Cutting out the cat

[Skandocious]

I'm with blackhat-- most engines can benefit from opening up the exhaust. But companies like Banks and K&N are stealing people's money.

My truck had an open element K&N filter when I bought it, what they call a Fuel Injection Performance Kit. Their website says its supposed to give 10 or 20 or 523429hp. Well I swapped it back to a stock intake a saw a huge increase in performance since I was no longer sucking hot air, not to mention the fact that I stopped from flowing larger particles into my engine since the K&N allows all that crap through.

I'll never buy a K&N product again. Sorry K&N.

[Bloodhound]

I have my factory exaust with the gutted kitty and no muffler. It has a sweet whistle. It is loud only when I get on it hard.

My friend has another 04 with 4" straight exaust. His has a deeper sound and is a lot louder. The other diffrence is that I have a long bed and he has a short bed.

[TexasNomad]

Well heck Thanks guys.
So the only aftermarket stuff that really adds power are the ecu programmers liek Edge bully dogs Ext.

[Skandocious]

Well don't jump the gun. There are plenty of mods that add power. Exhaust and intake can definitely add power-- but the point is that you don't need to buy a kit for several hundred dollars to do it. General rule of thumb is that more flow is more power (of course there's exceptions to that rule). But if you're looking to get power out of exhaust mods, just take it to your local exhaust shop and have them open it up a bit. Bigger pipe, high flow cats and mufflers, longtube headers, etc. Save you a bundle of money and show better numbers too.

[radialarm]

Chris I figured you for one would despise longtubes after all your trrials with them.

Oh, I forgot about the set on your skateboard.

[Skandocious]

Hahaha shut it. I WISH I could have longtubes. Freakin Cali hippies

[blackhat620]

Originally Posted by TexasNomad

Well heck Thanks guys.
So the only aftermarket stuff that really adds power are the ecu programmers liek Edge bully dogs Ext.

Sometimes and maybe. Reprogramming the ECM may increase power under some conditions, it also may extremely shorten engine, transmission and drive train life.

On the 6.0 & Torqueshift the only decent ECM tuning is provided by an SCT that is custom programmed (by a handfull of skilled 6.0 tuners), for your specific vehicle and driving style.
Note: Spartan Diesel does have custom hardware that is more advanced than the SCT that they can custom tune for the 6.0, and they custom tuned the SCT for years before they started having there own custom hardware made. The custom hardware was initially made to address tuning of the 6.0.

The 7.3 PSD is a little more forgiving than the 6.0, mainly because they are not as highly tuned at the factory and have minimal emissions equipment, but there are still only a handfull of custom tuners that do a good job. However the 4R100 transmission is the weak link.

I am not a big fan of quick plug-in chips, modules or 1-size fits all tuners. Yes they provide simple install power increases and provide alot of "Bang" for the buck. But that "Bang" can be both figurative and literal as you can quickly find the next weak link in the system.

Don't get me wrong reprogramming the ECM on modern vehicles is necessary when building up the Hp & Torque of an engine, but this should only be done after properly addressing the upgrading of the rotating assembly and other engine, transmission & drivetrain parts to properly address the power increases.

Problems with "Chip/Tuner", engine mod marketing in general is that with todays ECM controlled engines the public thinks it is as simple as plugging in a box or chip. Yet the consumer that has purchased this "chip/tuner' has little to no knowledge of internal combustion engines and would never attemp to install a different cam, intake, exhaust etc.

As the saying goes "Caveat Emptor", all purchasers of A/M performance products are the "beta testers" for the company marketing them. You must always ask yourself if you can afford the repairs that may be needed do to installing these "quick fix" miracle cure products.

I have build several race cars & race motors, and i have found that "quick fix" miracle cures rarely work as advertised or as cheaply.

[Skandocious]

Originally Posted by blackhat620

i have found that "quick fix" miracle cures rarely work as advertised or as cheaply.

Probably the most important sentence in that whole post. Anyone who boats immediate power gains from a stupidly-simple mod is generally lying.

[blackhat620]

Originally Posted by Skandocious

Well don't jump the gun. There are plenty of mods that add power. Exhaust and intake can definitely add power-- but the point is that you don't need to buy a kit for several hundred dollars to do it. General rule of thumb is that more flow is more power (of course there's exceptions to that rule). But if you're looking to get power out of exhaust mods, just take it to your local exhaust shop and have them open it up a bit. Bigger pipe, high flow cats and mufflers, longtube headers, etc. Save you a bundle of money and show better numbers too.

Yes and no, more flow is good if the engine in question can benefit from the increased flow (ie is there enough fuel available for the extra air), can the cylinders actually take advantage of the increased flow (will more air fuel mixture be packed into the cylinders), opening up the exhuast can reduce cylinder scavenging which can lead to lower performance instead of increased.

Changing any one thing on the engine effects several other things. All changes, effects and outcomes must be analyzed before the changes are made or it can get real expensive fast.

[TexasNomad]

So what can some one do to their truck to make it preform better then stock.
I watching a show were they took a stock f350 to some tuners that plugged in a bully dog tuner and after they were done they could roast those duallys.
I'm not disagreeing with you heck I don't know near as much as yall do to even begin to.
But if these tuners didn't do what they say they do then wouldn't they be more of a cheap self mod like the Air Tornado's and all the other snake Oil mods.
We have been thinking about getting a new F250 she's just going to be a driver and was wondering what would be a good mod to just give it more Um oomph?