[Kruegerk]

I've owned my 97 for 1998 and bought it with 30,000 miles. I've added all the usual over the years most of what are in my signatures but never went with anything big or lots of power as I wanted to have this last me a long time. I've been frustrated with it for the past few years feeling like I was missing power and always having to ease out of it when towing my 7000lb boat and trailer over the Oregon mountains due to exhaust temps that would easily hit 1250 and keep climbing if I didn't.

Well I decided to get serious about figuring this out this winter and after reading about boost leaks and just assuming I maintain my truck well and of course if I don't push it hard I don't have any boost leaks.. Wrong! I built a boost leak tester and hooked it up to the air last week and sure enough I found a few. Mostly they were in the aftermarket intercooler boots and a combination of not the right size or just lousy worm hose clamps and/or hoses that have years of crankcase oil running through them. Spent the last week replacing boots and getting the right size and quality T-clamps installed and WOW! I also sent my 13 year old DP Tuner chip back to Jody and had him update very old tunes with fresh tunes for towing and performance. Took it out tonight for an hour and it spools faster, accelerates quicker, less smoke and boost climbs quickly into the mid-20's empty. Getting EGT getting on it in hotter tunes was tough to go over 1000. I have no doubt hooking it up to the boat and running up the hills with more boost those EGT's will stay down and I can keep the speed up without having to slow down and downshift to get RPM's. Testing with the boost leak detector was night and day difference after fixing the leaks. Next will be to install the bellowed Riffraff uppipes. I don't notice any soot but I'm sure they aren't tight and delivering everything I will get out of new uppipes.

Point is.. don't overlook the little things. That intake needs to be tight and the turbo will really deliver when it's given the opportunity.

 

[97F250HDXLT]

Why is RiffRaff's price so much higher than others? Are they somehow better than these?
SS $150 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B082BGBQQY

Dorman $162 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B009AA6Y1U

 

[Kruegerk]

I think the big difference is the aircraft quality 321 stainless material that Riffraff uses versus the more typical exhaust quality stainless in the Amazon item.

 

[1970something]

also, my bet is Clay sells made in America, and the others sell NOT made in America.

 

[97F250HDXLT]

I think the big difference is the aircraft quality 321 stainless material that Riffraff uses...

Well, since these aren't aircraft, they'd probably sell a LOT more if they'd make them from automotive-exhaust-grade SS.

also, my bet is Clay sells made in America, and the others sell NOT made in America.

I like buying US-made stuff, but not at 2.5x the price - it HAS to at least be competitive. The Dorman stuff is LLT (but not SS), which is another reason to buy it. IDK where this one is made:
SS $160 https://www.amazon.com/Stainless-Bellowed-Bellows-Powerstroke-Diesel/dp/B07ZRVGF81

But this isn't what I meant by "better" - I meant performance. The bellows are just there to allow misalignment during fabrication; not to make them WORK better than the originals. So do any of these actually WORK better than stock in any way?

 

[Patrick Feeley]

The factory uppipe donuts are notorious leakers. When they do leak, the pipe get eroded in the donut sealing are and end up requiring replacement. The bellows allow for expansion and contraction during operation. There was a reason International used them on their engine applications and I'm not sure why Ford chose the donut method. Cheers!

 

[97F250HDXLT]

Thanks. So I don't need to worry about this until they leak, right? Is it usually apparent when they leak (soot, noise, odor, engine performance)? I didn't notice anything when I had the trans down.

1997 Ford F-250 Transmission picture | SuperMotors.net

blockrear.jpg The backside of the block & pan got some cleaning, too. But the RMS showed no sign of leaking, so I left it alone. IF THE IMAGE IS TOO SMALL, click it.

www.supermotors.net

 

[Patrick Feeley]

Yep! If it ain't broke...
You would probably notice soot buildup and when mine leaked I could tell by seat-of-the-pants and my boost gauge that performance had dropped a bit, especially towing. Cheers!

 

[Kruegerk]

I’ll say on my drivers side I climbed around with a good flash light and didn’t see soot on that side but feeling around with my hand I could feel it up against the block. I had replaced passenger side at 140,000 and it was leaking badly. I do get exhaust smell in the cab at first start up. I would say soot isn’t the only indicator. I’ll report back on performance, boost and EGT when I change the uppipes out in a couple months.

 

[97F250HDXLT]

I don't understand why, but my truck runs remarkably well for how badly it had been neglected by the P(O)O. During the ice storm, it almost seems like it's gonna pop a wheelie, because of the extra power (I assume due to the denser air).

 

[BionicArcher]

through

 

[BionicArcher]

I’m running RiffRaft up pipes, they fit perfectly and that’s what they do Ford products. Word of advice you get what you pay for from Amazon or Anyother company.

 

[97F250HDXLT]

Are you saying you've bought either of those from Amazon, and they're somehow inferior?

 

[Kruegerk]

Updating my boost leak thread... After testing the MAP sensor and verifying that my MAP hose was in good shape I decided to replace the stock spring hose clamp that holds the hose to the MAP sensor. I had put a typical worm clamp on the intake manifold side already. I had pressure tested the spring clamp connection but I seem to have picked up a couple more psi by putting a worm clamp on the MAP sensor side of the hose. That spring clamp doesn't appear to hold tight enough when high pressure is present. I could rotate the hose with the spring clamp and can't with the new hose clamp. Just one more thing to consider. Was able to hit 26+psi empty with just a chip yesterday!