just picked up an 04 f150 super crew lariat 4x4 on saturday. havent really put many miles on it yet, but have noticed a few things maybe you could help me with.
1- part throttle acceleration i hear a hissing type sound. sounds like an air leak from the pass side front window, happens with the window down too. its 100% throttle related because as soon as i lift off the pedal it stops. never heard a noise like this before, almost like static.
2-truck has less power than im used too. dont want to get carried away but planning on the basic intake, exhaust , and programmer. do the oiled filters have any issues with the MAF sensor? for exhaust i just want to replace stock muffler with a different one and add a nice tip. dont want anything real loud no popping sound etc(guess im getting old and loud lifted trucks are a thing of my past) which mufflers make a nice deep mellow tone with these trucks?
3-reccomendations for a good custom tuner? had a custom tuner for my dodge with a 408 stroker under the hood, liked how that went so id prefer to find one for my ford. its worth the extra $ to me . thanks. mike

 

As far as exhaust, I couldn't be more happy with the Magnaflow Catback system I have. It's a SI/SO and has a great noticeable mellow tone. Not loud, not raspy and it sounds great to me. I got it from hottexhaust. I have a 04 with the 5.4. I was going to go with dual exhaust but my buddy recommended single and I couldn't be happier. I hear these guys with straight exhaust and cherry bombs and I wonder what the hell I was thinking when I was that young. Lol.

 

I have an airaid intake on my 04 lariat 5.4 4x4 screw and I like it. I don't think its messed with the MAF at all.

I just installed banks monster exhaust single side out to replace my old flowmaster 40's. I like the mellow low tone of the banks system. At $449 for stainless, and it apparently keeps you in the Ford warranty too, it's hard to beat. We'll see if it gets louder as it breaks in.

I would love to get a programmer. Let us know what you go with and how you like it when you get one. Enjoy the truck!

 

Oiled filters, such as K&N, do not effect the MAF as sent from the factory. They have sometimes received a bad rap, due to owners that have cleaned and over oiled them. Their web site explains this in detail (how to clean and re-oil), and offers a warranty and garrantee that their filters will not cause damage as long as their instructions are followed. It's an easy proceedure should you ever have to clean and re-oil them. To date they have never had anyone prove damage by one of their filters. I have one on my Harley Davidson which has over 168K miles on it! The Harley is on it's second engine, but the filter is original. Also have one (K&N CAI) on my truck, which to date, has 58K on this filter (truck has almost 93K). No issues there either.

As to tuners, CAI, and exhaust, there are hundreds of posts on this site. Grab a beverage of your choice, enter "CAI", or "exhaust", or "tuner" in the search box and read the posts. You'll get all the opinions and suggestions you're looking for. Then you can make your decision .

Welcome aboard! Glad to have you here.

 

As far as the exhaust question, I felt like you. Nothing to loud or raspy just a nice tone. There was nothing wrong with my exhaust pipe or tailpipe so I had my muffler shop replace the muffler with a flow master 40 and chrome 3" tip. Couldn't be happier. Nice deep tone and smooth.