285,000 miles should i put a chip in it or not?
 

i have an 04 with 285,000 miles on it and its basically stock. i have a 4 inch exhaust. and a banks ram air intake. i was thinking about putting a banks six gun tuner with the IQ screen. any thoughs?

with that many miles I would add any power to the motor.

What are you looking to gain? Any reason you want Banks products particularly? Is this something you need for work every day, or are you going to make it a play truck? What is your budget, you can get a lot more power for less money than you're looking to spend right now. How much work are you willing to do on this thing? Any other mods now? You'll need a few others things, like gauges and a coolant filter would be a good idea too. Give us more info about the truck, how you want to use the truck, and some brief history.:pca1:

really i want a truck that i can play with and something that will last me for a few years with minimal issues. its my everyday driver, im looking towards cheaper if possible. i was thinking a chip, egr delete, water-meth, head studs, and gasket, intercooler and new intake elbow. im not looking to do everything now, just whats important and then slowly add from there. i was even considering a rebuild. but im not sure if thats needed or not

Start with your reliablity mods first. Headstuds and new OEM Ford gaskets. Do a lot of research on the methods behind this, and make sure you find a reputable shop to do the headwork, otherwise the whole job is pointless.

No chips for 6.0's, only programmers, and I would stay away from anything Banks personally.

You do not need an intercooler or intake elbow, so put that money into gauges or something else more useful.

Water/meth I would be careful with on a 6.0. I like using them for water/cooling mostly, I wouldn't run more than a 30/70 mix of meth/water. Keep the meth low, there are better ways to make power than adding an uncontrollable fuel to the mix.

EGR delete and headstuds is a great starting point, add a coolant filter and some gauges to that list.

Rebuild probably isn't really needed. If it's not broke, don't fix it.

What's your budget for this build? If you're using it every day we really need to try and keep reliability in mind here too.

Well for now i think im only going to be able to dothe studs and gasket andthats going to have to wait about two months untill i get back from afganistan. I keep hearing coolent filter. Is that a must have or just a cautious thing? What gauges would be needed? Oil and coolent temps and boost?

The blocks are sandcast from the factory, over time the castings break off and clog the oil cooler, which leads to erratic oil/coolant temps, and causes EGR coolers to pop and headgaskets to pop as well. The coolant filter is cheap insurance, they're about $130 and worth their weight in gold on a 6.0.

Gauges,
I would do:
Fuel pressure (#1 most important on a 6.0)
Engine oil temp
Engine coolant temp (ECT and EOT will tell you what is happening with that oil cooler. If temps get more than 15 degrees apart, the oil cooler is becoming clogged *see coolant filter explanation*) You need both these gauges to see what it's doing.

Boost isn't necessary, more of a fun gauge than anything.

Trans temp is good if you're towing real heavy and real often, otherwise a 5R110 runs real cool (assuming you have an auto).