I got things worked out with the truck.

I was having some noise problems and found out I didn’t have my crank pulley fully seated. I installed the Denso IT 22’s and modified the Lightning reservoir for use with duel return lines from the intercooler. I haven’t installed the heat exchanger fan yet.

I drove the truck all weekend and it is really a blast. The new exhaust has a real nice sound and it really growls with the blower in boost. The sound of the blower is growing on me. I will be installing a Lightning air box and putting an under hood insulating blanket on this week so that will improve the sound. It does turn heads.

I am hitting full boost at 2000 RPM or so. It happens so fast that it’s hard to tell. By the time I look I’m there.

The truck is shifting too soon in first, it shifts to second at about 4600 rpm so there is some more to be had there. The second to third shift is at 5400 rpm so I can’t figure out what is happening in first. I have to explore the X-cal II and see if that is user adjustable. I think I would prefer 5200 RPM shift points with this blower.

The real value of this kit is I can hit full 10 lbs boost even at part throttle and in 4th gear. It amazes me to see the boost at 10 lbs and I am not really in it. It also will pull part boost with hills which I did not think would happen with a roots style blower. The blower is also very drivable; I was worried about that with having that much boost available that early in the RPM.

I changed my mind about quickness, for everyday driving the truck is much quicker now than it was with the Powerdyne. There may be something to be said for the WOT runs on the Centrifugal blowers but for everyday driving I am now a roots fan.

The real test comes next weekend. I have a camping trip and will be pulling my trailer about 160 miles round trip. That should give me some idea of how well this blower works.

I’ll update then.

WLF

 

WLF -
Thanks for the update. My interest in this setup is for pulling a 6200lb enclosed car trailer, so I will really be interested in hearing about your towing experience. Thanks again.
-steve

 

 

Welcome to the positive displacement club. There is nothing like it, it is even better than many turbo systems when it comes to drivability with a 5000 lb truck.

 

Yesterday I finished with the engine compartment. I installed the Lightning Air box; a perfect fit. I modified my K&N intake to work with the air box. I switched out the tensioner; the new one I had was making a noise so Ford gave me an exchange. Everything is in and running the way it should.

Yesterday was the first day on dry pavement for a while so I took it out to a local road I use for testing and punched it. I'm not sure why but the dam thing took off like it should have in the first place. I burned rubber enough to turn the truck sideways a little (with 31 inch tires), it pulled all the way to 5600 rpm then shifted and pulled to 5400 rpm and shifted to third. At that point I was going much too fast for that road so I got out of it but there was no indication the truck was anywhere near done. The A/F gauge started in the low 11's and quickly pegged at 12 and stayed there. I didn't hear any pre-ignition at all.
I'm glad I didn't increase the shift points, I may actually have to back down on the 1-2 shift point but first I am going to up the line pressure. It use to chirp second at WOT but it doesn't now so some increase in line pressure may actually result in it shifting sooner.
Tonight I am going to load the tow tune and tomorrow it's off to camping land. I can't wait to see how it pulls.

The Lightning air box with a modified K&N intake tube made for a clean install. I'll get pictures up soon.

 

Sound's good. Any time some on is " backing off " anything there's power being made.
How about the sound level? Did you install the hood blanket yet, and if so how do you like it?

 

The hood blanket helped as did using the Lightning intake but I can still hear the whine of the blower. I would say about a 40% decrease in blower noise. It doesn't bother me as much as it first did and my wife has stopped complaining so I guess its ok.

 

If your truck has a 4R70W trans, you had best get a Factory Tech Plate Kit in there pretty quick.

 

The trans was recently rebuilt and the first thing I did was put in the Factory Tech plate. I am now in the process of upgrading the torque converter. I'm told I don't need it but I am going to have a fully braised converter with anti-ballooning plate installed. Probably with a 2300 stall and oversized LUC.

 

Well towed the trailer this weekend and all I can say is WOW. The roots blower makes a hugh difference in the way this truck pulls the trailer. I was in boost a lot, often seeing 10 lbs in 4th gear.
Now gas mileage is a different story, I got the same mileage as without the blower or with the centrifugal. I thought being able to tow in 4th would improve the mileage but that was not the case, at least this time. I also notice that I got poorer mileage even without the trailer but I was in it a lot.
The blower is noisy, even with the closed intake and the hood blanket but it was not bad. My wife only complained once.

 

Sounds like you're a converted man!

Have fun with it, that's what toys are for!

 

Let the controversy begin
I am a roots fan for towing but I must say I think my truck was slightly faster (not towing) with the centrifugal blower. I am comparing it to when I had Mike's tune running really well and a 10 lb pulley on the Powerdyne. It may be because (then) I had the tune just right and now I am working that out. Also I have to say I never did a track or timed run.

The last set-up just seemed to get me up to speed faster. Part of that may be that the one two shift points were set real nice with the old tune and I would lay rubber when I shifted. That kept me in boost and made for a nice transition (almost sling shot) from first to second gear. That is not happening now. In fact I don't lay any patch and that seems to cause a slight hesitation.

This is just seat of the pants combined with what has become a poor memory so it could be distorted. Also it could be that with the centrifugal blowers, there is more of a sensation of increased acceleration as the RPM's climbed. This roots blower may have a very linear (flat) power curve so it gives less of a "feeling" of acceleration when in fact it could be faster.

After next weekends tow I will reload the race tune and increase the line pressure for a harder shift. Then we shall see…

 

do you plan on datalogging or tweaking the tune at all?

 

Absolutely. With the money I have spent it would be asinine not to. I will increase the line pressure to get the shifts right. I have a higher stall torque converter on the way. After I get that installed, I will go down to Mikes and have the thing data logged on his dyno. I'm only about 3 1/2 hours from Troyer performance.

 

Thought I would post an update.
I have made some minor changes like installing the Lightning intake, I found a vacuum leak and sealed it and I have increased the transmission shift pressure by 25% trying to get back my 1-2 wheel chirp. The weather has also gotten colder. I took the truck for some drives this weekend but didn’t really get into it.
Today I took it to work and on the way home found myself alone on one of the back roads with a 50mph speed limit and a very strait stretch good for at least 2 miles. I thought this would be a good time to see how the 1-2 shift is working.
I stopped in the middle of the road and stomped it…
I have no idea how the 1-2 shift is working. I laid a patch that lasted all the way through first gear and was still squealing right through the 1-2 shift. The truck was still burning rubber when I backed out of it in second so the tires could grab. About this time I am having trouble seeing past my big tooth smile as the corners of my mouth are so twisted up that it has created an oriental look that does not work with my vision (no offence to anyone). I’m also glad no one was around to witness the mad man hysterical laugh that escaped from me with no premeditation or effort on my part. In fact my first thought was “who is that laughing?”.
Needless to say things have improved with my changes and what Mike calls “adaptive”. I am still scheduled to go to Troyers this weekend for a final dyno tune but I am happy with the results so far. I know I am not the fastest guy on the block but to have any more torque without major changes to the tires would be dangerous.
Later as I was pulling out of a parts place (looking for a gatorback belt) into a left hand turn I waited until I got it strait into the lane and punched it just to see if the last launch was a fluke. It was no fluke, the truck went from a strait rolling 5-8 mph into an instant wheel spin that lasted until I got out of it which was quickly since I was in traffic.
All this from a measly 97 4.6 Supercab…