Today's Tuners
Are today's tuners on diesels reliable and trouble free? If properly installed, does more power negatively impact the longevity of a properly maintained engine? Thanks in advance. Mike
Forum Discussion
TECMike wrote:
Thanks, everyone for the responses. Other than a Ford Severe Duty AIS system and a Brian's Truck Shop built transmission, our 20002 Ford 7.3 with 180K is stock. It has been a wonderful, trouble free truck.
However, it sure would be nice to have a little more power towing our little 5500 lb travel trailer and have no downshifting on small hills.
Guess me and my bride of fifty years will be looking into a tuner at some point.
You are doing yourself a favor already by having the AIS and BTS transmission. You really want to do the 'supporting mods' before you start adding power. If you decide to tune, I'd definitely suggest you upgrade your exhaust for better flow- it will help you shed exhaust gas temps (EGTs) more quickly, which is good. And maybe more importantly than anything, invest in gauges- the norm is trans temp, Pyrometer (for EGT's), and boost.
I have Jody's tunes (DP Tuner) and am quite pleased. That said, if you contact BTS again, they can also set you up with custom tuning. There are a lot of other options for custom tuning- Gearhead tunes, Power Hungry Performance, etc.
If at all possible, I would suggest that you schedule 'live' tuning- where the person you get tunes from rides in the truck with you as they adjust the pedal sensitivity, shift points, and other things. That way you can get it dialed in just as you want it.
