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4406 swap... power and MPG improvment thread

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1997XLTRollover

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Ok guys I want to put something to rest here and I ONLY want to hear from the guys who have personally done this to their truck and gotten their OWN data.

There seems to be a lot of debate on the MPG and power improvements a 4406 swap gives. So this thread is for just that. What power and what kind of MPG improvements did you see after completing your swap if any. Also were manual hubs used or not because this also makes a large difference.
 



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I just finished my swap yesterday so I'll give my data in a few weeks as far as MPG.

As far as power I could tell that right off the bat and I had my boss drive it today and he said the same thing.

P.S....He has owned 2nd gen V8 explorers for years so he knows how they drive.
 






SWIGIN said:
I just finished my swap yesterday so I'll give my data in a few weeks as far as MPG.

As far as power I could tell that right off the bat and I had my boss drive it today and he said the same thing.

P.S....He has owned 2nd gen V8 explorers for years so he knows how they drive.
Click to expand...

Are you running just the 4406 or did you do manual hubs too?

EDIT: I'm wondering if the power you feel is true power being made, or if it's just seat of the pants. I had my front driveshaft out of my truck for a couple hundred miles and when I put my front shaft back in the truck was definitely faster. What I'm getting at is maybe the VC causes some slippage, giving the effect of less power because of how it's transferred around, even though the truck is accelerating the same.

So maybe with the 4406 it's a more harsh hard pull, even though it's not actually pulling any harder.


EDIT #2 : I should clarify... when I say my truck was faster, I meant it felt like it pulled harder on downshifts. I felt it dead hook on downshifts, but overall it felt the same speed as before the front shaft went in once it was fully engaged in gear.
 






1997XLTRollover said:
Are you running just the 4406 or did you do manual hubs too?

EDIT: I'm wondering if the power you feel is true power being made, or if it's just seat of the pants. I had my front driveshaft out of my truck for a couple hundred miles and when I put my front shaft back in the truck was definitely faster. What I'm getting at is maybe the VC causes some slippage, giving the effect of less power because of how it's transferred around, even though the truck is accelerating the same.

So maybe with the 4406 it's a more harsh hard pull, even though it's not actually pulling any harder.


EDIT #2 : I should clarify... when I say my truck was faster, I meant it felt like it pulled harder on downshifts. I felt it dead hook on downshifts, but overall it felt the same speed as before the front shaft went in once it was fully engaged in gear.
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No manual hubs yet.

I am keeping this as fair as possible. I have not had a front driveshaft in my EX yet since I have owned it. I purposely left it off after the swap since I don't know how it was with one. My pre swap average MPG per tank was 15.5. I will wait till I get a few tanks run through it to say what it is now.

Now I did do a cat back at the same time but my boss also has a cat back so that's why I let him drive it since he has had a few 5.0 Exs with cat backs. He said it pulls harder then any he has owned and the steering feels lighter.

So since I have no AWD with a front D shaft experience That is why I left it off now so I can compare apples to apples.
 






OK, I have new MPG data.

My old average was 15.5 with no front drive shaft, new average is 17.2.

Drives better, runs better, gets better MPG what's not to like?
 






all the front end components are still causing drag because the front axle is live, I did the swap, didnt notice any change other then wet pants from 4low
 






rabbit91 said:
all the front end components are still causing drag because the front axle is live, I did the swap, didnt notice any change other then wet pants from 4low
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Any other changes done at the same time? Were your 33's on the truck before the swap?
 






1997XLTRollover said:
Any other changes done at the same time? Were your 33's on the truck before the swap?
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Sloped body lift at the same time and nope had 32s then. Ran it with 32s for 2 years with the tcase swap.
 












rabbit91 said:
Sloped body lift at the same time and nope had 32s then. Ran it with 32s for 2 years with the tcase swap.
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If I'm reading that correctly you did a body lift at the same time as your 4406 swap?

If so that could just about wipe out ant MPG gain from the swap. I know it's only 2 or 3 inches but you are moving through more air when you lift, more air is more drag.

When I lowered my Bronco from 8'' lift down to 6'' I noticed a slight and I do men slight MPG gain.
 






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