5.0L MOD & Upgrade Options
02-13-2013, 03:55 PM
#1
5.0L MOD & Upgrade Options
This is a list of mods and upgrade options for the 5.0L f150. This does not include the super chargers turbo chargers, lift kits, wheels, gear changes...
Only Power, longevity, and MPG related upgrades.
Only Power, longevity, and MPG related upgrades.
- SCT + Custom Tunes
- Cat Back Exhaust
- Headers and CAT upgrades or deletes
- Replacement air filter upgrade
- Intake kit upgrade
- Oil Catch Can
- Synthetic oils in the engine, diffs, and transfercase
- Boss Intake manifold
- Accel Super Coils
- Oil Catch Can.
- Synthetic Engine oil 0w-20
- Synthetic Font and Rear Differential Oils.
- Synthetic Transfercase oil
- SCT Custom tuning non performance. Examples Transmission only tune, and MPG and or TOW tune depending on all of the details concerning how the tune...
- SCT + Custom Tuning
- Aftermarket air filter or intake kit (decreases longevity)
- Syn engine oil (0w-20) Syn diff oils, Syn Transfercase oil
- Oil Catch can
- SCT + Custom Tuning
- Aftermarket air filter or intake kit (decreases longevity)
- Syn engine oil (0w-20) Syn diff oils, Syn Transfercase oil
- Oil Catch can
- Cat back Exhaust
- Boss Intake Manifold
- SCT + Custom Tuning
- Aftermarket air filter or intake kit (decreases longevity)
- Syn engine oil (0w-20) Syn diff oils, Syn Transfercase oil
- Oil Catch can
- Full exhaust upgrade, high flow cats or cat deletes
- Boss Intake Manifold
02-13-2013, 07:44 PM
#2
Senior Member
Yea I'm going to have to disagree with a few things on this list.
1. MPG increase? I have have had 7 different tunes from two vender and can tell you that the stock tune on 91(highest available in my area) has yielded the highest MPG.
a)I also have an intake(bully dog) and it didn't change my MPG either way.
b)I also have an oil catch can and it didn't change it either. However it might have an affect long to by helping to keep the combustion cambers cleaner. This might help keep the MPG from decreasing over time.
2. Longevity. Other than the oil catch can where are you getting your information from?
a) What makes you think 0w-20 is so much better than 5w-20 to think the switch would help? Unless your in sub freezing most of the time I don't see this. I've known many vehicles in the family to go over 300k miles on 15w-40.
b) My 98' f150 has 298k miles on the original oil in the original differentials(4x4) with not so much as a leak. There's no reason to think going to synthetic would have produced better results. It also has the original transfercase(not oil but it was only changed once that I know of). My parents have an 01' with 200k miles with original everything but transmission and engine oils. No leaks or problems. In fact in my life I can only remember diffs going twice. One was a 74' dodge(unknown miles) and the other was my dads 88' suburban that finally went after 400k miles. Not easy miles on any of these vehicles as they are all work trucks and spend time on the farm.
c) When towing heavy loads you'll want thicker oil not thinner, even ford will tell you that. Oil gets extremely thin when it gets hot and when towing oil gets even hotter where a thinker oil is better to maintain proper lubrication.
d) Using an intake doesn't necessarily mean your engine won't last as long. Proper maintenance is key. I've only know one person with an intake to blow and engine(other than so ricers that were idiots and I'm sure the intake had nothing to do with it) and that's because he hydro-locked his engine because the intake acted like a snorkel to suck the water into the engine.
3. Performance
a) I agree with the oil catch can only on the fact of it helping to prevent buildup in the engine to maintain performance in the long term.
b) The boss intake is at best a wash in terms of performance unless other supporting mods are added. The loss in low end torque offsets what minimal gains are in the top end without supporting mods to build power to 7k rpm+. Ask Boss 5.0, he had his truck at the strip all the time. Check the mustang forums, they will tell you the same thing.
1. MPG increase? I have have had 7 different tunes from two vender and can tell you that the stock tune on 91(highest available in my area) has yielded the highest MPG.
a)I also have an intake(bully dog) and it didn't change my MPG either way.
b)I also have an oil catch can and it didn't change it either. However it might have an affect long to by helping to keep the combustion cambers cleaner. This might help keep the MPG from decreasing over time.
2. Longevity. Other than the oil catch can where are you getting your information from?
a) What makes you think 0w-20 is so much better than 5w-20 to think the switch would help? Unless your in sub freezing most of the time I don't see this. I've known many vehicles in the family to go over 300k miles on 15w-40.
b) My 98' f150 has 298k miles on the original oil in the original differentials(4x4) with not so much as a leak. There's no reason to think going to synthetic would have produced better results. It also has the original transfercase(not oil but it was only changed once that I know of). My parents have an 01' with 200k miles with original everything but transmission and engine oils. No leaks or problems. In fact in my life I can only remember diffs going twice. One was a 74' dodge(unknown miles) and the other was my dads 88' suburban that finally went after 400k miles. Not easy miles on any of these vehicles as they are all work trucks and spend time on the farm.
c) When towing heavy loads you'll want thicker oil not thinner, even ford will tell you that. Oil gets extremely thin when it gets hot and when towing oil gets even hotter where a thinker oil is better to maintain proper lubrication.
d) Using an intake doesn't necessarily mean your engine won't last as long. Proper maintenance is key. I've only know one person with an intake to blow and engine(other than so ricers that were idiots and I'm sure the intake had nothing to do with it) and that's because he hydro-locked his engine because the intake acted like a snorkel to suck the water into the engine.
3. Performance
a) I agree with the oil catch can only on the fact of it helping to prevent buildup in the engine to maintain performance in the long term.
b) The boss intake is at best a wash in terms of performance unless other supporting mods are added. The loss in low end torque offsets what minimal gains are in the top end without supporting mods to build power to 7k rpm+. Ask Boss 5.0, he had his truck at the strip all the time. Check the mustang forums, they will tell you the same thing.
Last edited by mechanicboy; 02-13-2013 at 07:48 PM.
02-14-2013, 05:38 AM
#3
Heat Miser
Wow...
You're kinda off on some of those, Steve..
Firstly, the Boss intake?
You have it listed not only as a straight-up 'performance' enhancer for the F150 5L, but in particular TOWING performance.
Do you know its purpose?
It's to provide better performance ABOVE 7,000RPM!
Nevermind the fact that the 5L in the F150 won't ever get there, even with the Coyote motor that is DESIGNED to work with the Boss intake, it loses roughly 20-ft-lbs of torque to the 'regular' Mustang GT intake.
BOTH these two items add up to not only making it NOT a 'performance upgrade' for towing, it's actually a performance KILLER.
Even if you bought your F150 to run the 1/4 mile with, you'd need a LOT of other 'upgrades' to even make the thing work properly, namely a new valve-train that can handle spinning up above 7000rpm. Guys with Mustang GTs raise their limiters to 8,000rpm or MORE, as the Boss intake keeps working PASSED 7500rpm. I know all of this because I bought a '12 Mustang GT back in spring of '11, and installed the Boss intake and everything else, RIGHT before I sold the friggen thing and bought a Boss 302.
Moving on... 0-weight oil? We ran 0-5w in ROAD RACING motorcycles that needed every last drop of horsepower we could squeeze out of them, but 'longevity' wasn't even REMOTELY a concern. Oil was changed after every race, and motors were rebuilt after ever THREE.
When oil with such low viscosity such as this is used, it's used SOLELY to MINIMIZE DRAG, thereby FREEING UP POWER. You have it listed as a 'Longevity mod'?
That's absoLUTELY N-U-T-Z! NEVER run oil in a 'Street-Driven' vehicle that has '0w' listed as its viscosity, REGARDLESS of what's listed on the 'heavy' end.
Moving on to a 'mod' that you actually state is a 'Longevity'-reducer, an aftermarket air filter.. Why is that? Why will replacing my stock paper element with an aftermarket panel filter make my motor wear-out sooner?
You're kinda off on some of those, Steve..
Firstly, the Boss intake?
You have it listed not only as a straight-up 'performance' enhancer for the F150 5L, but in particular TOWING performance.
Do you know its purpose?
It's to provide better performance ABOVE 7,000RPM!
Nevermind the fact that the 5L in the F150 won't ever get there, even with the Coyote motor that is DESIGNED to work with the Boss intake, it loses roughly 20-ft-lbs of torque to the 'regular' Mustang GT intake.
BOTH these two items add up to not only making it NOT a 'performance upgrade' for towing, it's actually a performance KILLER.
Even if you bought your F150 to run the 1/4 mile with, you'd need a LOT of other 'upgrades' to even make the thing work properly, namely a new valve-train that can handle spinning up above 7000rpm. Guys with Mustang GTs raise their limiters to 8,000rpm or MORE, as the Boss intake keeps working PASSED 7500rpm. I know all of this because I bought a '12 Mustang GT back in spring of '11, and installed the Boss intake and everything else, RIGHT before I sold the friggen thing and bought a Boss 302.
Moving on... 0-weight oil? We ran 0-5w in ROAD RACING motorcycles that needed every last drop of horsepower we could squeeze out of them, but 'longevity' wasn't even REMOTELY a concern. Oil was changed after every race, and motors were rebuilt after ever THREE.
When oil with such low viscosity such as this is used, it's used SOLELY to MINIMIZE DRAG, thereby FREEING UP POWER. You have it listed as a 'Longevity mod'?
That's absoLUTELY N-U-T-Z! NEVER run oil in a 'Street-Driven' vehicle that has '0w' listed as its viscosity, REGARDLESS of what's listed on the 'heavy' end.
Moving on to a 'mod' that you actually state is a 'Longevity'-reducer, an aftermarket air filter.. Why is that? Why will replacing my stock paper element with an aftermarket panel filter make my motor wear-out sooner?
Last edited by yokev; 02-14-2013 at 05:41 AM.
02-14-2013, 06:05 AM
#5
Heat Miser
02-14-2013, 12:32 PM
#6
Senior Member
I think I recall that steve is from the far north... not positive on that one but if he is that explains why he thinks a 0w is better for longevity. The reasoning is that the thinner oil will start lubricating sooner when cold.
02-15-2013, 04:52 AM
#7
The stock ecu limiter in the truck is 7500 and yes when I installed my GT cams I also upgraded my valve springs to the Boss springs along with a billet oil pump and ARP head studs for strenth.