Kenne Bell Supercharged Explorer...

[terdrocket]

Nice

I'm hoping to get a tune for mine in about 2 months. I'll put down around those numbers, but thats is far as I'll go.

How is you mpg? I know don't have to push the go pedal as much, but you probably can't resist. Plus I assume your sending it plenty more fuel than Ford specs.

 

[CDW6212R]

Good first step Robert, how long exactly was the dyno tuning process? How much time is spent at WOT on the dyno? Regards,

 

[rocket 5979]

Terdrocket- The MPG stayed close to the same. I hsvent went through a full tank of gas yet, but when I drove the 80 miles home from the tuner it only used about 1/4 tank of gas so I am using slightly more than stock from my preliminary numbers. Once I do an actual calculation after a few tanks of gas I am sure I will find it has actually gone down more than my ogiginal figures, but still not bad. When I get on the gas it is a whole other story. I can almost SEE the gas guage going down. hehe.

BTW...I noticed you said you needed a tune. What you running in that thing?

Good first step Robert, how long exactly was the dyno tuning process? How much time is spent at WOT on the dyno? Regards,

Thanks Don. The dyno process for my truck was allot more involved than most others because it is, well unique to say the least. Being that no one has ever tuned a Kenne Bell new gen Explorer before they didn't know all the ins and outs of the various systems. It took about 1.5 days of tuning to get it all dialed in. WOT was hit only for a few seconds at a time. Just set the tune to lock out 4th gear and then do a pull from idle to 6,000 rpms and then shut it down after it coasts to a stop. Thats abot it besides the drivability tuning, which was more driving at idle and part throttle while on the rollers and datalogging and reading a/f ratios too.

 

[BeauJ]

Nice numbers Robert. If I were you I'd get the aggressive tune and put the a/f right at 11.8. I've been datalogging mine with my Xcal2 and I've found no detonation with my race tunes up in the upper RPMs. Stock I put down 349 and 442, so your numbers look damn good. Hopefully with the mods I've got, I'll be in the 400/500 club on my dyno trip to Runnin With The Devil in Alabama

 

[rocket 5979]

Nice numbers Robert. If I were you I'd get the aggressive tune and put the a/f right at 11.8. I've been datalogging mine with my Xcal2 and I've found no detonation with my race tunes up in the upper RPMs. Stock I put down 349 and 442, so your numbers look damn good. Hopefully with the mods I've got, I'll be in the 400/500 club on my dyno trip to Runnin With The Devil in Alabama

I hear ya, but my problem isn't with the stock bottom end of the motor being able ot handle the power, it is my tranny. Being that I have to use my tranny as a core to send off to be built by Level10 I cannot take a big chance of jacking it up. That is why I feel the need to play it safe.

gotta love the hp/tw split with the 5.4's! hehe. Stock stroke/bore 4.6's make about even for both usually. The 5.4's just scream with tq!

 

[BeauJ]

I see you go the SCT pro racer package too. I went ahead and just bought the Xcal2 and the guy told me that I could upgrade whenever I wanted for an extra $250. How do you like it? How difficult is it to make your tunes?

 

[BeauJ]

I hear ya, but my problem isn't with the stock bottom end of the motor being able ot handle the power, it is my tranny. Being that I have to use my tranny as a core to send off to be built by Level10 I cannot take a big chance of jacking it up. That is why I feel the need to play it safe.

It would rock if you could bolt up a 4r70 or an AOD-E. I guessing you read MM&FF magazine, so you've seen some bad ass mustangs running 4r70s and drag race with them.

 

[rocket 5979]

I see you go the SCT pro racer package too. I went ahead and just bought the Xcal2 and the guy told me that I could upgrade whenever I wanted for an extra $250. How do you like it? How difficult is it to make your tunes?

Man I been waiting for that thing for over 3 weeks now, from RWTD no less! hehe. Getting pretty impatient. I ended up just taking it to Sutton HP and having it dynotuned there for now. At least when I do my stage 2 build this summer I will be able to tune it myself on a dyno much much closer to me. $250 for the upgrade isn't bad at all! Mine was $300. Then I opted to purchase the tuning book for another $75. Its always good to hear what the pro's have to say about tuning then build from there.

 

[rocket 5979]

It would rock if you could bolt up a 4r70 or an AOD-E. I guessing you read MM&FF magazine, so you've seen some bad ass mustangs running 4r70s and drag race with them.

I have thought about it and it still is a possibility. I would like to keep the 5R55W if I can but I do plan to do a test fit for the 4R70W under there. I know the 4R's are fatter and shorter than the 5R's but I need to figure out how much space that will leave me with. If I were to do that I would eliminate the auto tranny map in the PTEC tune and just run a standalone tranny computer system from TCI or the such.

The 4R70W swap was actually my first idea I had planned for a few years ago for this project. Since then Level10 has just recently started to build race versions of the 5R55W, S, & N trannies so my planning options changed a little.

 

[terdrocket]

BTW...I noticed you said you needed a tune. What you running in that thing?

I traded in the '01 5.0 for a Cheby Traiblazer SS. Its AWD with the 6.0 LS2 motor. 395/400 stock @ crank.
Dyno results from a fellow owner -336.6HP/325.5TQ stock with k&n, with tune and k&n 382.7HP/377.2TQ

Your KB explorer and BeauJ's Lighting will still crush me any day (except for maybe in a rainstorm )

 

[CDW6212R]

Great Robert, just what I was wanting to hear. Dyno tuning brings to mind lots of WOT time. I won't mind the stock 302 tuning, but I'll be more worried about a new engine. I always baby a new engine for 800-1000 miles. Driving it without a proper tune for that long sounds hard. I'm hoping the stock tune will suffice for a couple three weeks. Night,

 

[BeauJ]

Yea, I know a thing about running with a tune. Ran my explorer with 8 psi for almost a year with only a 255 lph intank pump. When I went up to 10-11 psi, I got 30#s and a 80mm MAF and didn't notice a differene. The newer Ford computesr are Awesome at compensating for differences. Guys on the Lightning board are running their trucks with 4-6 psi above stock with no problems and also datalogging. When they were hitting higher RPMs with the extra boost the ECM was making up for it. It's kinda like Ford was planning on people to mod..

 

[BeauJ]

I traded in the '01 5.0 for a Cheby Traiblazer SS. Its AWD with the 6.0 LS2 motor. 395/400 stock @ crank.
Dyno results from a fellow owner -336.6HP/325.5TQ stock with k&n, with tune and k&n 382.7HP/377.2TQ

Your KB explorer and BeauJ's Lighting will still crush me any day (except for maybe in a rainstorm )

I'm worried about the SS Colorado, if and when they come out. A 3500 lb. truck with 400 hp is trouble for me. The SRT-10 is a joke because of the 6 speed manual and since the rear brakes are so big, there are no slicks for them. Every video I've seen on the Lightning board they have went between 13.5-14.5 in the 1/4. I would be MAD if I paid 50+ g's for a truck that couldn't hit 12's.

In the rain, yes, traction SUCKS. I don't even go half throttle.

 

[rocket 5979]

Great Robert, just what I was wanting to hear. Dyno tuning brings to mind lots of WOT time. I won't mind the stock 302 tuning, but I'll be more worried about a new engine. I always baby a new engine for 800-1000 miles. Driving it without a proper tune for that long sounds hard. I'm hoping the stock tune will suffice for a couple three weeks. Night,

Yeah your right man, I don't know how, but for some reason I got peak rpm mixed up with WOT. Still though WOT is only hit for a few seconds due to the dyno pull only lasting mere seconds at a time. Being that there is data logging along with a/f readings and then changing tune settings between pretty much each run there isn't much time left to make tons of multiple pulls (unless necessary) besides the drivability ones.




Another thing you can do is just bypassing the boost completely. I don't know how the KB's work for the 5.0's and stuff but all the newer KB superchargers have what’s called a valet function. It is the bypass valve arm that has a little setscrew. Lock the bypass valve open and you wont make any boost. That will suffice just fine for the break in period.

You can also have drivability tunes done without WOT pulls. It will cost more because your breaking a normal tune session up into two tune sessions, but it is your choice if you want to play it safe. I would say with a good MAS and a data logs along with an A/F reading can get you real close to at least being drivable during the break in period. That is why I got my LC-1 Lambda wideband is so I can monitor my a/f on my own and tune it myself. In your case you would just send your data logs and indexed with the a/f analog input to your tuner and they should get you on the map. As long as there isn't any other underlying problems things should go smooth enough for what you would need at that time.

 

[rocket 5979]

In the rain, yes, traction SUCKS. I don't even go half throttle.

Yeah, I found that even 1/2 throttle on dry pavement can sometimes be too much. Going from only driving the Lincoln which is smooooth as silk to driving the Explorer now and again, it will take some getting used to. I remember when the X used to feel soooo smooth when driving in it compared to the old 5.0 X. Now I must have babied myself with the LS too much because even the 03 X feels like a big clunky box now. lol.

 

[terdrocket]

I'm worried about the SS Colorado, if and when they come out. A 3500 lb. truck with 400 hp is trouble for me. The SRT-10 is a joke because of the 6 speed manual and since the rear brakes are so big, there are no slicks for them. Every video I've seen on the Lightning board they have went between 13.5-14.5 in the 1/4. I would be MAD if I paid 50+ g's for a truck that couldn't hit 12's.

In the rain, yes, traction SUCKS. I don't even go half throttle.

Guys on the Trailblazer boards have taken the stock TBSS and run 13.98 1/4mi. at the track. With the tune, they are running 13.3x to 13.5x.

In the rain, I turn the traction control and stabilitrac off and only spin the front tires a little bit from a stoplight. It will still let me step the ass end out when I want, too. Lots of fun so far.

 

[tmsoko]

Rob, I guess I never asked - are you a 4x2 or a 4x4?

Those are some great numbers for the first shot. I know when I had my Ranger tuned, I was 260 / 353 rw. That was stock explorer 5.0L shortblock and 8psi boost. Not at all impressed, but I always wondered if I was loosing anything through the AWD t-case with no front drive shaft.

As for the 4R trans, have you looked into the 2004+ F150 computer? That may solve your problems. From what I remember it is PTEC and 4R trans. MAy be a direct swap for the explorer EEC. The money you will spend on the Level 10 5R vs converting to F150 computer with a mild 4R should be a huge savings.

Let me know what you think of the PRP once you get it. I plan on it once I get my 351 Ranger running, but with my limited time, I have no idea when that will be.

T

 

[rocket 5979]

Rob, I guess I never asked - are you a 4x2 or a 4x4?

Those are some great numbers for the first shot. I know when I had my Ranger tuned, I was 260 / 353 rw. That was stock explorer 5.0L shortblock and 8psi boost. Not at all impressed, but I always wondered if I was loosing anything through the AWD t-case with no front drive shaft.

As for the 4R trans, have you looked into the 2004+ F150 computer? That may solve your problems. From what I remember it is PTEC and 4R trans. MAy be a direct swap for the explorer EEC. The money you will spend on the Level 10 5R vs converting to F150 computer with a mild 4R should be a huge savings.

Let me know what you think of the PRP once you get it. I plan on it once I get my 351 Ranger running, but with my limited time, I have no idea when that will be.

T

My X is 2wd. 4wd's are nice, but before I even purchased this truck I knew I would want to race it and thus keep it light.

I ruled out the F-150 computer swap because it would still probably be just as cheap to run the standalone computer which only runs about $550 with the 4R70W tranny harness too. I would be able to keep my systems fully separate that way too.

Also, being that I already have my PRP for the Explorer PTEC computer I would not be able to transfer it to the F-150 computer if I did swap it because of it being locked to only one computer box code.

The money would be much more for the Level 10 5R than a mild 4R and tranny comp but I will just have to see what fitment issues I may or may not run into. Once I do that I will be able to make allot more definitive decisions. The built 4R has been an option longer than the built 5R but I will have to wait and see what I can make fit.

 

[tmsoko]

I am taking a big hit with the AWD on my Ranger, but need it in order to get good traction! Would be nice though to shave the wieght and would have been WAY easier when I made the headers.

If I remember right, you can transfer the PRP to another EEC as long as you remove the tune from the old EEC and show proof of the new vehicle being yours.

As for cost, an F150 EEC should only be ~$50-100 on eBay. Much cheaper than the $500+ standalone unit.

Seeing if the 4R fits is the big decision maker though, I agree!

Good luck!
Todd

 

[rocket 5979]

I am taking a big hit with the AWD on my Ranger, but need it in order to get good traction! Would be nice though to shave the wieght and would have been WAY easier when I made the headers.

If I remember right, you can transfer the PRP to another EEC as long as you remove the tune from the old EEC and show proof of the new vehicle being yours.

As for cost, an F150 EEC should only be ~$50-100 on eBay. Much cheaper than the $500+ standalone unit.

Seeing if the 4R fits is the big decision maker though, I agree!

Good luck!
Todd

Proving that the tune was removed from the old PCM is the problem. All I would have to do is buy a second xcal and not program it to show I don't have it locked to the computer. The PRP software comes right from SCT direct, already locked to the computer box code. No way of changing it unless I sent it back and and even then SCT will not do it because of possible fraud issues. Now unlocking and swapping just the Xcal itself is simple, but not the PRP package.