Tuners

A good tuner will make for both a more powerful and reliable truck. take a look at 5 star tuning they have very good tunes and work great. I have one for my V-10 X and it made foe a much more pleasant towing experience, mainly due to the new shift strategy they perform!

Not to start an argument, but to satisfy my own curiosity. If "tuners" are so great and improve performance, why don't they come standard or at least as an option right from the vehicle manufacturers? I have absolutely no dog in this fight one way or another. Just asking out of plain curiosity.

I would look at getting custom tunes from a dealer specializing in diesels. SCT is a popular programmer as well as the TS 6 position chip.

3oaks wrote:
Not to start an argument, but to satisfy my own curiosity. If "tuners" are so great and improve performance, why don't they come standard or at least as an option right from the vehicle manufacturers? I have absolutely no dog in this fight one way or another. Just asking out of plain curiosity.

totally understand your question. also no opinion one way or the other

feel the same. why not a factory option?

I have been told older truck diesel engines like mine were tuned down from the factory by Ford for lower horsepower & torque to prevent higher exhaust gas temperatures, which must be monitored with an additional EGT gauge if a tuner or chip is used.

In our case, our engine was manufactured by International. It is my understanding International used more horsepower and torque their engines, but that is what I have read in some forums; I do not know if it is true or not.

I hope to hear from some of you who use tuners/chips regarding reliability/drive-ability over the years of towing.

Before you get a tuner you need to take other steps! From what I have read on the 7.3 its major choke point are the intake and the exhaust. There have been several articles recently in the diesel mags that go over this point and just like in a gas engine, more air in/out the better the performance. I have a 6.0 F350, I run the hypertek economiser tune, I also installed a 4" turbo back exhaust and still have the cat in the system. truck runs well with the combo. The 6.0 air filter is capable of supporting up to 500 hp, yet many still go aftermarket!

But add a tuner WITHOUT the necessary extras will be a waste of $$. Go to diesel power and diesel world websites, I think they have the article on line, not sure. But dont waste the money without the other improvements, and yes a tuner does wake these things up but they also need basic help to do so.

3oaks wrote:
Not to start an argument, but to satisfy my own curiosity. If "tuners" are so great and improve performance, why don't they come standard or at least as an option right from the vehicle manufacturers? I have absolutely no dog in this fight one way or another. Just asking out of plain curiosity.

Part of it has to do with meeting emissions standards. When I had my Smarty JR for my 03 Ram, I seem to remember paperwork stating that it was for "off road use only".

I loved the JR for my old truck. Really woke up the Cummins.

I also have a '02 Ford with the 7.3 and the 6.0 cooler. Just put a Walker Big Truck Muffler and a DP Tuner on it. You will love it. I have the 60hp tow and exhaust brake tune on it.

TECMike wrote:

Guess my main question about tuners is whether or not they make engines less reliable and less driver friendly. My bride of fifty years and I go to some remote places and camp at times.

Thanks for your input.

Ok, fist question first. Power and reliability are at opposite ends of the ruler.

Case in point, lets look at the most powerful smallest engines in the world; the top fuel engine. They put out 10,000 HP out of 500 cubes and last about 5 seconds. Now this is an extreme case so lets look at something a little more applicable to what you are trying to do.

When any diesel engine maker puts their engine in a class 5 or 6 truck they detune the engines HP. The reason is longevity. Big trucks last a long time and the manufacture wants the engines to last a long time too. Again, longevity and power are at opposite ends of the ruler.

Another reason is duty cycle. As power goes up, duty cycle comes down. It's really as simple as that.

Now, all that being said; the 7.3 is one tough and underrated engine. In other words it's the entire opposite of the Ford 6.0. With the 7.3 Ford left a lot of power on the table because they wanted this engine to run forever. And it does. With the 6.0 Ford wanted to keep up with the big boys at the time and they jacked the power level up to way power and over spec that this engine could handle.

That is why the 7.3 runs forever and the 6.0 is a hand grenade.

In short, there is no reason you can't run a moderate tune on your 7.3.

A few things to do and watch out for:

#1. Get rid of the stock exhaust and buy the biggest and most quite exhaust you can find. You want to keep your EGT down and this is one way to do it.

#2. Buy your tunes from a reputable tuner. Like all thing on the market, there are some people that know what they are doing and some that don't. Make sure you get the former.

#3. Make sure your cooling system is up to par and even over par. HP makes heat. LOTS of heat. Make sure your cooling system can handle you amount of BTU's your putting in your engine.

#4. Make sure your tranny is up to the task of taking on the extra power. (You have already done that from the looks of things)Also make sure things like U joints are in good condition.

#5. Buy a good set of gauges and know how to use them. Set limits on what your tuner recommends not what you think your engine can handle. Most likely they will be different.

Just make sure your truck is in good shape for more power and you will be in good shape.

DP tuner is the best tuner for the 7.3. Research it, with that trans you can pull anything.