do programmers really help

Hi,

It is almost impossible to improve fuel economy and improve power at the same time. They are almost different sides of the same coin.

What does work:

Reducing weight
Increasing tire pressure
Reducing speed (the best way to save)

They really help the sellers profit margin

Right right

I haven't towed with this truck yet. I've just been looking into some mods for it. That was one of them I pondered.

My trailer is light weight though, so I know I'll have no issues with it.

My diesel truck a noticeable increase in power but it didn't help the fuel consumption at all. If pulling heavy loads on long hills, you've got to watch your EGTs - exhaust gas temps. The tuner will also adjust your shift points.

Bill

I used them a couple of times over the years..they may be better today but my experience was that they were a total waste of money. Increased power only was available above 3-4,000 rpms....I don't drive in that range.

They work great on a diesel, but not much help on gas motors. The biggest benefit was the change in shift patterns for towing, but then I wasn't happy with noon towing performance.

I agree that the engineers today at the manufacturer do the best job of designing the programming for most situations. If you are racing, the after market stuff can be beneficial.

Plus the cost is really over the top imo....

Diesels are impacted more by the tuners than gas engines. I have used two different tuners on my Ford Diesel. My first tuner was a Hypermax Econ tuner and I picked up 2 MPG both towing and not towing. The truck had noticeably more power when the tuner was used. I'm now using an SCT tuner that, according to SCT, can add 150 HP to my engine. I can notice a huge difference when I installed that tune, however the tune is not safe for stock engines or for towing. I switched the tune back to a towing tune which adds only 60 HP to the engine and my mileage went back to the levels I was getting with no aftermarket tuning.

I believe that the advertising says that the tuner will add about 36 HP to a gas engine.

You have to be careful using a tuner, especially when towing. I'm pretty sure that the tuner was responsible for a blown head gasket on my truck. It advanced the fuel advance curve and boost and created too much cylinder pressure for the stock engine.

On a gasser not so much. But a good company that does custom tunes will do more than add power. They will change the shift programming in the trans to a more effective one for towing. I have a 5 Star tuner for my V-10 X and it made a huge difference in how well it tows. I got it mainly for the improved shift strategy, although the extra 20HP and 20+lbft of TQ is nice too. My tuner has 3 tunes, economy, towing and performance. Works great.

What ever you do, get one with custom tunes, not just a blanket tune for several different vehicles.

Think of a motor as a large air pump. Unless you increase air in and out adding fuel or altering timing parameters really does little good. Modern engines are programed for optimum performance in every day situations. Any slight gains you might make would be more than offset by loss of warranty and cost of the programmer.