Ford V10 - 5 Star Tuning

PCronin68 wrote:
Hello, I have a 2014 Bounder and was considering the 5 Star tuning. While I understand many will have different opinions, I don't expect any material fuel efficiency, rather I was hoping for better shifting especially up hill. I also watched a video online that tested the 5 Star tuning and it was done with vehicle in "tow mode" without an active tow. Would this change the 5 Star tuning function? Would I benefit having my Bounder in tow mode even when not towing a vehicle or small utility trailer? Anyone install 5 Star on the Ford V10? Love to hear feedback.
Thanks

Your Bounder is very heavy to start with so absolutely yes, by all means enable the Tow/Haul mode.

Ford's Tow/Haul mode enables automatic hill descent downshifting (saves you from manually needing to downshift when going down hills and if you feel the need to downshift further just press on the brake pedal then let off after it downshifts).

Tow/Haul mode automatically adjusts the shifting strategy for hauling and towing heavy loads (being you are in a heavy motorhome this is what you want). The shifting strategy will change shiftpoints to take better advantage of the engines HP/TQ which may include holding out upshift a bit longer.

As far as tuners, well 5Star is trying to sell you on the idea that you "need" their product, it is a "crummy commercial" and treat it as such.

Their tuner will further adjust shift points strategy and shifting pressures within the transmission. This may add additional stresses to your transmission that were not accounted for by the vehicle manufacturer so it is a "Buyer Be Aware" type of thing. Roll the dice and take your chances..

Would I add a tuner to any of my vehicles?

Nope..

You have a non turbo gas powered MH, treat it as such and it will live a long life.. Hop it up, and you run the risk of shortening the life of your rig.

Try using the Tow/Haul mode everytime you start your MH before dumping money into a tuner.

Seems like 5 star is one of the more popular tuning options.
I can't take any personal experience with 5star or a "tuned" newer V10 vs stock.
But in general, the couple tuners for n/a gasser trucks I bought/used many moons ago did very little for performance gains. And that is still the case. you're not going to get hardly any more power out of the same engine.
Trans tuning? Idk what could be better. Ford 5 and 6 speed auto transmissions have been pretty spot on for as long as they've been in existence.
Personal opinion, I wouldn't bother.

I put it on our 2008 e450 last summer, not sure it was worth it. First run I went from Winthrop Washington to Challis Idaho. Once I got there over a few passes and several hundred miles, I ended up with a stumbling motor, and two coils not firing. Now I carry a code reader, and I restored the factory flash for the drive home, that’s a different story. That being said when I got home I did sent them some logs, and got a new tune that didn’t cause the same issues and it’s still on the rig. But I can’t say I saw screaming gains on the rv with only 60k on it.

5 Star and Banks made their reputation fixing the old V10s that were seriously under-tuned by Ford in the early 2000s. The V10 was capable and strong enough to generate a lot more power without compromising it's longevity and over the years Ford realized that and steadily increased the horsepower. Nowadays, "tuning" has nowhere near the results as before as the engines now come from the factory "hopped up". You will still see some benefit but nothing like the big increases the older motors experienced with the "tunes".

Gdetrailer wrote:

PCronin68 wrote:
Hello, I have a 2014 Bounder and was considering the 5 Star tuning. While I understand many will have different opinions, I don't expect any material fuel efficiency, rather I was hoping for better shifting especially up hill. I also watched a video online that tested the 5 Star tuning and it was done with vehicle in "tow mode" without an active tow. Would this change the 5 Star tuning function? Would I benefit having my Bounder in tow mode even when not towing a vehicle or small utility trailer? Anyone install 5 Star on the Ford V10? Love to hear feedback.
Thanks

Your Bounder is very heavy to start with so absolutely yes, by all means enable the Tow/Haul mode.

Ford's Tow/Haul mode enables automatic hill descent downshifting (saves you from manually needing to downshift when going down hills and if you feel the need to downshift further just press on the brake pedal then let off after it downshifts).

Tow/Haul mode automatically adjusts the shifting strategy for hauling and towing heavy loads (being you are in a heavy motorhome this is what you want). The shifting strategy will change shiftpoints to take better advantage of the engines HP/TQ which may include holding out upshift a bit longer.

As far as tuners, well 5Star is trying to sell you on the idea that you "need" their product, it is a "crummy commercial" and treat it as such.

Their tuner will further adjust shift points strategy and shifting pressures within the transmission. This may add additional stresses to your transmission that were not accounted for by the vehicle manufacturer so it is a "Buyer Be Aware" type of thing. Roll the dice and take your chances..

Would I add a tuner to any of my vehicles?

Nope..

You have a non turbo gas powered MH, treat it as such and it will live a long life.. Hop it up, and you run the risk of shortening the life of your rig.

Try using the Tow/Haul mode everytime you start your MH before dumping money into a tuner.

I think I will just try using TOW Haul Mode for my next long trip. Thanks for response

PCronin68 wrote:




I think I will just try using TOW Haul Mode for my next long trip. Thanks for response

Yup, yeah, push the buttons you have, first, before buying more buttons!

I had an '08 F250 with a 5 Star tune. Small increase in power, but the biggest benefit was the shift strategy they did for me and later for others. Stock it would shift into OD any time you let off the throttle for a second or two. Really annoying. Mike set mine up so that in TH it would not shift into OD until about 65 mph. Since I seldom towed that fast it stayed in direct, where it needed to be when towing heavy. I probably would have traded the rig off if not for that tune. Could not stand towing with it stock.

Mmaxed wrote:
I had an '08 F250 with a 5 Star tune. Small increase in power, but the biggest benefit was the shift strategy they did for me and later for others. Stock it would shift into OD any time you let off the throttle for a second or two. Really annoying. Mike set mine up so that in TH it would not shift into OD until about 65 mph. Since I seldom towed that fast it stayed in direct, where it needed to be when towing heavy. I probably would have traded the rig off if not for that tune. Could not stand towing with it stock.

Comparing apples to oranges..

OP has a very heavy MH (like hauling 3-4 of your F250s on it's back) and a much newer V10 which because it is in a MH is "derated" for HD use and longevity. It will already have a shifting strategy more suited for it's application and it isn't going to burn tires off at the stop lights.

OPs planning to try USING the T/H feature built in (which they most likely were not using) and see if that helps some.

A wise move and I concur with OPs decision, Ford has a pretty spot on dialed in T/H which does deliver a good result as long as you are not planning to hole shot a Corvette.

Not sure as to why you were concerned about "over drive" (which does not really exist now days). These are not the same as the old "three speed transmission with O/D and designed from ground up to handle a lot of upshift/downshift..

Ford has really stepped up to the plate on the modern transmissions and are dead on reliable unless you do something dumb like altering shifting strategies which affects the pressures on the clutch pack and bands.. One must ask the question, is 5 star going to step up to the plate and pay to have your transmission removed, repaired, reinstalled at no cost to you if they boffed the program? That's a $4K-$5K gamble..

I have 5 star on my 2012 V-10 class A. I also had it on my 02 V-10 Excursion. Made a huge improvement in both. The shifting alone was well worth the investment! I gained .5 mpg on my Excursion and .3 on my MH. I mainly got the tuner for the MH to do away with the horribly intrusive drive by wire that would pull throttle on you when you needed it the most. 5 star still leaves some “safety” in there but it’s far better. And the shifting is much improved! You do get some extra HP but it’s not much and really isn’t needed once the drive by wire is taken care of.

Just about every MH should be run in Tow/Haul. The reason is the chassis is always loaded. I really wish they would make it so the T/H default was on instead of off. Might be good for an empty bread truck or cargo van, but not on an always loaded RV.

We have a 5 Star on our 2005 Itasca with the V10 also. Gave us about 1 MPG increase in mileage and slightly more power/torque. Really helped the shifting and climbing. Well worth it in this year.

Dave