Best overall performance upgrades 03 v10
#1
Best overall performance upgrades 03 v10
Seems to be alot of experts on here relating to v10s so I thought i would post here to get recomendations on what i should do to my truck for performance improvments. Not that i am on an unlimited budget, but lets pretend that i am and $ is not an issue.......simple bolt on stuff, no forced induction. I have a 03 CC srw f350,4x4, with 63,000miles with 3.73 gears( dont want to change gears either). What would give me the best performance increase. Looking for exhaust(headers-tail pipe) cat/no cat, air intake,TB upgrade, tuner/shift improver, ignition upgrades, full synthetic fluids upgrade, or anything else you experts can think of. I pull a 28' enclosed tag trailer with a 3200# drag car, golf cart, tools, fuel, etc. and my estimation is around 10,000-12,000# fully loaded. I race with a friend who has a 7.3 with some goodies CC,2wd and a stick, and he pulls a 32' goose and has a larger fuel tank than I and the fuel milage is a little better that mine but not much. I am not looking to compete with him on fuel but would just like to be able to keep up to him better on grades. We pull 70-80mph range most of the time. Thanks so much for you help. Damon Dais
#2
Searching through this forum will find lots of opinions and data points. To summarize MY experience and all available objective data (not marketing BS):
- I know you asked not to hear it, but deeper gears are far and away the best bang for the buck for towing.
- An new custom tune is well worth the investment. Mike at 5 Star has made many of us quite happy.
- Preliminary data says SPD's y pipe appears to provide some benefit on early 2V PI engines, and it's pretty low $ if you can weld it in yourself.
- Replace "snorkel" on the front of the airbox with larger diameter one from 3V equipped trucks.
- Good tune up (fresh plugs, 02 sensors)
- Fresh air filter
After that, most of what you mentioned isn't going to improve your towing performance unless you do major $$$ upgrade and do a lot together. Some report some gains if you do headers, BIG FM muffler (50 or 70 BB), larger TB, gauze air filters, and a custom tune. But from what I've seen on actual dyno tests, each by itself has shown limited bang for the relatively big bucks.
Things that do very minimal bang for buck or actually hurt towing power include the TB upgrade, TB spacers or any kind of swirly things,, aftermarket coils or hoo-haws, gimmick spark plugs, eliminating cat, bigger exhaust pipe, "cold air" intakes.
- I know you asked not to hear it, but deeper gears are far and away the best bang for the buck for towing.
- An new custom tune is well worth the investment. Mike at 5 Star has made many of us quite happy.
- Preliminary data says SPD's y pipe appears to provide some benefit on early 2V PI engines, and it's pretty low $ if you can weld it in yourself.
- Replace "snorkel" on the front of the airbox with larger diameter one from 3V equipped trucks.
- Good tune up (fresh plugs, 02 sensors)
- Fresh air filter
After that, most of what you mentioned isn't going to improve your towing performance unless you do major $$$ upgrade and do a lot together. Some report some gains if you do headers, BIG FM muffler (50 or 70 BB), larger TB, gauze air filters, and a custom tune. But from what I've seen on actual dyno tests, each by itself has shown limited bang for the relatively big bucks.
Things that do very minimal bang for buck or actually hurt towing power include the TB upgrade, TB spacers or any kind of swirly things,, aftermarket coils or hoo-haws, gimmick spark plugs, eliminating cat, bigger exhaust pipe, "cold air" intakes.
The following 2 users liked this post by mwsF250:
#3
Hi 8secpace
Welcome to FTE , thanks for joining us in the V10 forum. mwsF250 has given some great advice. Tuner, headers with some sort of ypipe you will have some solid improvements to your 03 V10. Check out here for some before and after results on our V10. Got a V10 Ford F250/350/450/550?
If we can help at all with more of your questions just give us a shout at mike@5startuning.com
Mike
Welcome to FTE , thanks for joining us in the V10 forum. mwsF250 has given some great advice. Tuner, headers with some sort of ypipe you will have some solid improvements to your 03 V10. Check out here for some before and after results on our V10. Got a V10 Ford F250/350/450/550?
If we can help at all with more of your questions just give us a shout at mike@5startuning.com
Mike
#4
#5
No bolt-on mod is going to do more for you than gears.
#6
I've done the muffler, intake, synthetic everything, but the only real performance enhancer I've done has been changing my gear ratio. Throw the other mods out the window and save up for new gears. Saving up for gears may not be instant gratification but a new muffler or intake is not going to give you any gratification when your buddy continues to waste you on the hills. V-10's love gears that get them into their sweet spot.
New 4x4 gears ~ $1500 - $1800
New 4x4 gears ~ $1500 - $1800
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#7
Swap gears to 4.30s (if your running stock tires) and get an SCT tuner with a good towing/performance tune. You can swap out the factory muffler because its fairly restrictive.
I have long tube headers/y pipe, custom exhaust, tuner and intake all the mods combined will not compare to the proper gears. 3.73s suck and I'm going to 4.30s as soon as I can.
I have long tube headers/y pipe, custom exhaust, tuner and intake all the mods combined will not compare to the proper gears. 3.73s suck and I'm going to 4.30s as soon as I can.
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#8
#9
#10
There isnt any full size truck let alone heavy duty 3/4 ton that will get 25mpg currently on the market that I am aware of, a 2wd 4 banger ranger might.
#12
v-10, 25 mpg?, not right away...
But trucks are less aerodynamic, for sure.
To the thread, what difference will the deeper gears make in mpg when empty, which is how many of us drive most of the time?
#13
I get 9/11 city/hwy with my relatively stock 03 supercab, 315's on stock wheels, 4.30s (stock)... I do 75mph @ 2200rpm (corrected via gps) with this combo and get a little over 11mpg on the higway... have a magnaflow muffler with stock tubing... did not do anything other make the truck sound nicer and MAYBE a couple of ponies more (able to keep the truck in overdrive longer on steep grades)... the next mod I do will be the SPD y-pipe, then a drop-in air filter from AEM, and definitely a tuner from 5-star at the end... I hate downshifting the truck, as that is what kills mpg (75mph @ 3300rpm in 3rd gear)...
Joey
Joey
#14
I get 9/11 city/hwy with my relatively stock 03 supercab, 315's on stock wheels, 4.30s (stock)... I do 75mph @ 2200rpm (corrected via gps) with this combo and get a little over 11mpg on the higway... have a magnaflow muffler with stock tubing... did not do anything other make the truck sound nicer and MAYBE a couple of ponies more (able to keep the truck in overdrive longer on steep grades)... the next mod I do will be the SPD y-pipe, then a drop-in air filter from AEM, and definitely a tuner from 5-star at the end... I hate downshifting the truck, as that is what kills mpg (75mph @ 3300rpm in 3rd gear)...
Joey
Joey
#15
If you are towing, definitely look into gears. Otherwise, I would point you over to Gale Banks Engineering for a total performance makeover. They sell their upgrades as a complete package that includes your intake, exhaust manifold, y-pipe, muffler, and exhaust. They also offer a tuner specifically made for a truck with these upgrades on it.