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PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT: Wicked Wheel 2^® by DieselSite

All of Dieselsite’s Wicked Wheels® are designed to fit in the existing compressor housings with no modifications needed. You will experience extreme increased performance and boost, superior surge elimination over the original cast wheels, reduced EGTs across the board, faster spooling and more!

The Adrenaline has been on the market for over 15 years and is tried and true by the 7.3L community. Our units are upgraded with custom internals and design changes to get the most out of a single housing pump while improving reliability over the stock unit.

PUTTING OUT FIRES AND STARTING NEW ONES

Some decades ago, Louis Jackson was a lucky 15-year-old boy. He had his first car, and it was a ’55 Chevy, a car that was already a classic at the time. He was not lucky enough to have the funds or the skills to finish the car the way he really wanted—he was after a Pro Street-style car, but building a car like that is a tall order for someone still in high school. Though he couldn’t create his dream car that early in his life, he vowed that someday he’d have that Pro Street ’55.

FLAMIN’ HELL

It seems to more than the occasional observer that there are about five Fords that make up the heart of the super rodding and custom car culture: the ’27 T pickup; the ’32 roadster; the ’33-’34 Ford coupe; the ’40 coupe; and the ’49-’51 “Shoebox” Ford, in all of its deviations.

Spotlighter

Easy Out

Adding a MagnaFlow After-Cat Exhaust System Will Provide Good Looks and a Boost in Power

In this day and age, getting the most power out of your late-model truck or SUV is both difficult and easy. Now that we have covered ourselves technically, we will give you the reasoning behind this convoluted theory. New vehicles are hard to work on but easy to upgrade. See? That was easy.

Author

Matt Emery

Story & Photography

Differences Between New and Vintage Vehicles

New vehicles are so different than those we affectionately call vintage trucks, and the major differences lie with the chassis and drivetrain. Smog laws have made it tough on the aftermarket performance parts sellers, but the sellers figured out how these vehicles could actually work with their re-engineered smog-friendly products. With SEMA’s help, they have been able to create and manufacture many great parts that continue to increase and improve upon the stock horsepower that comes from the factories.

The Importance of After-Cat Exhaust Systems

One of those areas of improvement is the after-cat exhaust system such as this one from MagnaFlow. A number of aftermarket companies make such systems for a variety of cars and trucks, since the factory systems simply leave a lot to be desired in terms of performance and sound. The OEs had to make the government happy, so their stock mufflers were as efficient and cost-effective as possible to make and employ. In their efforts to make these components quiet and cheap, they were too restrictive, power output was negatively impacted and they sound horrible. Well, a stock exhaust doesn’t have much of a resounding note to it. Also, the exhaust tips leave lots to be desired in most cases, and on most truck applications there are no snazzy tips at all—just a treated tailpipe hanging down from below the chassis. That doesn’t exactly look like a performance statement, either.

Advantages of the MagnaFlow System

With the MagnaFlow system, however, you can be sure that you are getting both the best power that your engine is capable of and a high-quality stainless steel exhaust system that is not comparable to the stock-treated, mild-steel systems that come from the factory. In fact, MagnaFlow was awarded an ISO-9001 certificate from the International Organization for Standardization, and the ISO-9001 has 20 specific designs, materials and process requirements that a company must meet or exceed before it can be awarded such certification. This was no chore for MagnaFlow; it has been building exhaust components for more than 20 years, so it knows what it’s doing and what should be done.

Installing the MagnaFlow System on a Ford Expedition

We were on hand to follow along as the MagnaFlow installation crew made short work of this Ford Expedition. We wanted to see what would be involved for this simple upgrade. And as we expected, they had the job done in no time, the results were easily recognizable and the Ford had achieved more power and a better sound (if you want to hear it, check out the MagnaFlow website—the site has sound recordings of MagnaFlow-equipped vehicles). Follow along as they did the job on this Ford, and see if such a system would not make sense on the truck you and your family drive to work, school, and the automotive parts store.