, TPS mod, BELLTECH 2-inch rear drop, custom programed SUPERCHIP, modified POWERAID spacer, BAUMANN ENGINEERING shift kit (on stage 5 setting)BYPASS CLUTCH CONTROL VALVE/PREASURE REGULATOR VALVE, ASP POWER PULLEYS, custom tig welded and ported JBA "JET BLACK coated headers, twin DERALE 16 INCH ELECTRIC FANS, PERMA COOL 14"/10" tranny cooler with 10" electric fan. FUTURE MODS : FORD SVT 24LB INJECTORS, BBK 75MM THROTTLE BODY, AADI F1 RAM AIR HOOD, traction bars, and a KENNE BELL BLOWZILLA supercharger.
ESTIMATED H.P TO DATE : 345H.P / 425ft/lbs of torque.

OTHER TOYS : "83" PRO STREET FORD RANGER : 351-w stroked to 408c.i 625H.P (natural), 875H.P with 250H.P "BIG SHOT" N.O.S kit, tubbed (crome moly tubing), 12 point chrome moly roll cage, 4-link with coil overs, MUSTANG II front suspension, c-4 tranny (race prepped), 4000rpm stall converter(8 INCH), 3" chrome moly driveshaft,AUTOMETER guages, 15.50 MICKEY THOMPSON rear tires, 4" M/T front tires, CENTERLINE CON-VO PRO rims, fiberglass hood - bumper - prostock hood scoop, wishbone trac-link, two chrome moly driveshaft loops, 16 gallon RCI fuel cell,etc

 

My '97 S/C can spin the speedo past 160 KMH (100mph), all the way around to "1" down at the gearshift indicator. It has no chip, but it's a Canadian model. Perhaps the rev limiters are not part of Canadian computer features. It's a 4.6 with 3.08 gears.

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'97 S/C XLS black/candy marblizing accents,'98 Mustang hood scoops molded on hood up to the cowl, 157" WB, 4.6/auto, 3:08, custom stainless tube grille, terminator muffler, billet aluminum stake pocket tie downs, 1/2" thick billet fender emblems, airbox mods, TPS tuned
email: bazils@hotmail.com
http://content.communities.msn.com/bazilspix/PhotoAlbum

 

Neal and all, I did have to use 3rd gear just to get it to acccel to 100 then I switched to overdrive. My trans will not downshift to 3rd at any speed over 79. So I must manually downshift or be stuck at some speed between 80 and 100 as it will not accelerate much in OD.

I will try leaving it in third for my next run. I guess my point was that I am not satisfied with the power (Lack Of) in my truck and I feel I have spent 1000 bucks for nothing. My co worker Mike has a 97 truck like mine with a fiberglass bed cover (a little extra weight) and we are dead even in a race.

I am considering a larger mass air sensor and larger throttle body. Extrude honing the intake manifold and installing a non restrictive Y pipe. after this I should use an fuel/air meter to determine proper F/A ratio and tune the chip accordingly.


I kinda like the gears I have, I would be OK with a change to 3.73's but I think that would be the max. Florida has many high speed FLAT roads. The 3.55's I have now seem to be just about right for high speed cruising.

Anybody want to trade a used 4.6L for a new 5.4L ??????


Chris
Any

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98 SC 4.6L stepside, Gibson headers, Gibson single exhaust, superchip, Intake mods, Piaa's, high end audio stuff.

 

Make sure your tires can handle the speeds you are running. Most of the time computers are set to cut speed to match tire ratings. Speeds over 100 really build up heat in tires quick - BE careful

Neal If you are making 345 hp with an intake, exhaust, pulleys and a chip that is tremendous !!!

Good Luck
Doug



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Got Silver 2000 Lightning 2/28/00!!
1st run 13.9 sec 1/4 !!
Best Run 13.7
Doug
Carrollton TX
drbdkb@hotmail.com drbdkb@hotmail.com
http://www.SVTLightnings.com
Had 87 Turbo Coupe traded for
92 F150 XLT 302, Put K&N Filter, cat back and Chip on 92 still not enough.
92 is For Sale. $5300.00

Silver 2000 Lightning, 3.73 gears ( Expensive ), Superchip,
PSP 4 Way Chip, PSP Intake, <A HREF="http://www.valentine1.com" TARGET=_blank> Valentine
1,</A>Snuglid, Bedrug and nickel tint.

 

Drop in the 5.4! You can't beat it. I have a fellow chaser with a Z-71, 350, with a chip, intake, and headers. He reads my tail gate alot!

 

Drop in the 5.4! You can't beat it. I have a fellow chaser with a Z-71, 350, with a chip, intake, and headers. He reads my tail gate alot!

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97 F-150 5.4L 4wd. Tow pack, K&N FIPK, Carr steps, had a bug deflector (hail took care of that) Enough electronics to make Luke Skywalker feel at home

 

My truck was pretty weak up around 100 mph so I took it out of over drive and made another run and while I didn't leave it on the floor past 100, it got there much quicker and felt like it had plenty left. I installed a Magnacharger about 3 weeks ago and just finished a trip from Texas to Florida and I can tell you that my low power problem is solved and in overdrive I can accelerate above 100. As Sport 2000 said our tires are only rated up to 111, I think, so until I change tires, I will be happy just getting to the century mark fast.

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98 White 4.6 Triton STX Flairside,Class III hitch, Blue Cobra Stripes, Euro Lid by Astro, Bed Rug, Fiero Wing, Air Dam,Westin Step Bars, Ground Force 2-4 Drop,Custom MB Phantom Wheels, Super Chip,Jacobs DIS Ignition, B&M Shift Kit, K&N, Jet coated JBA stainless headers, Magna Flow Muffler with Stainless Duals and of course fully Blown by Magnacharger!

 

Try 4:10's..On my 93 Lightning it'll accelerate straight up to 113 MPH(then the speed limiter kicks in). With 30" tall tires and an E40D 113MPH is about 3700RPM in OD, which is right about where the torque and horsepower peaks are. With taller tires the RPM is less. I also get between 15-16MPG @ 80MPH with a slightly mod'd 351W.


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Curt
'93 Lightning #4232