Best bolt on mods?

I'm looking to do some mods to my 4.0 sohc manual ranger. I don't own one yet but I'm trying to figure out how much I will be spending. I definately will get a cold intake, exhaust, tbs, and mabye a programmer, headers, and mass air flow sensor. I'm trying to stay on a budget so keep that in mind.
-Cold air intake: Who makes the BEST and how much? Do the ones with those tubes that funnel air from under your head lights to the filter make a difference?

-Exhaust: What is the best performing exhaust that is still very quiet. My last exhaust was increadibly annoying. It sounded beechin but on the freeway and around town that drooning noise was very annoying.

-Throttle Body: Is there a best tbs? Is there a difference in the performance of a tbs verses one of those vortex things you put in your intake system? How much of a difference?

-Programmer: What is the best out there? Will this affect the reliability of my engine? Can this be used in culmination with towing or will it cause my engine to overheat? My last Hyper III caused my s10 4.3 to idle funny and bog or rev wierd but I totaled the truck before I could figure out exactly what was wrong.

-Headers: How difficult are they to install? Will it make a big difference with the other mods I plan on doing? Will headers make my ride louder or are there performance headers that retain the stock decible level?

-Mass air flow sensor: Are these worth the $350? Can't I just remove the screen on my stock sensor? I've heard that if I do that that my check engine light will come on but other than that are there any other problems?

-Other Mods: Any other budget conscious mods I could do to my truck?

You're on a budget AND you want to tow with this thing.

Don't do any of it. They are all HIGH RPM modifications that will make towing less than effective.

The programmer might do something, but very little in isolation. The rest are paperweights.

It IS possible to make your engine more powerful but (a) it takes a lot more than buying a $300 paperweight, and (b) you DON'T WANT a more powerful engine if you are towing. How much time are you REALLY going to spend at 6000 RPM? This is a system and by guessing at how to optimize it, you'll make a pretty nice small truck engine into a POS.

MAKG said:

You're on a budget AND you want to tow with this thing.

Don't do any of it. They are all HIGH RPM modifications that will make towing less than effective.

The programmer might do something, but very little in isolation. The rest are paperweights.

It IS possible to make your engine more powerful but (a) it takes a lot more than buying a $300 paperweight, and (b) you DON'T WANT a more powerful engine if you are towing. How much time are you REALLY going to spend at 6000 RPM? This is a system and by guessing at how to optimize it, you'll make a pretty nice small truck engine into a POS.

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I agree with this 100% and I would only use a programmer or a chip with an automatic and that is just to change the shift points.

Better gears and playing with the cam timing. Maybe Tri-y headers. thats it and that all you need to do with the 4.0L SOHC

thanks for the input. But will an exhaust, mass air flow, tbs or intake really HURT? I can't see how they would, after all those mods are only allowing the engine to breathe better. And when I say budget I mean I dont want to spend over $2k.

then spend 2K on a used super charger. if you are going to use this truck to tow all those mods will do is hurt your towing ability.

what they mean is all those mods will do is raise your power curve and make it so that you have to be in a higher rpm range to create your power.

Thanks 4 the help. I've done a bit of research on this forum and another and I think I'm going to get a pulley system, bama chip, and maybe an electric fan. From what I have read all of these will help my towing. Will these mods affect my mpg? Will a cold air intake improve my mpg? What are the cons of an electric fan? I want my truck to remain pretty quiet and heard that the e fans are loud. Is this true or does it just vary depending on the manufacturer of the fan.

I don't quite understand. If towing is the big worry what is your current gear set? Wouldn't going to a 4.56 or possible 5.13 or something that is lower than what you have now be the best thing?

Towing is a concern but I would never tow more that 4k lbs and the automatic 4.0l sohc is rated at over 5k lbs. I want to get more performance out of my truck while either improving or not hindering my towing. I'd also like to find out if there are ways to improve mpg. Changing gears is costly and too extensive for the gains I'm looking for.

You mentioned 2K though. You should be able to get the grears done for well WELL under that. I don't think you're going to get any real gains in MPG with the 4.0L =)

My diesel has towing gears in it and I love it for towing but miss it when I drive without the trailer on the highway. Luckily that thing is used almost exclusively for towing the 28' toyhauler. My ranger will be towing a much smaller trailer and will also be a daily driver. So no on the gears.

motoxchamp said:

My diesel has towing gears in it and I love it for towing but miss it when I drive without the trailer on the highway. Luckily that thing is used almost exclusively for towing the 28' toyhauler. My ranger will be towing a much smaller trailer and will also be a daily driver. So no on the gears.

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Gotcha

Wow, you really are determined to spend money, aren't you?

1. Smaller pulleys. These are REGULATED systems. All of them. Which means they will suck as much power from the engine as they need to accomplish the commanded task. It will make NO DIFFERENCE unless you max out the regulation (which means, you lose steering assist, brown out your electrical system, undercool your air conditioner, and so on).

2. Electric fans. If you want to pull less air through the radiator, you can make some gains. If you want to pull THE SAME air through the radiator, you will slow your engine down with the alternator instead of the water pump. By the SAME AMOUNT (well, actually more since there are losses especially in the rectifier). Most electric fans are substantially less powerful than your stock mechanical fan. Which means reduced cooling capacity. Not a good idea when towing.

3. Cold air intake. YOU ALREADY HAVE ONE. Oh, it doesn't have that oh-so-trendy K&N logo on it. And it doesn't suck WARM air from behind the radiator. It takes it in from a very boring and not very visible spot near the passenger side headlamp.

I mean this in all honesty. If you really want to spend $2000, it would be far better spent on a basic engineering or physics course. The stuff you are looking at is ALMOST COMPLETELY wrong for the purposes you have stated. You're not building an 8000 RPM race truck. You're building a tow vehicle. Which is what it was designed to do.

MAKG you are wrong. I'm not building a tow truck. I'm looking to increase the performance of my truck while improving or maintaing the towing capabilities of a stock 4l sohc. I will not be towing over 4k lbs. This truck like I said b4 is only going to tow on weekends for my MX racing or practice. I spoke with someone else who has a pulley system and electric fan and he swears he has more power and 2mpg better fuel consumption. I'm gaing to be a new owner of a ranger soon and am just looking for the best way to spend my money so instead of talking down to newcumbers try giving them some constructive advice.

So far I am pretty sure I am getting a bama programmer with performance and towing programming. Beyond that I am not sure I am getting different opinions from different people. I was told on another forum that the ford Mark VIII and some aftermarket e fans pull LESS amps than stock. Any truth to this? What about the reguation thing concerning the pulleys? I don't understand why they wouldn't help with fuel consumption and power. Please explain it more clearly.

motoxchamp said:

MAKG you are wrong. I'm not building a tow truck. I'm looking to increase the performance of my truck while improving or maintaing the towing capabilities of a stock 4l sohc. I will not be towing over 4k lbs. This truck like I said b4 is only going to tow on weekends for my MX racing or practice. I spoke with someone else who has a pulley system and electric fan and he swears he has more power and 2mpg better fuel consumption. I'm gaing to be a new owner of a ranger soon and am just looking for the best way to spend my money so instead of talking down to newcumbers try giving them some constructive advice.

So far I am pretty sure I am getting a bama programmer with performance and towing programming. Beyond that I am not sure I am getting different opinions from different people. I was told on another forum that the ford Mark VIII and some aftermarket e fans pull LESS amps than stock. Any truth to this? What about the reguation thing concerning the pulleys? I don't understand why they wouldn't help with fuel consumption and power. Please explain it more clearly.

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If you know it all, why did you ask for help?

MAKG's assessment about "performance mods" is right on!!! The intakes, K&N air filters, underdrive pulleys, and e-fans are all a waste!
It's only human nature not to admit that they screwed up, and threw their money away on useless mods!! With CAFE standards today, vehicle manufacturers design their vehicles to be as efficient as possible!

An e-fan is the worst thing for towing! Just look at the vehicles designed for towing (diesels) and see how many of them only have an e-fan!!

For substantial performance gains, you have to spend big $$$:

1) Engine displacement increase
2) Go to forced induction
3) Increase compression
4) Increase cam lift, duration and overlap (you loose low-end, gain high-end).