sumsemperfi

I'm going to be buy a 95 f150 with a 5.0 with 114k miles. I want to fix it up and get as much power as possible out of it. Since it's virtually impossible to get any kind of programmers for it. Is there anyway I can delete the ecu or by pass it so I can put a bigger cam and stuff like that in it? Possibly super charge it.

Modular man

I'm not a big fan of programmers so It really dnt bother me they dnt have them for are trucks . If ur looking for more power out of ur 302 id go with sum heads and a cam and maybe sum headers. Also look up the six litter tune up if ur looking for alittle extra getup till u get ur bigger mods done.

sumsemperfi

Wouldn't I have to program it if I dropped a new cam/long tube headers in it?

Restof150s

you don't get programmers for these trucks. you get chips. If you find a good tune writer that can write tunes on to a chip it'll waken the truck up. then at the same time you can add performance parts also. Start hanging around with the foxbody mustang crew. Your looking for a guy that has the moats or quarter horse program, binary editor also. Just don't believe every one when the say the classic "yeah man I can tune that!" I got a guy that I use here local that can do pretty much anything. he own a 95 cobra that built to the hilt. writes his own tunes and he writes tunes for a local mustang shop. I was gonna do a good amount of work to my current truck and have him write the tune and he was gonna write out the automatic (was gonna go from automatic to manual, went a different direction with that).

olie

Chris_1

iTrader: (1)

The only problem with going after power is you lose torque.
Basically, you have 302 cubic inches to produce energy. That energy will come out as either power or torque. Unless you're looking at major internal engine modifications, then what happens is that if you increase power, you lose torque. If you increase torque, you lose power. It's a you get one or the other - not both kind of thing.

In something light like a Mustang, you don't need a lot of torque to get it moving off the line, so you can push it way over to the power side.
If you do that in a truck, it's a real dog off the lights and won't pull a load of dirt up a hill.
It's ok to add a bit of power, you just can't go too far. That's why truck cams etc. are totally different from the ones they put in cars.
The trick is to find the right balance. Ford did a fairly good job of balancing the 2 for good all around driveability. Point is not to get too carried away in one direction or the other.

sumsemperfi

The reason I ask is because a buddy of mine has 2 5.0 motors from a fox body mustang he was building then gave up on the build. We have already talked about seeing if the posi trac rear end he has would fit the f150. And he is willing to let one of the motors go for cheap. My plan would be to build the motor how I like it in the garage and drop it in when its done. But because of the computer it limits what can't be done with out getting new chips for it. I've always had deep feelings for square body f150s. It's what I learned to drive when I was 12 (88 f150 xlt) and I'm wanting get one. My 02 w the 4.2 doesn't cut it. Lol. Plus I'm wanting an automatic so my wife can drive it easier. Obviously due to money constraints it will take a long while to do everything that I want to but I'm trying to do my research ahead of time so I'm not scrambling to throw it all together last minute.

sumsemperfi

And to be honest. I know enough about engines to get me by. But as far as computers go on vehicles I don't know anything.

Crownman

This makes no sense. You don't just get one or the other. You will get more of both. How much more of each one depends on how the mods are combined.

Chris_1

iTrader: (1)

Technically, you are absolutely correct.
It was an oversimplification.
I didn't want to write a book and obviously didn't include enough disclaimers. I could have started talking about the fact that horsepower is the equivalent of torque x rpm and that the graph curves of power and torque will cross over at 5250 rpm and that there will be an increase of torque at certain rpm relatable to the horsepower produced at that speed (just to scratch the surface of the theory) but the guys such as yourself who already understand that don't need any advice from either one of us.
The guys who have to ask are thinking "what did I just read ?"
So, just for the people who are trying to wrap their brains around the whole power/torque thing (simplified) Power will rev up fast and spin the tires, torque will get you moving or pull your uncle's boat.
A Mustang is much lighter than a truck and doesn't require much torque to get rolling - a truck is much heavier and is intended to carry or pull weight and requires more torque.
There are things that you can do to the inside of your engine (bore it, stroke it, deck it) which will increase power and torque, but they are very expensive.
Most people will assume that using an intake/cam/heads/exhaust setup that is designed to produce lots of high end horsepower will make their truck into a screamer. Wound right up it sort of will.
But in order to get all that power which starts happening at higher rpm, the lower end of the torque scale falls off to the point where your truck feels like it's groaning to pull away from a light or climb a hill.
To sum all that up, the mods that work well for a small car do not work well for a truck.
The only way to get a truck to perform like a sports car is spend lots and lots of $$$$