Reliable Modications without Headstuds

[Blitanicle99]

So I towed my race trailer and race car up to Summit Point West Virginia, from Atlanta this weekend and found out how damn good of truck my F250 is.

I got about 11 mpg on the flats, 9 in the hills.

I would like to do a few modications that would bump up the mileage a bit under a load, while not even coming to the possibility of stretching my head studs.


1rst) Intake. Cold air, which one? Which one is the best bang for the buck? Is there any huge difference in the towing aspect of it?

2nd) Exhaust. I like the fact that I can sleep in my backseat while my buddy drives and vise versa. I like the fact that its pretty quiet. However, I know its probably restrictive. Whats an easy way to free it up, while keeping down the db noise? Would you suggest just removing the Cat and keeping the rest?

3rd) Programmer. I would consider for better mileage if the fuel could be leaned out a little bit. I am sure from the factory its running a little rich, what could I do about that without again, making the truck un reliable where I would be worried about needing head studs?

4) (This might sound a little crazy) Anyone ever done a manual boost controller on their 6.0? Yes it can be done. Just search on google for it. We made one for our Twin Turbo 350z this weekend and it worked beatifully. I was thinking that and a boost gauge and bump it up about 2 lbs to lean the motor out a little bit? Again, just an idea.


Thats about it for now. Ill post some BADASS pictures and videos from the weekend when I get the chance.

[jamstoyz]

for the intake i would do a afe stage 2 if your lookin for power. if you want mileage, i would leave it stock with a donaldson drop in filter cause whenever i put intakes on it seems like i lost alot of mileage. programmer would be hands down sct xcal 3 all the way. no if's and's or but's about it. with custom tunes that is or the canned tunes are very good too. as far as boost controller, i wouldnt even mess with it. the sct is gonna give you plenty o boost. exhaust should be 4" from turbo back. you can use a muff or not. muff if you want it quieter. hope this helps

[Blitanicle99]

Originally Posted by jamstoyz

for the intake i would do a afe stage 2 if your lookin for power. if you want mileage, i would leave it stock with a donaldson drop in filter cause whenever i put intakes on it seems like i lost alot of mileage. programmer would be hands down sct xcal 3 all the way. no if's and's or but's about it. with custom tunes that is or the canned tunes are very good too. as far as boost controller, i wouldnt even mess with it. the sct is gonna give you plenty o boost. exhaust should be 4" from turbo back. you can use a muff or not. muff if you want it quieter. hope this helps

Does the stock intake just flow that well?

I have heard the SCT is the best you can get because of the custom tuning. Again, I cannot afford head studs currently so no Looney tune or anything like that. Just a nice Tow tune would be nice. My buddy has a full banks set-up on his 6.0 and he claims to be getting 21 pulling which sounds quite high to me.


I would like it to be the exhaust to the same amount of noise as it is now.

[jamstoyz]

yeah stock intake flows pretty good. they say if your making over 500 hp than you will need a afe stage2. your buddy isnt getting that kind of mileage. i dont care what he has. you have the choice of 3 settings on the sct and towing tune or even performance tune will be ok as long as you have gauges and gauges is a must before you do any mods. ive towed my toy hauler in performance tune all the time without a problem. i run extreme on my truck now with no studs and its been fine so far but my 4.30 gear helps out a bit with that. a little less stress on the motor and trans.

[Shep1824]

I hate to break it to you but you always have the chance of stretching the head bolts even if your truck is stock, especially if you tow a heavy load often.

That being said, I would get an SCT X3 from DJ's or Innovative, a nice set of gauges, and a 4" turbo back exhaust. I have a Silverline on mine and love it but there are many options for this.

As far as the intake, your stock intake is just about as good as any until you are making major power so I would not worry about that right now unless you have some money to burn.

You should also block off or delete your EGR especially if you tow often. I have heard that the load causes the EGR failure in many cases but again, there is a chance of this happening even leaving your truck stock.

I hope this helps.

[Texas6.0]

Some stock 6.0's will stretch bolts, adding a tuner will only increase that risk IMO. You want better MPG's with no increase in sound or decrease in reliability? Get a drop-in filter, do the ZooDad and CCV mods, delete the cat/muffler, and NO tip OR tuner. If you can afford some downtime on the truck block the EGR cooler and weld the EGR valve shut or do a full EGR delete for increased reliability.

[tech10002]

If you want the truck to stay quiet, I would keep the cat. No matter what exhaust you have, it will be louder with the cat removed. I have the Banks monster exhaust on mine, and it is no louder than stock. I know a lot of people here don't like Banks, but I got it because it is known to be quiet. I can't stand a loud, droning exhaust.

I would stay away from the manual boost controller. There is absolutely no need for it running a tuner. You'll probably just make the truck throw codes. I'm not even sure how you'd do it with a VGT turbo anyway since it's electrically controlled.

Your mileage gain will come from the increased timing from the tuner. You can pick up a little if you switch to synthetic oil too. I gained 2 MPG from the tuner and about 1 from the oil. You're never gonna see 21 towing, though. 21 is about the best you're gonna do on the open road with the cruise set on 72-73 just carrying you and a little cargo. I get about 14-16 towing 6k and 10-13 towing 12k depending on terrain.

[Dave]

Originally Posted by jamstoyz

for the intake i would do a afe stage 2 if your lookin for power. if you want mileage, i would leave it stock with a donaldson drop in filter cause whenever i put intakes on it seems like i lost alot of mileage. programmer would be hands down sct xcal 3 all the way. no if's and's or but's about it. with custom tunes that is or the canned tunes are very good too. as far as boost controller, i wouldnt even mess with it. the sct is gonna give you plenty o boost. exhaust should be 4" from turbo back. you can use a muff or not. muff if you want it quieter. hope this helps

all this advice is good. As to the manual boost controller cant be done on the 6.0 and I wouldnt recommend it if you could. A diesel is a whole different animal than your 350z that maxes out at about 7lbs of boost.

[Blitanicle99]

Originally Posted by Dave

all this advice is good. As to the manual boost controller cant be done on the 6.0 and I wouldnt recommend it if you could. A diesel is a whole different animal than your 350z that maxes out at about 7lbs of boost.

LOL, try 9 and the turbos were barely doing anything. We run the Evo at 20 lbs on the low tune, and crank it up to about 28 when it gets tough



My biggest concern is not having to do headstuds for a longgg time. Thus anything that increases that risk I am not really apt to. I have had all my injectors replaced, the O rings, front and rear main seals, and full cooling system on my 03 6.0, so anything that apparent could go wrong with the truck has been fixed..... Except for the head studs...

[2005F250]

Stock filter will work just fine. For exhaust a Cat-back with muffler will be good. Don't be worried about streching the headbolts. My brother has an early 03 and his is running great. Only thing to go bad were the first set of cheap injectors and then 2 more 70K miles later. His is stock and it gets serviced when it's time.