Performance tuner opion?

i have a 2001 ford expedition with a towing capacity of 5600 lbs. i bought a 21 marathon boat that when empty weighs 2500lbs it sits on an aluminum tandem axle trailer. i don't know excatly what the combo weighs but it is pushing my capacity. i was thinking about getting one of the performance tuners to add some extra hp and torque. what do you all think?:

Re: Performance tuner opion?

Just last week I added one to my bosses truck for him and he nor I can feel a difference except when it shifts. It does nothing for horsepower and torque. I would get an intake and exhaust for the same price and that will give you a few ponies. If your brakes are suffering you could upgrade them as well.

EDIT: it was the Hypertech power programmer.

Re: Performance tuner opion?

the trailer actually has electric brakes on it from the guy i got it from. upgrade the truck brakes how? size or composition?

Re: Performance tuner opion?

You are probably fine with the brakes on there if the trailer brakes are working fine. You can upgrade rotors and pads but it is not necessary if what you have is working. I would focus more on the motor stuff if you have apower problem. Which motor do you have the V6 or V8? I have an 03 Explorer that I have used to tow my 20 footer that weighs 2640 lbs dry on a tandem steel trailer with and have not had any problems with power, but it has the 4.6 V8 and I use the F250 if I have to climp any mountains.

EDIT: I doubt that you are over weight at all I can't see your trailer and add ons weighing 2500 lbs.

Re: Performance tuner opion?

Adding a tuner, or exhaust, or and intake will not increase the towing capacity one single pound. They might increase the ability, but as mentioned, it won't be a huge difference.

5600 lbs is kinda low for a full size - what engine and axle ratio do you have?

Brake pad material can make a huge difference in performance and/or durability. You could increase the size of your brakes, but that is ALOT of expensive hardware to buy, when a simple pad change could give you exactly what your looking for. I'm a big fan of EBC brakes myself.

Re: Performance tuner opion?

i have the 4.6L in it thats why its so low. i have the hawk superduty brake pads on it already for towing my other lighter toys. i towed the boat for 5 hours to get it home without a problem. but that was once not every weekend . i would just like to make it a little easier for my truck as it just turned 100,000 miles.

Re: Performance tuner opion?

In that case I would go with the intake and exhaust and maybe a throttle body spacer. That will give you a couple of horses if you don't mind a little louder exhaust. But make sure you do a Cat back system and you have to do both the intake and exhaust to get the full potential out of it. Or you could put gears in it, that would probably help more but might be annoying if it is your daily driver depending on what ratio you go with.

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Improve engine and transmission cooling. Maybe go to a lower ratio in the drive train.

DO NOT mess with that engine. Increasing HP without improving cooling, gearing and braking is a recipe for disaster.

Re: Performance tuner opion?

He should already have the same cooling system and trans with cooler that came with the 5.4 same with braking, so that should not be a factor in gaining 10-15 horsepower in the 4.6 I believe the only difference that the 4.6L came with is the gear ratio was a little lower. and yes the gears is the best route to go but most folks don't like it on the highway empty.

EDIT: The 4.6L V-8 has 232 HP and 291 ft lbs of torque and the 5.4L V8 has 260 HP and 330 ft lbs of torque both mated to the same 4 speed transmission with the 5.4 4x2 has a gear ratio of 3.73 and the 4.6 has a gear ratio of 3.31. The models with the 4.6 Auto trans come stock with the larger heavy duty trans cooler, the 5.4 has just a medium duty. They both have 12.13" front rotor and rear 13.20" exactly the same vehicle but with a smaller V8 and less HP so I believe adding up to 28 HP and 39 ft lbs of torque would have absolutely no ill effects on the vehicle so I stand behind my advice.

Re: Performance tuner opion?

Ditto what JB said.

I would skip the exhaust if you tow long distances. You will spend alot of time the 3000RPM range, under load, really makes for some unpleasant noises inside the truck.

Re: Performance tuner opion?

i like all the thoughts so far!! thought about the gears but it is my daily driver
even thou i only go 30 miles roud trip. we (my family)do alot of 200 thru 500 mile roundtrip weekend trips troughout the colder months. and to get to the water with the boat i have at least a 65 mile one way trip. maybe a little better ehaust would be the only way to go then the throttle body. already have a axuillary tranny. cooler. my truck is thw xlt 4x4 don't know how to see what the gears are, any info on how?

Re: Performance tuner opion?

Sounds good although I think JB has a great point but I don't think it applies to this situation unless he knows something I don't(Which could happen). I would stay away from any of those power chips you see out there as all they do is make your motor think it is running cold and change the timing which is not good at all. If you wanted to go with the intake and exhaust but want it quite you could go with a normal high flow muffler that is not loud.

Re: Performance tuner opion?

I put a SuperChips tuner on my 4.7 Dodge and can tell the difference. I set it for the performance tow mode as it would ping on the high performance setting, even while not towing and using premium fuel. The tuner works on my engine, better acceleration, pedal is more responsive, less downshifting pulling grades while towing 1000#. I tow 3000# also, but haven't really paid attention to how the truck's performance is then as I'm driving slow(er).

Without the Superchips the truck would get 15MPG on the interstate, with the Superchips I get 16+MPG. Though I don't think it's a huge gain since I have to pay $.20-.25/gallon more for premium fuel. It's kind of a wash in savings, but the engine runs better so it's worth it to me.

I installed a set OEM cams from the HO 4.7 and a few other tweeks, and it seems that the tuner (more aggressive timing) pulled every thing together. I tried the tuner before installing the cams and the truck got better mileage and a bit better performance, but I uninstalled it because the wife was driving the truck. After installing the cams I reinstalled the tuner and it really woke up the engine "noticeable improvement" so it's there to stay.

That said, I don't think a tuner will make a huge difference to a stock gas engine, and I wouldn't dump $300 hoping that it would cure my sluggish truck.

Skip the exhaust in a SUV, loud and annoying in the cabin. Wished I had never done it and thinking about going back to a stock muffler.

Re: Performance tuner opion?

I'd say the exhaust is the best bet for improvement, just don't get a loud one. Also put water wetter in the coolant, it might run more timing that way as well as improving cooling of everything. You could also cheat and run a shorter tire to gear it down, but it will mess up the speedo though you may be able to fix that. Synthetic lubes might help a little also, maybe a K&N type air filter.

Re: Performance tuner opion?

tuner chips in non turbo/supercharged vehicles are next to worthless. There simply isn't much power left that that manufacturer didn't already tune for, and if you do gain anything, it is possibly at the expense of your engine's life.

(think about it, manufacturers do EXTENSIVE engine testing. if there was 10% more horsepower plus a mileage boost free for the taking, don't you think that would have been done OEM? There is a reason it wasn't)

now if you are talking forced induction, there are all kinds of tuning that can give you a HUGE increase in power.

Re: Performance tuner opion?

Performance tuner opion?

Dont get me started. A superfast wallet lightener at the most.

Re: Performance tuner opion?

Why, is it sluggish? Getting passed a lot? Not climbing hills at breakneck speeds? When is the last tuneup? "Some extra hp and torque" needed or wanted?

Re: Performance tuner opion?

fishrdan said:

I put a SuperChips tuner on my 4.7 Dodge and can tell the difference. I set it for the performance tow mode as it would ping on the high performance setting, even while not towing and using premium fuel. The tuner works on my engine, better acceleration, pedal is more responsive, less downshifting pulling grades while towing.

Without the Superchips the truck would get 15MPG on the interstate, with the Superchips I get 16+MPG. Though I don't think it's a huge gain since I have to pay $.20-.25/gallon more for premium fuel. It's kind of a wash in savings, but the engine runs better so it's worth it to me.

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I put the superchips on my 5.7 HEMI dodge, it is awesome. im on the performance towing tune also. I got 2 mpg more while towing, and alot more around town when not towing. Yes the fuel is more but the rewards are worth it. I am a fan of stock exhaust also, the last truck was modified and I couldnt stand the drone under load in the cab. this one is stock, the intake is KN CAI, but other than that the SC made the biggest difference power/economywise for me.

Re: Performance tuner opion?

I've heard if you have a Ford V10, they don't run max power until you had your foot in it a while and the chip will get rid of that. Otherwise the chips don't do that much for non-turbos where they can raise the boost...and diesels they can adjust fuel timing also.

Re: Performance tuner opion?

I would leave it stock, just kind of a poochy truck. No biggie, no racing while towing.