Texas Torque

[MikeTEC]

My wife and I tow a small travel trailer with our 96 5.0 liter Explorer. When it comes to towing, torque, not horsepower, is key. I am thinking of switching to a set of headers as I have a small exhaust manifold leak, common to early 5.0 engines.

My problem is that I don't want to loose torque. Been told by some knowledgable board members that some lower end torque may be lost by switching to headers. We seldom exceed 3000 RPMs towing, which equates to 63 MPH with our 3.73 LS axle.

Is "torque" engineered into an engine or can the torque range be moved up and down the RPM range of an engine by switching a component such as headers? Been looking for specific "torque enhanced"headers for pulling/towing but have not found any. Thanks for everyone's help! Mike

 

[williecume]

i would try to find a cam that is designed for more torque. if you have the time and the money get your engine rebuilt or find other engine out of another x and have that one rebuilt for more low end grunt and a nice flat torque curve. my dad builds/rebuilds engines i can get you the number for him to find out prices if you want.

 

[MyExpWork]

Someone did a real good write up on here about how you WILL lose a little low end torque if you go with an aftermarket exhaust. I don't remember who but it relates to backpressure and when you open the exhaust (ie larger diameter or headers) you will end up with pockets of low pressure in the exhaust because of the small lapse of time between an exhaust stroke and the next cylinder firing. This is why I have been hesitant in buying an aftermarket exhaust because too tow stuff.

You will gain HP though.

Brian

 

[james t]

hmmmmmmmm............. you've got quite a delimma here. you see, its pretty easy to get more PEAK torque in a 5.0X, but more LOW-END, thats a different story. i assume all you want is more torque in the 1000-2300 rpm range. kinda hard to do, considering what you have to work with. the 5.0 in the X is pretty much the same as the 5.0 Cobra motor. the intake and heads were really designed for midrange-upper power. to get more low end/fuel mileage, ford used a very small cam. didnt really work that well, IMHO.

basically, you need to set about looking for good compromises. the headers will be worth it, just to get rid of the annoying tick, and they really arent much different than the stock headers, the FRPP's just dont have the restrictive "dimples" in them. you may loose 5 ft. lbs. off idle, but gain 10 ft.lbs. @2000 rpms. prolly wont even be able to tell the difference when towing. the FRPP headers are kinda small and short, so if there ever was a header engineered for torque, these are it. doesnt really matter, as this is the only aftermarket header for the 5.0X anyway. also, if you dont have a catback exhuast, they really arent gonna do anything.

if you have the stock airbox setup, then get a K&N and cut the box in half. at the very least, pop out the "air horn". the hole in this thing is like 2.5" in diameter, and there is no way that even a stock 5.0 can get enough air through it. this will help midrange tq. some, but will prolly do nothing for off-idle.

the ultimate off-idle torque mod would be to use an intake manifold from a late 80's to mid 90's truck 302. the intakes were considerably taller with longer runners, and made more low end with a sacrifice of upper rpm. horsepower. sorry, but the only way to do this would be to run a hoodscoop, as the truck intake will not fit under the hood of the X (why ford didnt use it in the first place).

the absolute best thing to do would be to go with a cam. find a good low-mid rpm cam, and you may loose a few ft.lbs. of torque off idle. you will, however, see some really good gains in the 1400-up range over the stocker. basically, sacrifice a minor amount of off-idle to get alot more "cruising rpm" tq. for towing, you dont care if you loose some at 1100 rpms if you gain 20 ft.lbs. at 2400... which is right around were your motor will be at 90% of the time towing.

i get the idea you want more off-idle. this, my friend, may be harder to do in a 5.0X than it would seem. but really, you could concentrate more on low-midrange, and be just as happy. best thing to do right now to get that trailer down the road would be better breathing (intake, exhaust, FRPP headers.) while it may make your #'s a little lower off-idle, it will help quite a bit for your 2000-2500 rpm range. basically, it may take .5 seconds longer to get that trailer up to 55mph, but once your there, it will hold speed ALOT better. i dont think you will be dissapointed. i tow with mine, and even though i didnt do my mods with low-end in mind, its still alot better than it was stock. (i have towed with mine SEVERLY overloaded before).

sorry for the insanely long post, and if you have more questions, just ask. i promise, i will try get more to the point in further posts...

 

[expo5.0]

i do a ton of towing. the trailers i tow for my boats and bikes aren't real heavy (the heaviest is a 20 foot boat) however, i have seen increased ease of towing throughout the power band with my mods. it may be that the engine is powerful enough relative to the weight i pull that i haven't noticed the drop in low end (from idle) torque from the e-303 cam etc. but i have absolutely noticed the greater ease with which the trialer can be brought up highway speeds and particular for holding those speeds once they have been reached. hills that used to slow me down to 40 or 50 now are taken with ease at 60 with a single gear downshift. hope that helps.

i second jamest's suggestions for mods.

 

[jjue]

I think that you should be fine with FRRP headers, cat-back exhaust (no more than a single 2.5" outlet), K&N filter, and airbox mod of sorts. I don't have the headers or cat-back yet, but I will one of these days. However, I have done quite a bit of pulling with just the K&N filter and the air-silencer removed and replaced witha 4" dryer hose. I have the timeslips from the track that can prove that they add extra torque either low-end or low-mid. I have also successfully pulled a heavy gas-powered forklift out of the mud with my '97 Mountaineer V8 on an occasion that other trucks didn't have the torque to pull it despite that they had 4wd and I didn't. I have pulled cargo trailers as large as 6x12 and a car trailer with a Mustang on it, and it definitely pulled better.

jamest is right about the heads and intake being racing parts, but I don't think that you will have a problem working on air and exhaust deliver as was previously suggested. With an exhaust done right, you will get extra pulling power down low and in the highway range so that you may see improved fuel economy. You should NOT see a drop in fuel economy or a drop in poerformance if it is done right.

 

[MikeTEC]

Thanks a lot, James T, JJUE, Willie, Expo, & MyExpwork. Don't worry, James, about the long post. Rather have too much info than not enough. Just returned from a long pull of about 650 miles to Corpus Christi and back towing our trailer, which weighs about 3800lbs loaded.

You are right, James, most of our towing is in the 2200-3000 RPM range, so that is the area I am trying to improve on. Max. stock torque for our X's is reached at 3200 RPM, according to Ford. Since my X runs so good and does not touch oil, I am not planning any major surgery on it. So I will probably go with Jame's suggestion of more air in, headers, but don't really want more noisier exhaust. Remember, I am an aging boomer and like my tow vehicles torquey, powerful, and quiet! Thanks again, guys. I really do apreciate your comments and suggestions. If you come up with any more ideas, let me know. Mike

 

[Majisto]

Torque is generated as the piston travels down on its power stroke. You want to increase the torque output of an engine without making it a humoungous gas-guzzling V-12 or whatnot. How do you increase torque?

Let's take a 6 inch long wrench and put 100 ft/lbs. of torque on it. Ok that's great but say you want more torque output but you don't want to put more in. You need to expand the torque arm. So a 1 ft long wrench will double the torque output to 200 lbs/ft.

This can also be done in the engine. Increasing the stroke can give you much more torque at the sacrifice of horsepower, because the increased stroke makes it harder for the engine to rev higher, and as a result puts out less horsepower since horsepower is increased as RPMs increase. You don't need that much top-end in an Explorer since it's not built for speed anyway. It has a little problem called "brick-like aerodynamics".

Putting a stroker motor as they are called in your X would give you INCREDIBLE amounts of low-end torque since that connecting arm on the piston is much longer. But putting in a new motor is expensive, and not something you want to do, although it would sure be fun.

Another way to increase torque is through gears. The gear's job after all, is to multiply torque output, so why not get as much torque as possible? Put some 4.10 gears in your rear-end and then try pulling that trailer. It will be much easier

 

[james t]

Mike- there are lots of mufflers out there that will give you the flow you are looking for, but not be loud at all. some are really barely louder than stock. the 5.0 cats are not very restrictive, but the stock cat-back is. if you get headers and leave the stock cat back on, you may be really dissapointed.

as an example, i have a friend with a relativly stock 96 Cobra. i have ridden in the car many times with the stock exhaust, and many times with 50 series delta flowmasters (that he has now). driving around town, i really cant tell any difference in sound level. its only louder at wide open throttle.

 

[expo5.0]

if you want it to be quiet use two 50 series (if they can figure out how to make it fit for you) and keep the outlet pipe size down under 2.5

 

[james t]

actually, flowmaster makes a dual in-dual out 50 series delta flow. looks like 1 big muffler, but is actually 2. in/out sizes are 2.25, and it would be PERFECT on a mild 5.0....... 98fordX24 has one on his 4 liter.

 

[MikeTEC]

Thanks, Majisto, for the torque illustration. Lot of folks don't understand it takes torque to get our 4000 lbs plus Explorers moving, but torque, not HP, pulls.

Another illustration of torque might be like taking a fast swing and hitting your fist against a heavy safe door ...it will barely move. And that equals HP.

Take the same safe door, start pushing it slowly open with one finger. Eventually you can open it. And that is torque. Some diesal rigs achieve their maximum torque at only 1800 RPMs, but man, they can sure pull heavy loads!

So James, think that a single Delta fifty series or dual-n/out would make a good towing, quiet muffler, coupled with ceramic coated headers and a K&N Filter Charger? Remember, when we travel, we pull 275 plus miles a day and I sure need "in cabin quiet" for long trips. Thanks, Folks. Mike

 

[MikeTEC]

Well, just ordered some headers for my 5.0 X Limited. Early Christmas present from my wife. I feel like a 17 hotrodder again getting ready to "soup up" my 55 Chevy. We old guys have to have some fun too! Mike

 

[SaleenEXP]

Like everyone else said go with an filter/intake and headers and definitley get a cat-back done. If you do the filter and headers you won't even notice anything b/c you'll be taking more air in but not be able to move the extra air out. The cats are already high-flowing but the stock exhaust and crappy cam are really holding back the 5.0. You may be a boomer, but get some flows or magnaflows on that 5.0 and you'll love the growl!

 

[MikeTEC]

Saleen: Trying to find a quiet, good flowing cat-back that will save torque. Wife and I do a lot of pulling our trailer 300 plus miles one way and cabin quietness is desired. Understand there are some good sytems out there that are quiet, yet flow well. I just don't know which ones....Thanks Mike

 

[SaleenEXP]

go with flowmasters but the delta series, nice growl on the outside but no resonance on the inside. 50 series deltas are probably what your looking for.

or like someone else said, get two 50 series Flowmasters and you won't have any resonance either compared to one muffler.

do a search for I think RTstork, he has dual 40 series Flowmasters on his 5.0 Explorer and says their loud outside but w/ no resonance inside.

 

[SaleenEXP]

Also we have 2 boats, a 20 ft jet boat and a 27ft Fountain and 2 waverunners. The Fountain especially ways a lot more than your trailer and our Mounty has no problem when we have to take it off our dock and tow it. The jet boat is nothing, my 94', well sisters now , had no problem towing the jet boat and I had to tow the 27ft Fountain 1 time w/ it also and it had no problem except for being a little slow but thats on a ohv V6 in the 94'. The waverunners forget about you barely feel them behind the 94' and the Mounty acts like its towing nothing.

you could lose 10 ftlb of torque and not notice a differance at all.

 

[expo5.0]

i can vouch that although people will tell you a 50 series delta flow will be quiet... it IS NOT. that is what i have, and it is as loud as i would ever want my vehicle to be, and i'm a 19 year old and am in no way conservative with my vehicle (check out the mods) if your looking for something really quiet, do not get one of these, although it is much quieter than the other flowmaster models. what about using two stock mufflers? or the mufflers that they use stock on a stang? or thunderbird with the 5.0? those would have to flow better than our stock muffler and we already know they are fairly cheap and quiet...

 

[MikeTEC]

James and other folks: There HAS to be a super quiet catback system, that flows better than stock, and would satisfy an old guy like me!

Guess I could wait until I need hearing aides but shore would like to let these 96 X 5.0 ponies out to run/tow up a long 7 % grade in Colorado or New Mexico soon. Anyone know anything about Gibson or Holley systems? Quality and quiet cabin environment is important! Best Regards Mike

 

[SaleenEXP]

I think we're all a little confused on what you want. Do you mean you want quietness in the cabin or outside?
Again I knew two guys who had Gibson Cat-Backs on a V8 f-150 and V8 Tundra, and you could not tell there was an aftermarket exhaust on, there was barely a little growl when you start off, and then like everyone else said - you can't hear anything inside/outside after take off. Not worth it at all, considering you can only really feel improvments after you add an intake, headers along w/ the cat-back.

I think it's the resonance you don't want inside of the cabin, right? Com'on you at least want some growl outside of it, the 5.0 sounds awsome. I would go with Magnaflow, or the Deltas, or do what RTstork did and weld in two 40 series mufflers - he said it was loud outside but there was no resonance in the cab. Or again just go with gibson, but I don't think its worth the money or the ricey sound.

Remember still, even if you lose torque down low it won't make a difference cause the 5.0 has a nice torque band down low. If I towed our 27ft Fountain with my 94' ohv V6, which ways a lot more than your trailer, you could lose a nice chunk of torque (which won't happen, more like a few lbft. of torque) and still easily be able to tow a 3800lb trailer.