Planning 1st HP/Torque uplift

[steelfish679]

Howdy, after 10 years and no complaints I want to give my 96/F350 7.3 a HP/Torque lift. I bought this Colorado ranch truck new and it does not commute to work. If it moves there is usually something heavy attached to it (livestock, boat, hay, tractor, jeep, etc).

I am interested in any low hanging fruit (e.g. turbo waste gate limiter now opens to WFO) and then can put some $$ into the project. After doing some reading it seems the best bang for my buck is to air it out with an exhaust and intake flow kit. Can anyone confirm with actual experience? Other ideas?

Thanks!

[mschn99]

sounds like you have a pretty good sense of what to do. the exhaust is a great idea, let her breathe. im not big on intake kits, but most of the guys around her have em, love em, and have not had issues, so ill let you scroll around and look at some of the other threads with that in it so i dont ramble on. other than that, chipping is going to be your least expensive/most gain option. other things you could do would be diff gear ratios. all depends on how much money you want to spend.........Marc

[steelfish679]

Thanks for the input -

I thought about the chip first but I'm not one for the easy path - I'll finish up the wrench work and reward myself with chip/s and beer. I had not thought about the rear-end work but that makes perfect sense - if you have any vendors in mind let me know (it's ok to ask right?). the intake seems a minor $$ refit and little work so I'll likely cut my teeth on it then onto the exhaust. I am looking for a downpipe that doesn't invade or excessively heat the firewall. I want to remove c/converter and muffler too. Any thoughts on noise control without these parts? Will it be 'too' loud - I don't want to spook the horses.

That's a sweet 51 you 'had' - I know how it goes though, I have a mostly stock 75 CJ that I get an offer a week on. I've resisted for 12 years but it's been hard.

[mschn99]

Originally Posted by steelfish679

Thanks for the input -

I thought about the chip first but I'm not one for the easy path - I'll finish up the wrench work and reward myself with chip/s and beer. I had not thought about the rear-end work but that makes perfect sense - if you have any vendors in mind let me know (it's ok to ask right?). the intake seems a minor $$ refit and little work so I'll likely cut my teeth on it then onto the exhaust. I am looking for a downpipe that doesn't invade or excessively heat the firewall. I want to remove c/converter and muffler too. Any thoughts on noise control without these parts? Will it be 'too' loud - I don't want to spook the horses.

That's a sweet 51 you 'had' - I know how it goes though, I have a mostly stock 75 CJ that I get an offer a week on. I've resisted for 12 years but it's been hard.

thanks for the compliment on the truck....the only thing i did not do myself was the painting......i apolstered it, built the motor, and put in a full four wheel inependant...it was a challange but was very fun.

as far as your truck, if its a 4x4, dont overlook that if you change gearing, you will need to do front and rear or you will break things when you put it in the first time. i work at a dealership, so i generally use factory parts, and you can beat gear prices with the aftermarket. just one note though.....ford rear ends are kind of touchy.....any minor pattern or backlash variations will cause a whine at hiway speeds. dont use the cheapest gearset you can find, chepa gears are made of "pop metal" and dont hold up. the exhuast is a pretty easy upgrade, and if your looking for nothing but performance, a 4 inch is plenty. without the cat and muffler it should not be overly loud unless you really romp on it. if your worried about that, you will need to keep some sort of muffler on it, but get rid of the cat no matter what.

[DIESELMAN7.3]

As far as the noise goes i have a 1997 ps 7.3 and mine isn't a whole lot louder then stock...trust me it won't spoke your horse's cause mine ain't loud enough to. You will be able to hear your turbo whinen up and i love that sound all my friends like it too. taking that stock junk out was the best thing ever on mine, i can see a big difference jus on fuel mileage too! i think you would be pleased with straight pipe...i am but ever one is different. let me know when u get it done and how u like it

[steelfish679]

Thanks DieselMan,

Glad to 'hear' you noticed the HP and fuel economy gains with your exhaust upgrade. Did you have an opportunity to notice any torque gain (e.g. enter 4%+ grade at speed for 1/2 mile with load and measure speed loss, do it again with upgrades)? I have a few hills here in central Colorado and will do a comparitive test and chart the results.

I still have some planning time before I dive into my 7.3L HP/Torque uplift (I am working on build/install boat motor (3.0L OMC, couple weeks) and an ignition upgrade for my '75 258ci CJ-5 (one evening)). For the 7.5L I am looking at a 4" end-end exhaust solution (like Dieselman) but can only find a 3" downpipe with 4" to the rear with high flow muffler. It's MBRP's Off Road 4" Aluminized (PNS6218AL). Does anyone know of a true end-end 4" solution? Also, the intake I have in mind is the only one I could find for the '96 model year 7.5L TD. It's the K&N solution (FIPK 57-2531). Boy, are they proud of that unit! Are there any other options?

[stomper2]

http://www.mufflerandperformance.com/

Try those guys. They were the only place I could find the 5" for my truck, and he is flexiable with how you want your exhaust to be.