Does More $$$ Really Get A Better Throttle Body?
- Thread starter ReefBlueHatch
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The BBK whistle is actually well documented, and BBK at one point actually had instructions for the fix on their website (might still be there). Why they never made an effort to correct the new throttle bodies from the factory, I have no idea.
OH yea, I've heard all sorts of garbage as to "excuses" people come up with for not running "big" throttle bodies. One of the funniest was a guy on another forum was trying to mathematically define how big your TB should be by how big the valves were in your cylinder heads, LOL. As if no other parameter or variable in your engine mattered at all. Another one I hear commonly is the whole part-throttle sensitivity, the idea that a big throttle body would reduce how much throttle control you have at low throttle openings, but of course the only guys who talk about that are the ones that aren't actually running 90s, so it's pure speculation.
I dunno, I may try it on the current 302, and I may not. The car will either get boost or more cubes this winter, so it may not happen until then.
OH yea, I've heard all sorts of garbage as to "excuses" people come up with for not running "big" throttle bodies. One of the funniest was a guy on another forum was trying to mathematically define how big your TB should be by how big the valves were in your cylinder heads, LOL. As if no other parameter or variable in your engine mattered at all. Another one I hear commonly is the whole part-throttle sensitivity, the idea that a big throttle body would reduce how much throttle control you have at low throttle openings, but of course the only guys who talk about that are the ones that aren't actually running 90s, so it's pure speculation.
I dunno, I may try it on the current 302, and I may not. The car will either get boost or more cubes this winter, so it may not happen until then.
I was one of the lucky guys that had an eddy/bbk tb fail on me. Fortunately for me, I have dumb luck most of the time, so as I was getting in the car(I'm a big guy), my foot slid over and pushed the gas pedal. I heard a thunk under the hood and once I got in the car I pushed on the gas again and it felt like there was nothing connected to the pedal. Got out, opened the hood and took off the air inlet tube to find the throttle shaft had broken in two right at the screw. I took off the tb and recovered the screw, put on an accufab and never looked back. It's all I run on my personal cars. I have had cars with just about every throttle body on earth come through my shop and haven't seen too many issues other than the dreaded bbk whistle. I found one the other day, was some off brand, and the blade on top of the throttle shaft was so small that the TPS ears on the inside had broken off, so we had to put a motorcraft unit on it with the larger ears to engage. No issue after that.
So, short story long, +1 accufab.
So, short story long, +1 accufab.
LS engines have enough intake manifold, head volume and displacement to utilize a throttle body that big. When most street intakes for the 5.0L OHV don't flow much above 800cfm, a big throttle body like that isn't going to be good for anything more than a conversation piece.
Big throttle bodies are cool, but worthless unless your lower intake and heads are capable of moving the airflow they provide.
I'd have to measure, but I don't think I could physically go any larger than a 70mm throttle body on my Explorer intake (at least not without compromising the EGR gasket sealing surface)? In my case, it really wouldn't be justifyable with GT40 heads/intake to start with, since they're not going to be able to utilize any more airflow than a 70mm would provide anyway?
See, when you start thinking like that, you really limit yourself unintentionally. A lot of people fall into this. What you're doing is basing your whole parts selection off the weakest link in the chain, so what you end up with is a whole chain full of weak links. I'm not saying everybody needs to go out and cut and weld their Explorer intake so they can fit a 90mm TB (though, I have seen it), but just because you've got a 70mm opening on your intake doesn't mean a 70mm TB is the best and only option you have.
Something else to consider is that when you put a 800 CFM throttle body on an 800 CFM intake, your total system flow isn't 800, it's going to be less overall. It's like stacking resistors in series, every additional component adds some amount of resistance to flow. With that in mind, there's no good reason for the TB to be a significant contributor to the resistance to flow at WOT.
I dunno, that's just my thoughts, but I also have ~$2100 in my cylinder heads and I still run 13s, LOL. I'll figure it out one of these days.
3 pages about throttle bodies?
What, you want us to go over to Deraillers Anonymous and talk about... What is it they talk about again?
See, when you start thinking like that, you really limit yourself unintentionally. A lot of people fall into this. What you're doing is basing your whole parts selection off the weakest link in the chain, so what you end up with is a whole chain full of weak links. I'm not saying everybody needs to go out and cut and weld their Explorer intake so they can fit a 90mm TB (though, I have seen it), but just because you've got a 70mm opening on your intake doesn't mean a 70mm TB is the best and only option you have.
Something else to consider is that when you put a 800 CFM throttle body on an 800 CFM intake, your total system flow isn't 800, it's going to be less overall. It's like stacking resistors in series, every additional component adds some amount of resistance to flow. With that in mind, there's no good reason for the TB to be a significant contributor to the resistance to flow at WOT.
I dunno, that's just my thoughts, but I also have ~$2100 in my cylinder heads and I still run 13s, LOL. I'll figure it out one of these days.
What, you want us to go over to Deraillers Anonymous and talk about... What is it they talk about again?
Who is this, "They" that you speak of?
I see what you're trying to say, but I think you're looking at it from the wrong direction. The manifold is what need the attention in that equasion, not the throttle body. The throttle body is the source of the airflow. It's going to be capable of flowing 800cfm no matter what it's bolted onto. Whether it moves that volume of air or not, is dependant on the restrictions of the engine beyond it.
Bolting on a larger throttle body isn't going to make up said restriction. If in fact the weak link is the intake manifold, what good is running at throttle body capable of moving more air than the manifold is able to utilize?
If the manifold only flows 800cfm, then it's not going to make any more power with a throttle body that flows 1500cfm, than it will with one that flows 800cfm, or 1,000cfm. While I agree that a bigger thottle body than the stock engine is able to utilize isn't going to hurt anything, I have yet to see significant proof that it's helping either. At least not in a N/A situation.
I'm all for cutting intake restriction, but ALL intake restriction must be addressed. Just bolting on a big throttle body isn't the answer. I mean....how many times over the years have we seen stock, or near stock 5.0L's gain zero horsepower with throttle body only mods in bolt on dyno comparison tests?
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