I've looked over f150online.com for a couple of weeks before actually getting into the message board. Read many of the threads on oil, spark plugs, oil filters, exhaust, intake systems, and various other perfomance upgrades. Well, here's my 2 cents worth and would like to hear from as many of you out there as possible. Even if you don't agree with me. Oh, I have a 98 Ford F-150 4x4 4.6L, didn't want to forget that.

I beleive the K & N air intake system is the best upgrade you can possibly make to the F-150 or any new truck. The drop-in K & N is a good filter, but mostly intended for better gas milage and air flow. Usually between 1-2 mpg gain, depending on how well the rest of your truck is running. You won't see or feel very much perfomrance gain here. If you are wanting a mpg increase, horsepower gain, and better performance and throttle responce, install the intake system. My gas milage has increased and I can definatly feel a gain in horses. The best investment you can make.

As for exhaust, spark-plugs, and oil, there is very little gain in these departments. These are mostly psychological gains and basically just keep your truck running efficiantly and last longer. Espeacially the way these newer computerized vehicles are concerned.

I'm not saying a spark plug is a spark plug because you'll never see me putting Champions, Crap-Fire's, or NGK's in my truck. But not really much of a gain from changing these. The Motocraft platinum plugs and the regular Motocraft plugs (Depending on your application) are as good as any and create an excellent spark, which is all you need. I would say these do need to be changed about every 30,000 miles, just for maintinance purposes. Bosch's are great for imports. All these other claim/gains from plugs are a joke and a myth. Espeacially Split-Fires, pure junk and this technology is not new, this technology was around in the 50's and 60's.

The choice of oil really comes down to preferance. It's not like back in the 50's or so when there was several cut-rate oil's out on the market like Wolf's Head. These crap oils have all pretty much gone out of business, though I did see Wolf's Head at Sam's the other day. I use Trop Artic 5w-30 in my F-150 and 20w-50 Racing in my muscle car. This is a great quality motor oil, has proven itself and is created with very good quality elements. I change my oil every 3,000 miles or a little less. Synthetic oils are created of non petroleum elements, and is man made. I agree that these oils are an excellent choice. But, if you change your oil as often as I do, synthetic is a waste of money. There are no HP gains here, despite what the claims are. Oil is a protectant, nothing more. Some claim you can go 10,000 miles on synthetic. I don't know about you but no matter what the oil is, 10,000 mile oil in my truck doesn't make me feel very comfortable. Protect your investment, change your oil every 3,000 miles or 5,000 miles on synthetic. I use a Wix filter on all my oil changes. In this departemnt, the oil filter quality is as important as the oil you put in your vehicle. Why would you use a synthetic oil with a cheap Fram or another low grade replacement at an auto parts store. Wix is great quality and uses outstanding paper and filtration elements. K & N, Motocraft, Mobil, and NAPA are other great filters.

Exhaust in a very expensive purchase for little or no horsepower. The only gain here is a louder truck. Many claim they have dual exhaust, but this is not real dual exhaust. So where's the gain? Not really anywhere! I admit the OEM muffler is a little restrictive, so replacing the muffler for a more free-flowing muffler is just as good and a whole exhaust package. If you are wanting a louder sounding truck that doesn't really attract women like you may think it does, then get the exhaust package. Otherwise save your money and get a more free-flowing muffler and use your money on something else.

The last bit of advice, change your transmission filter and oil every 25,000-30,000 miles. I purchased my truck with 26,000 miles on it, which at the time is fairly low miles for the year that I have. I changed the filter and fluid at 29,000 miles and though the fluid looked visually good, the filter and pan was in dire need. I completely cleaned the pan and whipped it completly dry and replaced the filter with a Wix and torqued the bolts to 20lbs. On my transmission application, Ford has equipped this transmission with a gasket that you don't have to change every time. Make sure you replace the fluid with the correct required fluid, I thought all I needed was Mercon, but my transmission requires Mercon Five. I heard this is a synthetic blend. If anybody know the specifics on this fluid, let me know.

Hope these tips and my opinions help and look forward to hearing from some of you.

 

Ummm...Ford advises 7500 mile interval in the Explorer. Dodge has said 7500 for years. So, if you change the filter at 5000 and the oil still looks good, you can make it 10,000.

Anyone know what Porsche and the Corvette recommend?

This I totally agree with, its just good practice in a truck to change this fluid often. Chevy has recently started sealing its transmissions....{shudder}.

 

Hi v8fordf150,

OK, I'll offer a few comments........

While the K&N FIPK kit is OK and certainly does add power (12 hp on the 4.6 & 14 hp on the 5.4 motor), there are much better kits out there, some with better design, some with far more stable mounting for the MAF, and 1 that still uses the cold air inlet from the fender and adds more power as a result of superior design.

The Air Force One kit is simply the best on the market, being the only kit that has all it's features & still uses the cold-air fender inlet. But in terms of an airbox elimination kit being the "best" modification you can do to these trucks, I don't agree. They are an excellent idea and do work very well indeed, I agree completely with that. They rank as the #2 most -effective performance enhancer on these vehicles, second to the Superchip. We carry both, so we have no preferences between them in that regard, it's a simple matter of what gives the biggest performance gain for the least amount of money, and nothng adds more performance than the Superchip for less money.

The drop-in K&N air filter is not very good for getting any really measurable mileage gains, maybe .5 mpg. Any mileage gains are usually anecdotal or coincidental. The drop-in K&N air filter element in the factory airbox is worth 4-5 horsepower on the dyno, so for it's cost, that's a good return, but considerably more power can be made by using a complete airbox eliminaiton kit. Airbox kits tend to have considerably more potential for mileage gains than a drop-in K&N will ever have, as they reduce far more of the inherent restriction in the air intake tract

I also disagree with some of your analysis of exhaust system modifications, it is not true that nice power gains cannot be made, or that you *have* to lose torque in doing so. Almost any cat-back exhaust will in fact deliver nice horsepower gains, at higher rpms and heavier throttle openings.

The key in today's exhaust systems is flow engineering, something that most of the manufacturers spend very little R&D on. Typical results from most cat-back exhaust systems are a nice gain in horsepower, 10-12 on the 4.6 and 12-14 hp on the 5.4 motor, but a loss in torque, especially on part-throttle and in the low to mid-rpm ranges. This is because the flow is opened up *too* much, and consequently the actual velocity of the spent exhaust gases traveling thru the system slow down to the point that you lose the scavenging effects that help to pull those spent gases out of the cylinder head, and thus you lose torque. So it's critical to keep flow *rate* up, and that requires some real flow engineering. Those who install "true duals" for example on these vehicles will always lose torque, unless they downsize the pipe diameter from front to rear to keep that velocity up. It's not, as some think, because engines need a certain amount of backpressure, that isn't the case, backpressure only contributes to reversion during overlap. It all gets down to flow rate, or velocity.

It may well be that this loss of torque could be giving you that perception of no power gained from exhaust changes, and that is certainly understandable, as it's noticeable, you bet! But just to weed thru it a bit, you can easily gain horsepower at higher rpms & heavier throttle openings from just about any exhaust modification to open up the flow on these vehicles, but it's what happens to *torque* that really affects driveability.

Just a few comments since you asked, & best of luck with whatever you do!

Have a great weekend,

 

Hey V8--dont want to get off to the wrong foot, but I have to disagree with your feelings on the intake Vs. exhaust...

Lets talk about scrictly fuel mileage....

First of all I say the exhaust is cheaper to do then the front-end, because all that is needer is to reduce the back pressure for better FM and power...This can be done with the Y-pipe and a same diameter low flow muffler....And everyone knows you have to open the exhaust before you can let anymore in the front...

I think this Intake system may decrease mileage(except for a filter) because the intake system does more then just put air in the engine....more is not better when looking for mileage!!The intake swirls and creates turbelance for the air to mix and distribute the fuel into vapor....Yes the intake will add top-end hp and torque..but does it lower the torque curve???When you speed up the airflow by opening it up you lose distribution, the fuel wants to move to the low pressure area alongside the walls of the intake....

This is want I am trying to accomplish---modify the truck for fuel mileage and in doing so it will be more respondsive and have more power.....I will spend my money wisely...

Has anyone seen the after dyno chart of the torque curve with the K&N intake system???????

Is the torque curve any flatter or lower on the rpm scale???

 

As usual MIKE, thanks for the great information!!

 

As for the first point, not always true. On my current truck ('95 5.0) I did the exhaust last. The truck responded very well to intake mods with the stock exhaust. If the stock system is too restrictive, the intake mods probably wouldn't pay off.

I haven't seen torque curves on a K&N system in specific, but have seen curves on others. Usually, much like some exhaust systems, there are actually slight losses at lower revs. The intake will help flatten and lengthen the curve overall though. From what I've seen they help most at mid to upper revs.

As far as curves go, I picked up an import mag the other day and saw something I really liked. It listed gains AND losses. So if a system got you 10 HP at higher revs but cost you 5 HP down low, you would know.

 

Good advise Mike, but you can't resist that sells pitch, can you....
I broke up your complete message, as it was a short story.....

 

Hey v8ford ,
There are some things about your post agree and disagree with but there is one mistake you dont want repeat .

That is you "wiped out the trans pan clean ". Do yourself a favor and use compressed air to dry out the pan . I can't tell you how many trannies I have seen with "Red Ragitis" . I know it seems that it probably doesn't make a difference but it does .

Good Luck on the performance search

 

Triton4.6 "Anyone know what Porsche and the Corvette recommend?"

Don't know for sure on the Porsche, but for the Vette, for 2001 it's 15000 miles recommended drain for the Mobil 1 they come with......2000 was 10000 miles

 

Alright, some advice from someone who's actually talked to caterpillar and a few european engine makers about the subject.

For those who thing backpressure isn't important, you're DEAD WRONG. Backpressure is extremely important. Some engines won't run worth a damn without it. This is more of an issue with bigger (like 36L and above, big marine diesels and what not) engines than small ones, but the point holds true, for gas, diesel, large and small.

Point 2, nothing's free. Enlarging your intake, blowing out your exhaust, putting a chip in... well... it's your money. A suggestion, though. Be SATISFIED for once. I mean, damn the Ford really is a nice truck, with a nice engine that makes plenty of power. Unless you're a speed freak (and for those who are, more power to ya), and have to have 1mph more fastest mph, or .01 less ET around the track, what does 10hp gain offer to an engine with 220hp? Less than 5% total difference, that's what. Think about that. 5%. Maybe you go nutso and install as much as you can, minus a blower or nitro, and have it set so you lose no torque. Ok... well now you're about into 13%-21%. Maybe after all that, you feel just a little more power. But at what cost? Leaning out your engine WILL make it run hotter, and all that power's gotta go someplace. I'll tell you where it goes. Stripped parts, thats where. In your engine. You made the thing make 20% more power *for discussion's sake* but you never bothered to make the engine 20% tougher.

Gone are the days when engines were so far overbuilt that you could get away with this. Some may get more mileage than me, or more total miles even. I'm SURE some will. More won't. MY truck's still under warranty, still got all fact parts save the air filter (K&N). I run synthetic oil (mobile1), regular unleaded gasoline, and do scheduled maintenence, like tire rotation, plugs, tranny (not yet, but soon), axle and what not.

Not that I'm against more power. Not at all. Just want to prepare people who think they can do all that and still 'keep it forever'.

 

I have to put mt 2 cents in about spark plugs, I just replaced my Motorcraft platinum plugs after only 11,000 miles and they looked like crap. One of the top electrodes is even wearing away.

The NGK TR6 plugs that I am running, make my truck run so much better.

I don't feel platinum plugs give the performance, and durability manufactures claim. If you do any major mods to your truck especially a supercharger Platinum plugs just don't cut it.

here is a pic of the plugs that just came out of my truck


As far as the rest of your observations I tend to agree with most of them. Changing the fluids in any vehical is the best thing you can do to make them last, and have years of trouble free driving.

 

Please tell me that you put 2 and 2 together...

Your piccy of your plugs would be irratating for someone with 11K miles normally. One has partially failed (no big deal, but still).

But SERIOUSLY man. You RACE your truck (track picture on your post) and you complain that your plugs have fouled??!!! OMG what the heck do you expect? Hillarious. Really. I mean I want to see you at 80K miles wondering why you need to rebuild your tranny or engine when both could see 150K plus easily. Ref my above post and read more.

I used to 'wheel all the time. Broke more parts in trucks than most people ever own in all their new vehicles combined. I've sheared hubs into metal slivers, ripped off my bed in one case cause it was hangin my truck in a TREE (don't ask). But I never wondered why my stuff was broke. It was pretty obvious. Axle vs Rock = sooner or later the rock will win. Sure I @$#)(ed and moaned about having to pay to fix it, but that was the whole point. All the fun, even.

Again, normal driving = normal wear. Racing driving = race wear. You think NASCAR crews take apart engines after races for FUN? Sure they make more power, get used harder... but how close to that do you want to get for power, and how close do you need to come to tearing YOUR engine down after a run?

 

telco I understand your points and yes I do race my truck about 6 times a year. I guess I should have worded it differently.

I raced my 93 lightning a lot more than I have raced my current truck,and yes I have broken some stuff on it. My friend still is driving it today with over 100,000 miles, and it is still running strong. The stock platinum plugs looked the same way after the same miles. When I replaced them with non platinum plugs I never had any problems after that.

I was just making a point that platinum plugs are not all they are advertized as, and that NGK plugs work very well in our trucks.

I also ran NGK plugs in my 99 ff150 4x4 with very good results.

 

Here is my advise, keep your truck stock just the way you bought it. Change the oil,filter every 3 to 5 thousand miles and lube it.
It should last a long long time.

Most of the time when you modify your truck it will have a detrimental effect on other parts of the vehicle. They are designed to be just what they are.


Just my opinion...

 

It sure is nice to see that practicality and common sense are once again back in style. I have been reading these posts for a couple of years now and at first it was Super Duper chip this and modification that. A great deal of the people in the forum are already on their second or third truck (must be nice). I hope to keep the beast for at least 10 years, like my 90 Toyota that is almost all original with 125,000 miles. Looks like the trends are shifting.

The bubba