c/f150-performance-mods

0

the_charlie•18h ago

Switched from a canned tune to a custom dyno tune 4 months ago

My old canned tune felt strong at first but started pulling timing on 90 degree days here in Phoenix, and after 3 back-to-back dyno pulls with a local shop I picked up 22 wheel horsepower and the truck actually holds power now, has anyone else found that custom tuning makes a bigger difference than they expected?

5

mia748•1d ago

Swapped my stock air intake for a S&B cold air kit and holy cow what a difference on my 2018 3.5 eco

I used to run the factory box (even with a drop-in K&N) and thought it was fine for towing my 6,000lb camper to Lake Havasu last summer. After installing the S&B (about 3 months ago) I noticed the turbo spool sounds way quicker and I actually picked up 1.5 mpg on the highway. Any of you guys running a CAI on a 3.5 eco - did you need a tune to really unlock it or is the intake enough on its own?

16

henderson.wesley•3d ago

Dropped $1200 on a cold air intake and didn't feel a thing

I put a big name CAI kit on my 2018 5.0 last spring, figured I'd get at least 15-20 horsepower. Got it all installed in the driveway, took it for a spin, and honestly it felt exactly the same. Maybe I was expecting too much without a tune to back it up. Sound is a little throatier at wide open throttle I guess, but for the money I probably should have just done an exhaust cutout instead. Has anyone else thrown money at bolt-ons and regretted it, or did I just pick the wrong brand?

8

faith684•6d ago

Vent: That time I spent 3 hours fighting with a simple cold air intake swap

I got a new cold air intake for my 2018 F150 last weekend and thought it would be a quick 45 minute job. Boy was I wrong. The MAF sensor connector was stuck so bad I thought I was going to break the whole damn thing. I sprayed it with WD-40, tried prying it with a flathead, even watched three different YouTube videos hoping someone had the same issue. Turns out there was a little plastic tab I missed that needed to be pushed in from the side. Took me almost 3 full hours to figure that out and my knuckles were all scraped up. Anyone else run into a stupid little thing like that on an intake job that should have been easy?

22

evaallen•6d ago

Heard a guy at the parts counter say 'cold air intakes are useless on these trucks'

I was picking up oil at the Ford dealer last Tuesday and overheard this older tech telling a customer to skip the intake and just get a tune. I've had my Roush intake on my '18 5.0 for 8 months and the throttle response feels way snappier to me. Has anyone else run into a mechanic who's totally against bolt-on mods like this?

18

the_hayden•7d ago

Wasted $450 on a 'tuned' throttle body that did nothing

I bought a ported and polished 80mm throttle body off a guy on Facebook Marketplace for my 2017 3.5L. He swore it would add 30 hp and make the throttle snappier. Spent a Saturday afternoon installing it, took it for a test drive, and felt zero difference. Think I just paid for a shiny paperweight. Has anyone else fallen for a bolt-on part that was pure snake oil?

0

gavinlopez•9d ago

Ngl I thought electric cutouts would be a waste of money

I was dead set against them for years. Figured they'd leak or just sound like garbage. My buddy finally convinced me to try a set from Spintech on my 2018 5.0, and I honestly ate my words. They've held up fine for 8 months now with zero leaks, and being able to go from quiet to rowdy with a button is kinda addictive. Anyone else find a mod they were totally wrong about?

5

terry_jones•9d ago

Swapped out my stock intake for a cold air unit after 3 years of debating

Picked up a used AFE kit off Facebook last weekend and installed it Sunday, first thing I noticed was the throttle response felt snappier under 50 mph. Anyone else see a bigger difference from intake than from exhaust or am I just imagining things?

30

sam_murphy39•9d ago

After a test at Virginia International Raceway, I stopped chasing tuner numbers

I spent $1,200 on a custom tune from a popular shop in Charlotte, gained 45 horsepower on the dyno, but at VIR my 2018 3.5L was actually slower than my buddy's stock truck on the back straight. The extra timing they added made it pull timing hard in the heat after just two laps. Has anyone else found that a conservative tune with better heat management actually performs better on the track?

10

kelly_west74•10d ago

Took a corner too fast and felt my truck crap out on me

I was heading home from work last Tuesday on the 405 off ramp near Irvine and took a left turn at maybe 35 mph like I always do. Right when I straightened out, my 2015 F150 started bucking and the check engine light started flashing. I pulled into a gas station lot and the truck was idling rough like it had a bad misfire. Turns out my coil packs were shot on cylinders 3 and 5, probably from the heat and miles. I swapped all 8 coil packs and plugs over the weekend for about 320 bucks total and it runs smoother than ever now. Anyone else had a sudden misfire hit them after a hard corner like that?

19

jamesm48•12d ago

Appreciation post: That time my buddy's tune saved my motor on I-95

So about three years ago I was running a basic canned tuner on my 2014 3.5 EcoBoost. It felt fine but I never really pushed it. My buddy Mike told me for months to get a proper custom tune from a guy he knew in Orlando. I kept saying it wasn't worth the 400 bucks. Well last month I was merging onto I-95 near Daytona and the truck started pulling timing hard and surging. I limped it to Mike's shop and he hooked up his laptop. The canned tune had the fueling way off for the summer heat here in Florida. We loaded up his guy's custom tune and the difference is night and day. No more surging and it actually runs cooler now. Has anyone else had a canned tune almost wreck their motor in hot weather?

18

blake691•12d ago

Changed my mind about a catch can after a dyno day

Ngl I always thought oil catch cans were just snake oil for these trucks. But last Saturday I was at a dyno event in Phoenix and this guy Mike with a 5.0 showed me his intake valves after 30k miles with one. They were spotless while mine had that nasty black gunk building up. I pulled the trigger on a JLT kit that afternoon and installed it Sunday. Has anyone else seen actual carbon buildup differences with one?

5

the_patricia•12d ago

Vent: I was dead wrong about cold air intakes being a waste of money

For years I argued that the stock intake on my 2018 F150 5.0 was plenty good enough. I figured aftermarket ones were just noise makers with no real gains. But last month I finally swapped to a S&B kit after my buddy in Austin kept insisting. I did a before and after run at the local drag strip in Graham. My 1/4 mile time dropped from 14.2 to 13.8 seconds. That's a legit 0.4 second improvement on the same day with the same weather. I also picked up 2 mpg on my daily commute to work. I still think some mods are overhyped but the intake actually did something measurable. Has anyone else had a mod they thought was snake oil that surprised them with real results?

16

the_matthew•13d ago

Heads up about a dyno shop in Phoenix I visited last weekend

I stopped by a place called Desert Speed off the I-17 last Saturday to get some baseline numbers on my 2018 3.5L. The guy running it seemed cool at first but I noticed he was rushing through the pulls real fast. Didn't even let the truck cool down between runs and the numbers were all over the place. My buddy ran his 5.0 on the same dyno a month ago and got way lower numbers than expected too. They've got a shiny website and a bunch of race cars out front but something feels off about how they run things. I'd double check your results if you've been there or ask them to show you the full curves before you pay. Has anyone else had a bad experience with a shop that tried to rush through a dyno session?

28

jamesfox•14d ago

Overheard a guy at Home Depot say cold air intakes are a waste on these trucks

I was grabbing some supplies for a fence job and this dude in line was telling his buddy that CAIs basically do nothing for the 5.0. He said the stock box flows fine until you're pushing 500+ horsepower. That got me thinking because I was about to drop $400 on one for my 2018 XLT. My buddy put one on his 2020 and swears he felt a difference but maybe it's just the sound. Anyone else hear conflicting opinions on this? I'm wondering if I should just save that cash for a tuner instead.

20

jessica_ross38•14d ago

I finally talked to an old timer at a gas station in Nashville who made me rethink my whole cold air intake setup after 4 years

He said his stock box with a drop-in filter was pulling the same IATs as my fancy aftermarket one on his '19 5.0, so now I'm wondering if I wasted 300 bucks, anyone else had that reality check?

14

thompson.nathan•19d ago

Tried a cold air intake vs a drop-in filter on my 2018 5.0

Put a Roush cold air on mine and my buddy kept his stock box with a K&N drop-in. At the track my truck was 0.3 seconds faster in the quarter mile but his was way cheaper and easier to clean. Anyone else see that big a difference or was it just my setup?

17

thomas.parker•23d ago

Hot take: those cheap ported throttle bodies aren't worth it

I swapped on a $200 throttle body from eBay last summer on my 2018 5.0 and the throttle response felt snappier for about 2 weeks. Then I threw a check engine light for lean codes and had to put the stock one back on. Has anyone else dealt with a cheap mod causing driveability issues down the road?

5

murphy.linda•24d ago

Had a talk with a diesel tuner at a gas station that made me second guess my tune

I was filling up at a Shell in Phoenix last week and this guy in a built F-250 starts asking about my truck. He told me my 93 octane tune was probably hurting my daily driver because I'm not running enough timing for the heat out here. Has anyone else had a tuner tell you to drop a tune level for better reliability?

23

the_matthew•25d ago

Unpopular opinion: CAI vs drop-in filter for my 2018 5.0

I spent $380 on a cold air intake last summer and honestly, my truck felt slower until I got a tune to go with it. My buddy just swapped to a K&N drop-in for $60 and his dyno numbers are only 4 hp behind mine. Anyone else feel like CAIs are overhyped without the supporting mods?

1

christopher_wells4•25d ago

Hot take: too many guys are skipping their tuner's data logs

I see people slap a tuner on their 5.0 and never look at the logs. Been running an SCT X4 on my 2016 for about 8 months now. Checked my fuel trims last week and saw bank 2 was pulling way more timing than bank 1. Turned out I had a dirty MAF sensor that was throwing everything off. How many of y'all actually look at those logs or just send it?

8

alexc93•26d ago

Finally got my 5.0 to stop pinging on 87 octane after installing a $30 catch can in 20 minutes

I was chasing that knock for like 6 months and after dumping $60 on octane booster and trying different gas stations it was just oil vapors getting sucked back into the intake, has anyone else seen their truck run smoother after a catch can install?

14

wilson.sam•27d ago

Why does nobody talk about how much weight a tuner adds to the ECU load on a 2015 5.0?

I was looking through my SCT logs last weekend and noticed the load values jumped by 15% after I flashed a 93 octane tune from a popular company. Checked the forums and found a thread where a Ford engineer broke down how these canned tunes push the PCM way past safe limits on stock fuel systems. Has anyone else seen these load spikes and just ignored them?

26

casey_harris•28d ago

A guy at the track told me my exhaust was wasting my time

I spent a good two years bolting on Flowmasters and trying different exhaust tips on my 2015 F150, thinking I was gaining real power. Then this older fella at a test and tune night in Springfield pulled me aside after a run and said, 'Son, that loud pipe ain't making you faster, it's just making noise.' He pointed out my intake temps were probably climbing because the heat wasn't escaping the engine bay right. So I swapped my focus to a cold air intake with a sealed box and a good tune instead. Dropped my quarter mile time by three tenths just from that one change. Sometimes the best mod isn't the one you can hear, it's the one that works quieter. Anyone else ever get called out on a mod that was all show and no go?

21

hall.nina•28d ago

My cold air intake did not work the way I expected

I put a S&B intake on my 2015 5.0 back in March and I was hoping for a nice sound and maybe a little more power. What I got was a drop of 1.5 mpg on my commute in the city. I ended up putting the stock box back on and the mileage came right back. Has anyone else seen mileage loss from an intake on a 5.0?