mini 5"flo pro and s&b install

[mtc0812]

i ordered the mini with 5" flo pro exhaust and s&b intake from rudys for $1600. install was a breeze that took a total of about 3.5-4 hours. the exhaust was the most intimidating, but turned out to be a pretty easy install. I did all of these upgrades in my garage with all four wheels on the ground and didnt have to cut the exhaust. hardest part for me was getting the OE exhaust off of the rubber hangers, but a pry bar made quick work of that.

first impressions:

the mini is in fact mini, but proves to provide great power and lots of details about the trucks stats. the install was pretty straight forward hooking it to the obd port and the purple power wire. I also used the mount that installs above the air vent. I wish that there were more details of exactly what tune/tranny setup that was currently installed.

flo pro 5" is a well thought out system that was very easy to install, but the instructions were a little vague. I wish that they would have included in their instructions how many stock sensors there were to remove and exactly what pieces of the exhaust kit were needed for the users truck setup (crew cab short, crew cab long etc.)

mbrp exhaust tip would not fit because it was WAY too long to fit on the flo pro exhaust tail pipe and stuck out past my tires by at least 6", so i will end up returning it and just stick with the the aluminum tail pipe for now.

s&b is a nice looking system that surprisingly only took about 30 min to install. I also think that they should make their instructions more current for each year of truck (2008, 2009, 2010). the instructions were a little confusing because some of the photos used are for previous years of trucks.

initial voyage with the entire setup for awesome to say the least! i was expecting the exhaust to be loud and annoying, but it sounds great and is not loud at all. I did however have lots of tranny issues that i have not been able to resolve, but hopefully h&s will be able to solve them for me on monday. i visited the h&s website and downloaded the hot damn tune along with the 45 mph firm shift, but it seems that my tc doesnt lock up until around 50 mph. my stock tune would lock the tc at 45 mph and would hold down to 42 mph. I really liked the stock tune because the speed limit where im from is 40 mph. i wish the h&s 45 lockup would actually lock at 45 and hold just like the stock tune. it also seems like the tranny hunts for gears a lot. I tried to do the tranny re learn process, but my truck would redline, get stuck in 4th gear, shift very violently and would put a wrench icon on my dash. i tried to have the mini diagnose the trouble codes but there werent any. i solved this issue by pulling off the road, putting the truck in park, turning the engine off and the restarted it. after that, the truck would shift in to all gears, but i was scared to try the learn process again.

bottom line is i am very impressed with the potential that this setup has and i hope h&s can resolve my tranny issues on monday. my ultimate goal is to see a mpg increase but only time will tell on that.

does anyone have any suggestions on how to paint the mount to match my silver dash? more than likely spray paint is the answer, but if anyone has suggestions on colors, let me know

props to rudys diesel for getting me all these parts at a fair price.

my truck setup is 2010, 4x4, auto, crew cab, stock tires with 3.55 gears

[Hoosierdiesel]

I installed the same setup with the exception of I have the Black Maxx. For the exhaust length issue I just cut down the flo pro to get my tip to fit properly. The 45mph lockup does seem to lockup right at 50 and it wont stay locked any lower than 48-49. I didnt have any tranny issues like you are stating though. Hopefully they can get that worked out for you.

[rdwngs444]

^^ like stated above, the exhaust will need to be cut for a tip since it's not meant to have a tip, i also had no tranny learning issues and since i downloaded the latest flash from H&S, my truck shifts so smooth now.

[randy48162]

I also just installed last night a mini maxx, afe intake, and 4' flo pro and had no shifting issues but i'm not running the hot damn tunes yet.

[Hoosierdiesel]

I never ran the "out of the box" tunes, I updated to the hot damn files prior to ever loading it up on the truck. I am running the firm shifts and not the race shift.

[Biggsw784]

yea i had to cut about 6 inches off my tailpipe of my 5" flo pro to fit my mbrp tip

[CJoe31]

So I've read through all the Spartan and H&S threads, especially the one posted recently. I was all Spartan, but now I think Im going with the Black MAX. Besides they are both excellent tuners, but H&S seems to have more/ a lot more favorable options, and KEM tunes available.

Is it worth getting the additional EGT probe, figure I could always get it later too.

Did any of you get the mounting pod, looks pretty tight, and I thought the tuner came with a suction cup type mounting bracket. 80 bucks seems like a lot too. Maybe I'll ditch the mount for the EGT probe.

What kind of mileage you seeing. Im still on my first tank, and Ive been driving it hard, towed my boat around, and I know the Dick Cepek tires are probably costing me 1-2mpg. Computer says 10.5 now, and I'll be doing a trip this weekend, and yes I'll be doing hand calcs.

Oh and thank you all so much for all the threads, this info is great, and helps a TON. Any tips, suggestions, personal experience is greatly appreciated.

[CJoe31]

Did anybody get a muffler, I wanted the 5" Single. Most threads say the 5" is pretty deep throaty sound, just don't want it too loud or sounding like a hair dryer.

[mtc0812]

thanks for all the replys! The exhaust tip that i got is about 11" long, so even if i cut the tail pipe, it will stick out way too far. I will end up sending it back and ordering something different. as far as fuel mileage, i was getting about 12.8 before the mods, and after 200 miles with the mods, i got 13.2, but that was also trying to do the tranny re learn and driving it really hard. im running the hot damn tune on the hot setting.

[Hoosierdiesel]

Originally Posted by CJoe31

So I've read through all the Spartan and H&S threads, especially the one posted recently. I was all Spartan, but now I think Im going with the Black MAX. Besides they are both excellent tuners, but H&S seems to have more/ a lot more favorable options, and KEM tunes available.

Is it worth getting the additional EGT probe, figure I could always get it later too.

Did any of you get the mounting pod, looks pretty tight, and I thought the tuner came with a suction cup type mounting bracket. 80 bucks seems like a lot too. Maybe I'll ditch the mount for the EGT probe.

What kind of mileage you seeing. Im still on my first tank, and Ive been driving it hard, towed my boat around, and I know the Dick Cepek tires are probably costing me 1-2mpg. Computer says 10.5 now, and I'll be doing a trip this weekend, and yes I'll be doing hand calcs.

Oh and thank you all so much for all the threads, this info is great, and helps a TON. Any tips, suggestions, personal experience is greatly appreciated.

You dont need the EGT Probe, Ford's can monitor the EGT at pyro #1 and #2 so you dont need those. I have seen an increase from 9mpg to around 11mpg on the first tank and I have been on the gas most of the time.