2005 Ford F150 - Engine View - Photo 8528949

Back to Article

We can't say enough about how easily this installation went. There were absolutely no surprises - everything fit and worked as advertised. Once again though, we have to remind you that an easy installation could quickly turn into a nightmare if you don't follow the directions exactly.

0606or z+2005 Ford F150+Badge View

0606or z+2005 Ford F150+Badge View

St. George Ford is southern Utah's largest Ford dealer and is a Roush dealership as well. Its giant service department is excellent.

0606or+2005 ford f150 supercharger install+dyno chart z

Before we installed the supercharger, we wanted to install 4.10 gears that, with our new tires, would return the truck exactly to where the gearing was with our stock tires and 3.73s. West Coast Differentials sent us excellent U.S. gears and Sierra installation kits. West Coast also offers its own Sierra gearsets, Ford Motorsport gears, and other quality brands. The company's service is topnotch.

The Detroit Truetrac was the first gear-type limited-slip differential in the industry. There are no clutches, cones, or maintenance required, and the parallel-axis design planetary helical gears provide quiet, automatic splitting of torque. Power transfer goes literally unnoticed by the driver. The Truetrac performs like an open differential under normal driving conditions and automatically transfers torque to the wheel with better traction when needed. The limited-slip responds instantly to torque feedback, anytime, at any speed. We've found you can get an even more positive lockup by preloading them with the brake when needed.

The ROUSHcharger comes with detailed instructions, written very well by someone who actually did the installation. We can't stress enough that you need to READ these instructions completely first, before doing anything else. If you get out of sequence during the installation, you'll cause yourself a lot more work by having to uninstall something to get to something else. One other thing - after the supercharger installation, you need to run premium fuel. Take the time to run the regular out of your tank and fill it with premium before starting this installation.

Roush includes a FedEx mailer in the box so the processor (ECM) can be sent to the company for a reflash. If the ECM isn't reflashed, severe engine damage will occur and the warranty will be voided. We disconnected the battery, removed the ECM, and sent it back via the Next-Day FedEx box supplied. Roush returns the processor by Next-Day FedEx. Here's our ECM, ready to be reinstalled.

While our ECM was away, we opened the boxes and laid out everything to make sure we weren't missing any pieces and to familiarize ourselves with the parts. This is everything except the airbox kit. Note the labeled bags. Everything comes packaged and labeled for easy identification.

Rocky Schmalz has been at St. George Ford for 16 years and has quite a few ROUSHcharger installations under his belt. He started by draining the coolant and removing the OE trim, upper radiator hose, shroud, fan, manifold, MAF sensor, airbox, alternator, and so on.

Some of these parts will be reused and some won't. Don't throw anything away until you're completely finished with the installation.

To properly control the ROUSHcharger system, only two circuits in the truck need to be modified.

After splicing the wires, make sure you use the included heat-shrink tubing and gently heat with a lighter, torch, or other heat source until it's shrunk tightly over the wire.

Rocky installed the boost-bypass solenoid, control bracket, and vacuum harness to the underside of the Roush intake manifold. There are crush limiters (spacers) and other pieces to install per the instructions too.

Here's the assembled manifold right-side up.

Our 5.4L 3V V-8 is ready for its new Roush manifold.

Rocky installed the intake head gaskets using the crush limiters for alignment and retention, then he installed the manifold and the fuel rails.

This is a good point to replace the plugs with the latest version used in Ford production. This is required to reduce the possibility of pre-ignition. Roush sends back these new plugs along with the ECM.

The ROUSHcharger assembly was installed on the intake manifold. Bolts are torqued to 18 lb-ft. The alternator and serpentine belt were also reinstalled.

The throttle-body spacer was then installed.

With the throttle body installed, the brake booster line, carryover VMV tube, and bypass valve line are all connected to fittings on the other side of the throttle-body spacer (not seen in photo). The TPS harness and ETC harness were connected to the throttle body.

In order to accommodate the ROUSHcharger drivebelt and pulleys, the fan was spaced out 1-7/32 inches. Rocky installed the fan spacer at this point.

Then, the crank adapter, drive pulley, and spider bracket assembly were installed. The drive pulley was spun counterclockwise onto the crank adapter.

Here's a complete view with the Roush FEAD bridge assembly and ROUSHcharger drivebelt installed.

Since the fan was spaced out 1 7/32 inches, the shroud had to be trimmed...

...then the trimming cleaned up a bit.

Rocky put the fan in the shroud and then installed it since there's no room to get the fan in there after the shroud is already on. Rocky modified his fan wrench for easier use and more leverage.

After installing the new upper radiator hose, Rocky poured in the coolant.

The air inlet kit includes the air inlet tube, MAF adapter, T-body connector hose, airbox hump hose, MAF air dam and bottom bracket, weatherstrip, and a hardware pack not pictured here.

Assembling the air inlet kit is easy.

Installing the air inlet kit is also easy. Here, the air inlet tube gets slid into place. The final step is re-installing the ECM and reconnecting the battery.

Here's the completed installation. The K&N filter allows increased airflow while keeping things clean.

We can't say enough about how easily this installation went. There were absolutely no surprises - everything fit and worked as advertised. Once again though, we have to remind you that an easy installation could quickly turn into a nightmare if you don't follow the directions exactly.