I am planning on doing a basic overall performance upgrade to my 2005 5.4L. I know a lot of people on here have a lot of experience with this stuff. I am planning on doing some custom intake work (kind of gotts mod), l/t headers, high flow cats, dual 2.5" x pipe exhaust with cutouts, and a tuner with custom tunes. I've been told I cant run headers on stock cats cuz i will burn them out. And I know a tuner gets the most out of modifications. Can I run any of these mods without adjusting the computer with the tuner? will my truck throw any codes or run improperly? Should i get the tuner first and then pay for more tunes later? or any combination of order? I can't afford to buy all of this at once, or have the truck off the road for the time it'll take to do all of this. Any advice or experience.

 

If you have the money to do the intake, exhaust and tuner I'd suggest that with custom tunes. If you do the intake and exhaust alone you could run lean. you can always order different custom tunes for when you do the other mods. I have the gryphon from php and love it.

 

I'm looking at the gryphon but am having trouble getting ahold of php. How does it work? if i get new mods after getting the programmer, do I have to send it back to get it re programmed?

 

I have the gryphon from PHP. It tunes the airflow and the shift points. You order the gryphon from their website along with custom tunes. They ship the gryphon to you with three canned tunes on it. When you get the tuner in the mail plug it in to your truck and the HEX code will show on the gryphon screen. When you send them your HEX code then they write your custom tunes based on what you said in the orderform and send them to you through the Pegasus software they give you or download from their website. They have a forum for PHP and you can get a lot of information from it. They have three types of gryphon tuners so go check out their website to see which you like. I would recommend the gryphon to anyone

 

thanks. a lot of good stuff. how long did it take for you to get the tuner? and how long does it take to put the custom tunes on the tuner? I'm not exactly an ace when it comes to computer software.

 

Getting the programmer will only take as long as it takes them to ship to you. Getting custom tunes can vary depending on who's writing the tunes. I'm not sure what the lead time is for PHP.

If you want the best go with a SCT X3 with Troyer custom tunes. You will have to wait for Troyer tunes, however.

You can get good tunes from Mike at 5 Star very quickly if you decide to go with the SCT.

Personally I would just run a catback exhaust with a SI/DO. Then do the intake when you can do the programmer/tunes at the same time.

 

Same boat here...

So exhaust now, then get a tuner when I do the intake?

On another note.. do I have to go loud on the exhaust to get the best performance?

 

I got a Borla XS SI/SO and its not that loud. It’s a straight through design so it gives good flow that goes well with my CAI. I wanted something that was only a little louder than stock and I am really happy with the Borla. It keeps good tone all the way through the RPM’s and I did notice an increase in throttle response and power. But with a 5000+ LB truck, I cant tell you that its any faster now.

I also just ordered a Gryphon with the 87 performance tune about an hour ago. I have been running a CAI and exhaust together for a few months and havent had a problem with them.

 

I'll probably just find a local exhaust shop and talk to them. Ooooh boy... Money.

 

I took mine to a muffler shop that my local 4 wheel parts shop recommended. I got mine dumped because I am not a fan of the look of duels out the back. It took them 15 mins and cost me about $130 (don’t remember the exact amount). It was shockingly cheap and they welded it on and everything. If you don’t have to have the look of duels, I think dumping it under the bed somewhere near the bumper would give you the sound you are looking for. Call around and find a shop that stocks the Borla XS or XL and that will save you time and money too.