1) IMO, return the intake and do the gotts mod/DWV mod. Any gains you get from the intake will never pay for it or the potential repairs it can cause.
2) I need to warn you that tuning doesn't turn your vehicle into a hypermiler beast. More fuel economy gains come from your altered driving style than the programmer. Buying a programmer JUST for better mileage is not a great idea since it is a craps shoot as to gains or losses. If I were you, I'd order a tow tune and a performance tune as use them as such. PHP hasn't made "economy" tunes in a looooooooong time. Why? People hated them. The trucks were lethargic and didn't improve mileage one bit. People had this silly idea that they could continue to drive the same and their mileage would magically go up. It doesn't work that way. Now, custom tunes are capable of helping you get better mileage. They make the truck run more efficiently by creating more power at any given RPM, load, etc. Instead of using the extra power to get up to speed faster, you have to use less pedal than you normally would.
3) A vacuum gauge will improve you mileage more than the programmer will. The gauge represents how much vacuum is behind the throttle plate. More vacuum means less air/fuel going to cylinders and better mileage. All it does it make you drive better. It doesn't do anything to the truck.
4) Your truck can only accept programming adjustments, chips ended in 2003 for most F150s.
And a final note, I'm posting my numbers as a comparison of MY results, everyone else's will vary. These are all (final odometer-start odometer)/gallons to fill the tank. I never use the electronic readout. My truck gets around 13/15 MPG unloaded with stock tuning. My custom tow tune gets on average 13.7/17 loaded with my record on multiple occasions being 18 mpg. My performance tune gets around 12/16 but that is because if I load up that tune, I'm not worried about mileage.
|