Lightning supercharger install complete

[boiler71]

Well...my wife and I just finished our Lightning supercharger install on her 04 EB Expedition. Although there was a little fabrication that had to be done (heat exchanger mounts, intercooler pump mount, and supercharger idler pulley bridge modification), the install was pretty straight forward. We will be doing a thorough write-up on this install as we found very little info on this swap before we started.

Our tuner, James Henson at Henson Performance, was AWESOME!! He emailed us a starter tune to get us to his shop in Birmingham AL and then we strapped her on his dyno. At wide open throttle, we produced 300 RWHP and 400 ft-lbs of torque at 14.8 lbs of boost. We actually had more power available but with the weak bottom end, we stopped there.

Attached is a pic of the "almost completed" install.



This was an awesome experience with awesome results. It REALLY woke the Expi up.

 

[Poppa Wheelie]

Umm, what? Awesome! what RPM you getting 400 tq at?

 

[boiler71]

5500 RPM. But when he it 6,300, I was waiting for a piston to come through the hood.

It is amazing how this thing drives now. Even with minimal gas pedal, she has no hesitation.

 

[panda24619]

thats so sick! i want more power. i wouldnt mind a super charger but with 158k miles its not a good idea. haha show more pics!!!!!

 

[Reconracer]

WOW! Thats incredible! DIY Log???? Any more pics?

 

[Stoned06]

That's great! You have plenty left in that if you are willing to push it. What size lower pulley do you have? Stock Lightnings are rated at 380 at the crank, but typically pull 320-330 on the dyno. They easily get up to the 400+ range, but for safety reasons 400 is usually the limit. Believe it or not, the L's have a forged crank, but not rods (they are the pressed rods that are cold cracked). That is typical of most of Ford's truck engines so you may be surprised what your Expy can handle.
I wouldn't be revving past 5500 at all. Even the L's get peak power before that. I think the factory shift points are at something like 5250 RPM. 6300 is asking for trouble unless you're on a built engine.

 

[GAINMOB]

ok...sooooo...whats your gas mileage now? how long did it take? parts list? can i do it on my 04 5.4?

 

[ExpySport]

Nicely done! Looks totally factory. I was pondering doing the same thing to my 02, but the high miles I have kinda swayed me against it. I had an opportunity to purchase a complete supercharger system from an 02 Lightning with 12,000 miles for $1000 about a year ago, which is what started my thoughts. Guy totalled the truck in a crash.

Maybe my next truck in a few years I'll take the plunge!

 

[boiler71]

Thanks guys! I promise there will be more pics and a detailed write up very soon.

Stoned06...my tuner agreed that we had about another 50 to 60 HP to be gained. But we were all scared to push it based on the cracked metal rods. At some point here, my wife (Cass) and I will pull her down and redo the bottom end. Once that's done, look out! This is Cass' daily driver so the Expi doesn't see anywhere close to 5500+ RPM. In answer to your question, we have a 4# lower pulley on here. Meant to go with a 2# lower and that's what I thought I bought (based on what the dude told me). I neglected to measure it until we were on the dyno and made a 14 PSI run. Measured the pulley then and realized we had a 4# not a 2#.

bhsoulja...since the Expi just got dyno'd/tuned on Wednesday, really haven't been able to keep our foot out of it long enough to check the mileage. But everything I read prior to doing the install said that due to the effiencies of a supercharger, MPG should go up by 3-4. It took Cass and I about 4 days to do the install. That included removing the Expi stuff and bolting on the new. There was probably a day in there for fabrication as I said earlier, there are no brackets out there for the intercooler pump and heat exchanger. And we did have to modify the Lightning throttle cable bracket and the blower idler pulley bridge. And YES, you can do this this to your 04. Any 2 valve 5.4 is a good candidate for this swap.

Will try to get the write-up (including parts list) done this weekend.

 

[GAINMOB]

im not even inclined to do that...so that will have to be a paid project....i'll have 2 put that on my retirement gift wishlist...

 

[WHOISMOOTOO]

Grr 3v 5.4 ......

 

[TheGuyWho]

Its awesome to see people doing this! I myself have an 04 Lightning, and Im planning to drop a full Lightning motor into my 2002 Expy in the next month or so. Hopefully its not too much fab work since its a straight drop in.
Great job. Very interested in reading your write up on the project!

 

[Big Ford Daddy]

Thats bad ass man!! KUDOS to you

 

[Expedition]

So jealous...

 

[boiler71]

I know I promised you guys a write-up last week but with my wife and I both being sick (damn crud) and trying to finish painting our house so we can list it, I just didn't get it done.

With that said, the write-up is about 90% complete. Just need to review it one more time and tweak and then shrink my pics so I can upload them. Let me tell you though, the write as it stands now is 5 pages in Word...not including pics. Hopefully I can fit it all on here.

 

[boiler71]

Link to write-up:

http://www.expeditionforum.com/showthread.php?p=49893#post49893

 

[GAINMOB]

how much for labor if i buy the parts...