Wanted to share...I have been reading on the ford truck forums how restrictive the exhaust system is on the F53 V10 chassis so I decided to do an experiment. I added the programming from 5 star last year.I replaced the y pipe and removed the muffler. Then drove 800 miles in 2 days. The cat remained in place.Normally my RV will get 5.5 to 6.0 mpg consistently. Interesting? This trip the RV got 8.0mpg to as much as 10mpg average when on level ground. Power increase was (by the feel of my backside) significant. She was pulling hills at 60mph on 81 surprisingly well. So now I assumed there was a blockage at the muffler. Nope all was good. Only issue, wow was it loud up hill, need to get a low restriction muffler on it next. Normal low speed driving, not bad, even livable, sounds like a hotrod. At an idle, amazingly quiet... Not on a hill however..Any recommendations on a muffler?

Yes, Magnaflow. straight through perforated pipe is going to be the most like any open pipe as you can get. There are all kinds of tricks manufacturers have tried to pull, with some working to various degrees, but nothing will compare to a straight through muffler. I tried a coupe of different Flowmasters, which had measured performance loss - the 70 series killed my fuel mileage and were still noisy. Lost 10% on my zero to sixty times. My experiments were with no other changes other than mufflers. (although I did some tuning attempts to try to "fix" the Flowmasters based on their ignorant customer assistance recommendations)BTW:The older V10 is well known to have breathing issues. One indicator is if you look on the Banks website, you can see their test results, which are substantial for the older V10. In contrast, the newer V10 does not gain much.

By Y pipe, you meaning the curved section in the exhaust right before the cat.I've wondered about that section of exhaust, why it is curved like that, but figured they did that so both manifolds would be the same total length from the exhaust port.Exhaust headers sometimes look like a octapus from trying to get all the tubes the same length.So, no Y pipe or muffler made the mpg go up.I know this, painted the end of the exhaust pipe sticking out with black paint, when we got to where we were going, every bit of that paint was gone, I guess burnt off, so must be some mighty high heat coming out of that exhaust system.Neil

Cant beat a 3 in straight thru Magnaflo muffler. Ive installed two. One on a 97 P30 and my 2001V10. Love em!Bob

thats why i went with the banks power pack and 5 star tune

Ordered my magnaflow on its way. They have great customer service. 3inch 30 inch long muffler.

F53 (2004) Test, Interesting. | Good Sam Community

11 Replies

Daveinet
Explorer
Oct 16, 2014
To the OP, I would suggest doing a benchmark zero to 60mph test before you install the new muffler. Gas mileage can do funny things, based on weather, driving conditions and even the fuel you are using. Doing a benchmark test on the same fuel tank and hopefully the same day, with the same weather should give you a more direct comparison.
spotrot
Explorer
Oct 16, 2014
spotrot wrote:

RE: BTW:The older V10 is well known to have breathing issues. One indicator is if you look on the Banks website, you can see their test results, which are substantial for the older V10. In contrast, the newer V10 does not gain much.

What is considered older? The OP has a 2004 I believe and mine is a 2008.
2 valve vs 3 valve. The transition happened happened at the end of 2005. Once you hit the 3 valve engine, they fixed the worst of the breathing problems.

Thank you
Herewego
Explorer
Oct 15, 2014
Using two methods to calculate, we averaged 9.5 MPG on our last trip to Florida, from Long Island, with no toad. It was about a half-gallon lower a year ago when we pulled the toad.

The two methods were 1-Scan Gauge II and 2-a manual calculation of mileage based on fuel consumption at each fill up. Manual calculation was slightly lower. Consistency is tough to maintain when filling up. I stopped when the pump "clicked" off at the handle the first time, at each fill up and used that amount of fuel for the calculation.

2004 motorhome on a 2003 Ford V-10 chassis. Kept the highway speed at just about 57 MPH on the highway per the Scan Gauge II.
Daveinet
Explorer
Oct 15, 2014
spotrot wrote:
RE: BTW:The older V10 is well known to have breathing issues. One indicator is if you look on the Banks website, you can see their test results, which are substantial for the older V10. In contrast, the newer V10 does not gain much.

What is considered older? The OP has a 2004 I believe and mine is a 2008.
2 valve vs 3 valve. The transition happened happened at the end of 2005. Once you hit the 3 valve engine, they fixed the worst of the breathing problems.
BigBlockTank
Explorer
Oct 15, 2014
I have an 03 F-53 chassis and it had some hill issues, big time. After the first time out, I found the complete Banks kit, with the ECU chip for $1700 and installed it myself. Didn't check fuel milage, as I really don't care, I care about power. And man, does it ever have power. I have a 24' enclosed trailer for my sand car, and I haven't pulled it yet, but will this weekend. I understand what you've done, but if you have the funds to it, I highly reccommend the Bank's kit. Barely hear it inside, you hear more of that big air intake that comes with the kit than anything. I give it 4 thumbs up. It pulls like the hulk, in comparison to before.
spotrot
Explorer
Oct 15, 2014
RE: BTW:The older V10 is well known to have breathing issues. One indicator is if you look on the Banks website, you can see their test results, which are substantial for the older V10. In contrast, the newer V10 does not gain much.

What is considered older? The OP has a 2004 I believe and mine is a 2008.
jzrvinit
Explorer
Oct 15, 2014
Ordered my magnaflow on its way. They have great customer service. 3inch 30 inch long muffler.
hanko
Explorer
Oct 15, 2014
thats why i went with the banks power pack and 5 star tune
Chopperbob
Explorer
Oct 15, 2014
Cant beat a 3 in straight thru Magnaflo muffler.
Ive installed two. One on a 97 P30 and my 2001
V10. Love em!
Bob
C-Leigh_Racing
Explorer
Oct 15, 2014
By Y pipe, you meaning the curved section in the exhaust right before the cat.
I've wondered about that section of exhaust, why it is curved like that, but figured they did that so both manifolds would be the same total length from the exhaust port.
Exhaust headers sometimes look like a octapus from trying to get all the tubes the same length.
So, no Y pipe or muffler made the mpg go up.
I know this, painted the end of the exhaust pipe sticking out with black paint, when we got to where we were going, every bit of that paint was gone, I guess burnt off, so must be some mighty high heat coming out of that exhaust system.
Neil