Ok so as I've stated before I have what's basically a stock 2004 Ford F350 6.0. I have a little ways to go before its in prime running condition but once it is what would you guys recommend be the first upgrades I make performance wise? I don't have a huge budget but I do auto repair work on the side so I can piece things together pretty nicely as I go along. I'm already going to grab the Edge Insight CTS2 monitor to keep things in check a bit better. I'm looking more for performance part ideas but also wouldn't mind hearing some thoughts as to what would look BADASS exterior wise as well. Thanks in advance fellas.
Agree. ^^^ You could also get started with a standard FICM tune. As @JesseKK 's comment suggested, without head studs, you have to keep reality in mind. But reality can still leave a lot of performance available.
I'm not a performance guy. Everything that I've done is for maintenance and reliability. You can see the list in my signature. Other than the Mishi rad, I'd probably do it all again. I'm prolly going to end up doing a BPD 7.3 fan clutch next. @portcity_gt 's recommendation of it has finally pushed me over the edge.
If you have a stock air filter system, keep it. That is great for anything under 500HP. No sense swapping it out for something that doesn't filter as good.
An upgraded turbo is a good and simple upgrade that will deliver for you. Something like the KC Stage 1.5. I'm kicking myself that I didn't go that route instead of a straight replacement.
As far as exterior, you do not want to follow my lead. What I recommend, though, is that you look at the forum Ride of the Month polls and see the different styles that the folks are running. Just use the forum search feature and search for "ROTM Poll". You can just go down the list.
first things first. It's a great thing that you are getting a CTS. Plan on monitoring your EGTs, ICP, FICM Voltage at a minimum.
Before you do upgrades, I would make sure that all your fluids and filters are changed. Stick with Motorcraft filters (Racor is Ok too since they make the MoFoCo filters). Run some good synthetic fluids all the way around. Flush the power steering, brakes, tranny, front end and rear end. Don't forget to do a coolant flush if you still have the ford gold. Go with a synthetic engine oil. You will find a slew of oil discussions in here. The horse has been beaten to a pulp to say the least on that subject.
Then I would upgrade my headlights. HIDs or LEDs, the choice is yours. We have both Retro Solutions and Diode Dynamics as supporting vendors here. I use Retro Solutions because their customer service has always been excellent to me.
Then I would install an oil bypass filter. Most people would recommend a coolant filter too.
Cold air intake. There are a lot of different ones there with a lot of different opinions (another horse died here too from severe beating).
Get some custom tunes. At a minimum get the Atlas40 for your ficm. You should/will notice a bump in your fuel mileage.
Get a good exhaust if allowed in your State. Turbo back, 4 or 5 inch.
Same truck yes. Waiting for new ECU to get in and going to get everything checked out and running tip top before proceeding obviously. Never hurts to get some ideas for the near future does it? Not like the performance upgrades and suggestions the above guys offered are going to be obsolete in the next few months haha. I don't have my priorities out of line here Heavy, I know that before I go tinkering I'll need to have the truck running right. Eventually going to "bulletproof" it and have some real fun with it, just looking for some suggestions in the meantime. Already learning a lot from the input of others and just browsing this forum.
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