Tuner for towing on a 7.3L Powerstroke

I did a lot of research when I chipped mine. I was most concerned about longevity and not doing any damage to the engine. I used a chip developed by Beans Diesel Performance. They develop their tunes from scratch and are all dyno tested.

http://bdpshop.com/bdp-products/7-3-custom-chips-tuning.html

I've been running a D-P Tuner $75 80 hp econo ECM flash for a number of years. The truck new would just chirp a tire from a dead start. Now, it'll squawl the tires off. 60-80 mph takes 4 seconds flat--a big improvement. I recently added D-P's F5 tuner with a 60 hp tow mode. Both have a John Woods transmission program that improves shifting.

On the open highway, I'm getting 20 mpg--up 2 mpg.

First comes an air intake--preferably the Ford heavy duty unit made by Donaldson ($200). Or you can replace the OEM air cleaner with a NAPA 6637 filter and a 4" piece of pipe. Second comes the Walker BTM muffler--$50 plus installation. Then the tuner. Fourth comes a set of gauges--$304 @ Amazon.

You'll have a different truck.

I have used "canned" tunes from Edge and Superchips, but they are not even close to the difference with one of the smaller venders custom tunes. Look for DP tuner, PHP, Beans, Tony Wildman, etc. Spend your money wisely instead of twice. They are that much better.

I almost know nothing about our truck but I do know you can over heat the trannie backing up and dump the fluid on the ground because of the high rear gear ratio so if it is a 4x4 use the low range and you will be good. Check and see if the trannie has a cooler. This would be when towing and backing into a site that is up hill. Have fun

chevman

Thanks for the info!!!

Kevin O. wrote:
Thanks for all the info! I think I'm going to get the Edge Evolution. It comes with a temp sensor for the exhaust and mounts right on the dash so i can keep an eye on everything. Is anyone using this??

You would have a better tuner going with custom tunes like a DP tuner, and a ETG, and transmission gauge.

Another good forum for Ford diesels is www.thedieselstop.com

Ken

You may want to look at getting custom tunes with seperate guages. Go over to powerstroke.org and check out the 7.3 section. Lots of good info over there and ford-trucks.com.

Thanks for all the info! I think I'm going to get the Edge Evolution. It comes with a temp sensor for the exhaust and mounts right on the dash so i can keep an eye on everything. Is anyone using this??

Kevin O. wrote:
Just wondering what some of you 7.3L guys are using for a tuner to improve towing performance and fuel economy?? What's good and what should i stay away from? Thanks..

Ran a superchip for a few years on my early 99, then went to custom tunes by DP Tuner, night, and day difference in performance from the Superchip, can't say it improved my mileage, but I was after more towing power. The 7.3 is a dog stock. I added 4" exhaust ,gauges ,and an AIS air filter. The truck ran pretty good, but still lacked a bit in power towing heavy, but upgrades did help.