Upgrades for 4.6 V8 XLT 2003.

[CALDWELL]

^ lol

 

[rewind1]

Big power bolt on?

What one single bolt on will give me the biggest gain?

Id love to do a supercharger but unfortunately I've got about 175k on this engine. Even tho she is running great, it's still a little scary.

 

[rocket 5979]

What one single bolt on will give me the biggest gain?

Id love to do a supercharger but unfortunately I've got about 175k on this engine. Even tho she is running great, it's still a little scary.

Taking into account the higher mileage on your truck, if power and performance are the priority, then I would suggest a flash tuner if you are staying under the $500 mark and only doing a single mod.

If sound is more important than performance then a good exhaust.

 

[Limited02]

What one single bolt on will give me the biggest gain?

Id love to do a supercharger but unfortunately I've got about 175k on this engine. Even tho she is running great, it's still a little scary.

What is your budget???

A tune really woke my Explorer up in the 1/4(knocked .5 seconds off). I first did exhaust(third cat removed, 2.5" exhaust through a FM 70) and the butt dyno said it pulled stronger on the topend.

 

[rewind1]

... I would suggest a flash tuner if you are staying under the $500 mark and only doing a single mod.

I was looking into these but from what i read it seemed like flash tuners only worked well with a custom tune and I assume Custom tunes are really only for vehicles that have some sort of mod already done. If I do only the flash tuner what sort of performance increases am I looking at?

 

[matt0248]

I was looking into these but from what i read it seemed like flash tuners only worked well with a custom tune and I assume Custom tunes are really only for vehicles that have some sort of mod already done. If I do only the flash tuner what sort of performance increases am I looking at?

check the vendors section. James Henson tunes explorers, there is a Henson Performance thread. You may find answers to your questions there. You can also contact James directly. I have heard nothing but good things about his services.

 

[rocket 5979]

I was looking into these but from what i read it seemed like flash tuners only worked well with a custom tune and I assume Custom tunes are really only for vehicles that have some sort of mod already done. If I do only the flash tuner what sort of performance increases am I looking at?

Even on a stock vehicle a custom flash tune will gain anywhere from 13-20rwhp and similar torque. It can also make your shifts more aggressive if you want them to, remove the speed limiter if you prefer it, recalibrate the ECM for a different size of tire or rear gears and the list goes on. There are tuners who have been tuning the Ford Explorers long enough where they have a pretty good idea what settings they like when stock with a tune and with mild mods too. They can develop a custom tune that is pretty darn close. Usually you will need to run premium fuel because you see the most power and gas mileage gains from that but you can also ask for a tune based on lower octane gas, you just won't gain as much power.

If I had a stock Explorer and I was only going to do one performance mod to it then I would go with a flash tuner because you get allot of bang for your buck and it will not require other mods to allow the truck to run right like doing a CAI or headers would. Now if I knew that I was going to be likely to do other hardware modifications such as CAI, headers, exhaust, etc then I would do those mods first and follow them up with a custom dyno tune via the flash tuner to get everything dialed back into perfect calibration. But now we are talking about spending well over a grand instead of a tad less than $400 for the flash tuner by itself too. It all sort of depends on your longer term goals.

 

[rewind1]

Even on a stock vehicle a custom flash tune will gain anywhere from 13-20rwhp and similar torque.

Thank you, this is exactly the info i was looking for!