Our lifestyles have changed, and we are an active group. As such, the loads we’ve asked our trucks to haul have gotten larger and heavier, and tow vehicles especially have had to become more powerful and more fuel efficient to be able to safely and economically tow these heavy loads. It is no longer an oddity to see big, muscular trucks cruising to and from events of one type or another. When you look in the parking lot at many such events you’ll find yourself treated to a virtual truck show, as tow rigs nowadays are every bit as show-worthy as the vehicles and/or boats or trailers they are towing. 

As we walk the boat ramps, off-road areas, construction sites and other places where trucks rule the planet—and that’s just about everywhere nowadays—it seems that diesel-powered trucks are becoming more predominant. Before the price of diesel fuel rose excessively high—just the other day we saw it for $2.90 a gallon in our old neighborhood (California) and it was $2.10 in our new neighborhood (Tennessee)—diesel power made all the sense in the world. So what kinds of games are being played with the diesel-buying public, especially California diesel drivers? It seems a bit excessive to us. It also seems that diesel-powered trucks outnumber gas-powered no matter where you go, east or west, although there is still a significant group of consumers who choose gas over diesel. While you cannot deny the cost benefits of diesel power, the gas companies have noticed this trend toward diesels, too, and what was once the cheap of the cheap, “bottom barrel” fuel, has been reformulated for emissions, giving those companies the opportunity to charge diesel guys as much for a gallon of diesel as for a gallon of premium gas! There ought to be a law, and perhaps one day there will be, but oil interests are strong in Washington, so any such movement may not come soon. 

Like their diesel counterparts, gas-powered truck owners are always looking for ways to give their vehicles even more power and better mileage. To find out what kind of power options there are for gas-powered trucks, we went to J&D Performance in Ontario, California. We’ve seen what kind of power and performance the guys at J&D can make in a diesel-powered truck, so we figured we’d follow along as they wrenched more power out of a common gas-powered truck. After a quick phone call, we were set. The guys at J&D had a customer’s stock 1999 Ford F-350 dualie with a 6.8-liter V-10 ready for buildup. Here’s how it went.

Our test truck was bone stock with 92,000 miles. The truck is used as a daily driver and does part-time duty towing a 28-foot toy box during the winter months and a 25-foot boat during the summer months. According to the owner, the truck runs well but is underpowered for its size. The owner wanted more power for daily driving and towing but did not want to sacrifice mileage, economy or smog-legal status.

To start off, the crew at J&D did some baseline evaluations of the stock truck. The first tests were done on the road. The truck was put through four on-road evaluations: the 1/8-mile, the 1/4-mile, 30-50 mph and 50-70 mph. In stock trim the truck ran the 1/8-mile in 11.01 seconds at 65.76 mph, the 1/4-mile in 17.04 seconds at 81.58 mph, 30-50 mph in 3.92 seconds and 50-70 mph in 5.77 seconds. On the road, the truck produced 11.5-12.5 mpg during normal driving. With the on-road evaluations complete, J&D put the truck on its in-house chassis dyno for some baseline, rear-wheel power numbers. On the dyno, the truck made 207.81 horsepower at 4,400 rpm and 314.87 lb-ft of torque at 2,900 rpm. 

J&D knows that the best way to improve power and economy in a gas-powered truck is to improve airflow into the engine, and then to improve the exhaust flow out of the engine. Once that is complete, adjusting fuel and timing will optimize power output and fuel economy.

The crew at J&D decided to do this buildup as a two-part series. First, being a local Banks Power dealer, the crew set out to install a full Banks Power Pack. Second, they set out to further improve power and performance by adding hand-selected items they know make “real-world” power (a high-flow catalytic converter, a larger intake system, a computer programmer and a larger throttle body). The second installment will be featured in an upcoming issue. 

For the first part of the buildup, J&D worked with the crew at Banks and began the process of installing the full Banks Power Pack. They started by removing the stock exhaust and installing the Power Pack’s full-length headers, Y-pipe and after-cat exhaust system. Banks’ headers are made using a .625-inch flange and stainless steel head pipes. Banks’ after-cat exhaust system uses the Banks monster muffler and stainless, 3-inch, mandrel-bent tubing. With the exhaust complete, J&D and Banks installed the air filter replacement and the Banks Trans Command to improve transmission function. The stock air filter assembly was replaced with a Banks custom housing, which dramatically improves the flow of air into the engine. The Trans Command increases transmission line pressure, changes shift points and converter lockup points and helps eliminate unnecessary downshifting while towing on long grades. 

With the first part of the installation complete, the truck was taken back to the street for an evaluation of the Power Pack system. The truck was put through the same four on-road evaluations as before and ran the 1/8-mile in 10.08 seconds at 68.47 mph, the 1/4-mile in 15.94 seconds at 83.49 mph, 30-50 mph in 3.10 seconds and 50-70 mph in 4.90 seconds. The power pack produced an improvement of .93 seconds and 2.71 mph in the 1/8-mile, 1.1 seconds and 1.91 mph in the 1/4-mile, .82 seconds at 30-50 mph, and .87 seconds at 50-70 mph. During normal driving the truck produced 12.7-13.5 mpg (a 1-1.2 miles-per-gallon improvement over stock).

With the on-road evaluations complete, J&D put the truck back on its in-house chassis dyno for the Power Pack’s rear-wheel power numbers. On the dyno, the truck made 232.96 horsepower at 3,900 rpm and 343.06 lb-ft of torque at 3,400 rpm. These numbers showed an increase of 25.15 horsepower and 28.19 lb-ft of torque at the rear wheels. Once the dyno testing was complete, the truck was returned to its owner for evaluation. The owner reported a substantial power increase, a noticeable mileage increase and an overall improvement in driveability, proving that statistical improvement can be felt in the seat of the pants in real-world applications.  

For the first part of this buildup, we learned that by simply improving the flow of air into the engine and the flow of exhaust out of the engine we were able to significantly improve the usable power of the truck. In our second installment, we’ll follow along as the crew at J&D adds their own selection of parts to further improve the power and mileage of the 1999 V-10. Stay tuned.