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Hi,
I have a 2003 expedition and have grown to like the truck more and
more. I never would have considered the older models as the 03s
have so many improvements. The old models were lacking in my
opinion so if I bought before the 03s came out I probably would have
gone with a suburban. The purchase of my expedition ended up being
a last minute change from a deposit I had on a 2003 Ford Mustang
Mach 1 that I had waited a half year on. The mach 1 deal I got was
great ($1000 under msrp for limited ed that everyone was paying over
msrp or at least equal for) and I was #1 on the list at a volume
dealership but Ford ended up postponing the release dates for
further testing. It ended up being November and I couldn't ride a
motorcycle anymore since the snow was falling and I sold my old
car. I had looked at the new 03 expy and was impressed so I
researched it more and decided to go with it. I was initially
debating between full out performance or full out utility and I
ended up with the later which I am very content with. I have my
bike for speed (few cars do 0-60 in the 3.7 second range).
The only thing I still think lacking on the 03s is the engine
(couple other minor things like needing more space behind back
seat). Fords decision not to upgrade it is unfortunate and it costs
them sales to gm (8.1 L in suburban). They also don't offer the new
6L diesel in it so that is bad as well I think (560 lb ft in an expy
would be awesome). The 5.4L engine has been virtually unchanged for
many years. While it is not a bad engine the 260hp and 350 lb ft of
torque is not at all impressive. The mach 1 I was going to get was
4.6L dohc and put out nearly the torque and about 320 hp on the
dyno. For a truck of this weight I wish I had more power. I test
drove the 4.6L and I think I can run faster.
That being said does anyone have experience supercharging this
5.4L. Correct me if I am wrong but the lightning has a 5.4L engine
that is supercharged and I think it is virtually the same engine.
Do you know what internal changes were made (stronger rods, etc.) to
the lightning. I am wondering if I can very safely put a
supercharger on my expy to get the added performance boost. I think
I read somewhere that the transmission is rated for like 506 lb ft
of torque so that shouldn't be a problem, right? Would the power
damage the 4wd system though? I wouldn't expect to be driving it
around in 4wd anyway though. Any implementations of this yet? It
should be the same on the earlier expys since the engine is that
same, right? What systems have people used and what is
recommended? I have seen vortech makes one specifically for the
engine so how is their system? I forgot the one used on the
lightning but when I looked it up a few months ago the mfg of it
doesn't sell to individuals just factory. Anyway to get that one
since it seems made for it? What else should I know about doing
this as it seems very involved. I have never put a supercharger in
something before but I am fairly mechanically inclined. How is
reliability of these supercharged systems? I don't want to screw up
the engine on my $35,000 truck. Also, is there anything else I need
to modify when installing a supercharger like a higher flow fuel
pump and fuel injectors, etc. Any web sites or info on this is
appreciated. I am looking for max performance gain for the buck and
supercharger seem the way to go.
Is there anything else worth doing first that yields as much gain in
performance for the dollar? Things like exhaust and intakes and
chips just seems to me like small gains at least for most cars. If
I went with the supercharger I get modified intake anyway and it has
enough power to not worry about anything else. Your feedback is
appreciated.
If this board doesn't auto email back to the poster then I would
really appreciate it if you could email me with your reply along
with posting here for others. I don't want to miss your message as
I don't really use these often.
Thanks,
Dan
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supercharging 5.4L on 2003 expy
May 20 2003, 08:28 PM
