Page 2 - F-Series Super Duty

The last steps of any project are the hardest to get through. The excitement of enjoying the results of your hard work can often get in the way of doing the job right. But hard work without patience often leads to more work.

For us, the last steps of our 2011-2016 and 2017+ catch cans were also the most technically demanding. In our last post, we took measurements of both trucks' filter boxes and engines with our 3D scanner, then designed and 3D printed adapters to fit between the engine and the filter box. These adapters will give us a way to divert blow-by from the valve cover into our catch can, then back through the filter box and into the engine.

Connecting our catch can to the factory 6.7L CCV system is not be a simple task. In order for our catch can to protect the engine, we need to intercept the blow-by between the CCV filter box and the valve cover. To make matters more difficult, the CCV filter boxes in both the 2011-2016 and 2017+ bolt directly to the engine's valve cover with only a few centimeters between them and the firewall. That means clearance for lines or adapters is extremely tight. Fitting lines within this area in a way that retains the filter box and still flows enough to let the massive 6.7L crankcase breathe requires a clever design and precise measurements.

When our measurements need to be accurate down to the millimeter, we break out our 3D laser scanner. The Faro Design ScanArm measures surfaces at 560,000

The most rewarding work is hard work. But hard work is often dirty work. If you're a car or truck enthusiast, you know the feeling of accomplishment you get from the hard work of fixing or modifying your vehicle. You also know the struggle of trying to scrub away the grime from under your fingernails afterwards.

Few people know the reward of hard work more than those who work on diesel trucks or those who use them every day to make a living. You'd be hard-pressed to find a construction site, landscaping job, or farm without a diesel truck somewhere nearby. If the owner of that truck is really serious about hard work, it's likely a Ford Powerstroke. Ford's latest addition to the Powerstroke lineage, the 6.7L, has been serving hard-working Americans since 2011. The 6.7L Powerstroke is one of the best engines ever fitted to Ford's Super Duty trucks, but it's not without its flaws.

This 2008-2010 Ford 6.4L Powerstroke Aluminum Degas Tank is now available. Click here to check it out!

Our last 2008-2010 Ford 6.4L Powerstroke aluminum degas tank post ended on a high note. We had pushed through challenges, taking an overcomplicated, ungainly design and creating one of our most refined prototypes to date. With the help of Powerstroke forum members and our future customers we decided to trim down our design to include only the degas tank while reusing the stock battery tray. This strategy required cutting the stock degas tank off the battery tray, but our engineer thought about that and created a simple plate to cover up the cut line and make installing our tank a seamless affair.

Before we

One of the hardest aspects of design is often knowing when to stop and take a step back. Failure is never fun, but we've learned that failure is just the beginning of a better design. Nothing is a complete failure, it's just another step forward.

When we last saw our 2008-2010 Ford 6.4L Powerstroke aluminum degas tank, it had become a mess of extra parts that didn't add any value for our customers. Thanks to Ford's design team, who apparently didn't know when to stop, our degas tank was trying to be a degas tank, battery tray, and vacuum chamber. All of this was in an attempt to keep our customers from having to cut their degas tank from the battery tray. After building a prototype that combined all three components, we decided to change course. All the extra components had turned our simple degas tank into an expensive monstrosity. We turned to the forums for some perspective.

Power feels different for everybody. For some, it's the feel of freshly printed money. For others, power feels like the blinding camera flashes of paparazzi. But for many automotive enthusiasts, true power is the shove you feel in your back as you push your right foot to the floor.

The enthusiast's quest for power can be never ending (just ask the participants of TX2K) and Mishimoto has been working on an air-to-water intercooler for the 2011-2016 Ford 6.7L Powerstroke to aid in that journey. We've looked at the stock 6.7L intercooler's faults in depth and followed the development of our stronger, higher-flowing replacement; now it's time to put it to the test on the dyno.

As vehicles become more complex, so does designing aftermarket parts for them. When components play multiple roles, every detail must be carefully measured and accounted for. The 2008-2010 Ford 6.4L Powerstroke degas tank is no exception to that trend. Even ten years ago, manufacturers like Ford were finding ways to over-complicate even the simplest coolant tank. Building our aluminum replacement for this tank has been challenging, but that's exactly how we like our projects.

Our last post looked at the stock degas tank and we learned that the tank isn't just playing double duty, but triple duty. Molded into the bottom of the stock tank is the battery tray. No big deal. But, below that battery tray was another