Exact HP Gains

I have powdered rods in my truck. Personally what I would do is 160/30 injectors, a 63/68 turbo from KC, and a built trans (Sam Wyse, BTS, & John Woods are the top 3 to choose from) with a larger trans cooler. Of course proper gauges as well. With those injectors you can skip the T500 HPOP. That should get you to around 400hp at the wheels with a good tune

As far as tuning, skip the SCT and get a Hydra chip with custom tunes from Jelibuilt Performance. Brian will hook you up with whatever tunes you need. Let him know that you have powdered rods, and he will write tunes accordingly to keep the engine safe.
I have a daily driver, tow, and various performance/race tunes

The hydra will give you a huge advantage if you’re looking to tow because you can switch tunes on the fly. You can run a hotter tune to have fun with when unloaded, and then quickly switch to a tow tune when you hook up your trailer. This is a much better setup than trying to get a blanket tune on your SCT to use for everything; you’ll actually have specific tunes for whatever you’re doing

P.S. there is a chance you have forged rods. Do a search on YouTube to figure out how to check. It involves taking a plug out of the block near the oil filter & looking for either a rod cap bolt or a stud and nut. Bolts = powdered, stud and nut = forged

Where do you recommend the injector and turbo purchase? The 31 row trans cooler is on the list, I already have a CTS2 to install on it. The reason I was going to use the SCT is because I have it from my 6.0. But I do understand now why everyone says hydra. I used to have a TS 6 Pos on my 2000.the best thing ever r was shift on the fly. If I skip the T500 though, there’s my finances to pay for the Hydra. I like this setup that you recommend. It looks like the KC300X 63/68 can be had from RiffRaff for a fair price. I just don’t know where to look for the injectors. Also what brand do you recommend? The build date on the truck is 04-01 so I assume I have the PMR, but I’ll check to see on the serial number break. That may be easier than pulling the plug? When the rebuilt trans goes, I will choose whether or not to do the manual swap. It would honestly be a little cheaper to do the manual, but I would be using a used transmission, so that may sway me to go with the auto. 400 hp seems like a number I’m comfortable with but the trans possibly wouldn’t be. Could I expect a transmission replacement in the near future given I make these upgrades?

So I learned a bit more information about the truck. It’s been sitting since January of 16, which I was the last to work on it (that’s a really long story), but now it’s finally mine. I went through some of the paperwork on its repairs a few years prior to it sitting. It’s got new injectors, a new HPOP, and a new, not rebuilt transmission in it. This changes things. I was thinking the injectors and HPOP were original. However, the turbo for sure is. The up pipes are shot, and the pedestal appears to be leaking from the actuator as we’ve all seen it before. So my next question is this, if I keep the stock injectors for now, would I benefit any from going to the KC300X 63/68? I understand that the HP is a direct relation to the injectors, but that’s only half the ball game. If I keep the new injectors, upgrade the turbo, pedestal, and up pipes, and then wait until these injectors go, would that be money well spent? I’m going with the Hydra for sure, adding intake, exhaust, bellowed up pipes, deleted pedestal, and all that. If you don’t recommend the KC turbo I mentioned earlier with the stocks, should I modify my stock turbo instead, or should I look towards upgrading turbos, but just not the KC I mentioned? I had a WW and a TS chip on my 2000 and I thought that was pretty awesome. But I always felt a little hungry for more when I was towing 18K plus. Like I mentioned, I’ll tow heavy with it at times, but I want it to be quick too. I’ve decided to go with the auto instead of the swap because the wife will drive this truck. She does know how and does well at driving a manual, she just prefers the auto inside the city where we live which is understandable. Any thoughts? Clover leaf I see you always commenting that the garret 38r is the best drop in turbo stock-550hp, but most of the posts are several years back. Is this still your recommendation with stock injectors?

I’ve been waiting for you to reply to this post because I have a lot of questions for you but I didn’t want to call on the weekend so I’ll ask them here for others to see if they are wondering the same thing. Obviously I’m going with the stock injectors. If I upgrade to a 70 psi fuel spring, upgrade to the bigger banjo bolts, and install a fuel crossover, would that be enough fuel to warrant a stock plus KC? And another question I have is, for only $100 more, why would one prefer the stock plus over the 63/68 if both can be sustained with stock injectors? I plan going 6637 intake, hydra with Jellibuilt custom tunes not canned, 4” MBRP turbo back w/muffler delete, and the other thing I’m trying to decide on is what to do with the turbo. I’m going with the bigger banjos and the 70 psi spring for sure. I thought about going with the Gillett diesel spring which is rated for 90-110 which usually reads around 95, but I’m not sure if that’s too high or not. I had one on my 2000 that I installed, ran it for about a week and then blew the steel return line from the back of the passenger side head to the fuel bowl. Had to change that in the rain, luckily the closest Ford dealer had one in stock. Couldn’t believe that. At the time the truck had around 260k so I’m not sure if it was just from it being old, because it blew right where the clamp holds it, or if it was the spring that made it blow. Or perhaps a combination of both. A whole other list of mods to go with these as well. I know the up pipes are done for and I’m not really a fan of just doing a compressor wheel and calling it good because this turbo has 120k on it and I have the funds to either build it up or replace with bigger. I don’t necessarily have the funds for injectors at the moment because other maintenance items take precedence over the new injectors I have, but I do plan to upgrade in the future. What would you do? Looking for 300 maybe 325 hp. Comparable to a stock 6.0. I don’t want to be forced into replacing the trans if I blow it with too high of hp before I’m ready to upgrade the trans. I’ll probably wait to do the trans right before the injectors since that’ll add the most hp. Once I’m ready to do the trans, I’ll be looking for 400-450. I’m thinking if I do the trans and injectors next year, it would be a better decision to go ahead with a bigger turbo now. Only question is, .84 or 1.00. I’m not going to take your advice lightly. I really appreciate everyone reading and also replying!