Ive searched, so dont tread on me MGD!

The short and the long of it is this: I have a 2010 F150 King Ranch that I use to tow a race trailer (26ft V-nose enclosed). It seems to me that the majority of folks that buy a tuner do so for one of three reasons:

1. Take advantage of modifications (intake, exhaust seem to be the big two)
2. They want to take advantage of 93 octane fuel
3. They want to correct for an altered rear end ratio and/or larger tires

I have none of those issues. Well, I might be interested in running 93 if it helps with my issues, more on that in a second. My issues are mainly centered around a few things:

1. The truck is sometimes mildly sluggish when towing. I say sometimes, because other times it feels like Im driving a Prius that cant get out of its own way.
2. The transmission shift strategy is mind-bogglingly retarded (will detail in a moment)
3. The transmission shifting is, uh... less than ideal.

Now, to give some more detail, Im picturing a nice, sunny May afternoon. Ive got the racecar and spares in the trailer, about 6000lb loaded. Im heading to my favorite track, which is a mix of 45-70mph driving. For the most part, low speed stuff is ok. On the highway though, the truck will constantly hunt between 5th and 6th driving the transmission temperature up. There is one spot in particular where the truck in the past has held 4th gear and continued to slow down, despite the accelerator being used heavily, and despite the fact that it probably should have downshifted to third.

As far as the retarded shift strategy goes, this happens every time Im on the highway. At 65mph, the truck will be in 5th gear, and inevitably I will crest a hill and gain a little speed. The transmission will then proceed to dive to 6th gear, necessitating a shift back to 5th at the bottom of the hill and/or whenever it figures out that it cant maintain speed in 6th gear. Sure, I could drive 73-75mph and keep it in 6th, but that kills the gas mileage.

So, my questions are (and believe me, Ive searched):
1. Will the tuner make a drastic increase in the area under the curve in the 1800-2500rpm range? Will switching to 93 make it drastically better?
2. Will the tuner correct the tendency of the transmission to hunt, and if so, how does it do this?
2a. Does the tuner give ME any say in the shifting strategy since Ford decided not to put the user selectable gearing in the 09-10 F150s 6R80? i.e. can I make it so the truck holds on to 5th gear instead of going to 6th?
3. Is it worth doing just the tuner on a truck that will remain otherwise stock?

I realize that with my talk of TCM tuning, that limits me to the SCT X3, right?

If youve made it this far, thanks for reading my diatribe.

 

I have the Superchips Flashpaq for my 2010 Lariat. (I traded the truck in for an ecoboost, so it just sits actually)

I had very good experiences with the tuner. The sluggish shifts between 1st and 2nd disappeared towing or not. It picked up approximately 30 hp which I was very happy with. You do have to run 93 when towing or in the performance tune or it would ping.

It's hard to answer all of your technical questions. If you call Superchips and they can give you more answers I may sell my flashpaq. I just noticed that there is now a flashpaq available for the ecoboost. If I can get my tuner reflashed, I will keep it. If not I will sell it. It has sat on a shelf for the past 6 months.

 

Talk to Mike Butler at 5 Star re sct x3. Many happy customers here. Throttle lag non existent in comparison, hunting tranny gone, gears held longer and lug down lower. Overall posotive results running otherwise bone stock 87 perf-tow.

 

- limited user adjustable parameters with the custom tunes.

 

have a sct x3 from 5star and a superchips cortex, using the sct tune for now, but after having mike look at it, something still feels wrong with the 5 star tune, going back to the superchips cortex, its canned, but something about it feels different and more right then the 5 star tune.

 

So, upon doing further research, it seems the SCT X3 is the only option. Ive contacted VMP tuning and havent heard a peep back, and I asked the same specific questions in the OP. Is this a bad sign? Am I looking for too much here?

 

X2

 

www.5startuning.com

 

I'd recommend you try again - and be patient.

They are very busy (a good sign actually).

Their tuning is well worth the wait.

MGD

 

If you want a solid answer, direct from the folks at SCT, call their tech support @ 407-774-2447 and ask for James .(Jakimetz). He held my hand through all my troubles, and should be able to answer every specific question you have asked here. Sometimes "direct from the horses mouth" is the best option.

 

A tuner should be able to change the TPS setting for downshift in 6th to allow it to downshift sooner. VMP is/was at Shelbyfest and I think they are sponsoring another event next week. If you don't get a response from Justin, try sending an e-mail to bj @ vmp . com (remove spaces) with your questions. Has your truck ever been reflased by the dealer? Ford has updated some of the early calibrations on the 6-speed transmissions that may help that specific downshifting issue.

 

My truck has not been reflashed, supposedly it came with the updated software when purchased.

I also dropped Mike Butler an email to see what he says.

 

You can't go wrong with Mike. He tuned my '10 and it made a huge difference. I should also note that I went with 5 Star AFTER I had a moment of indiscretion and bought a Cortex. I used the cortex on a vacation while pulling my 35' travel trailer and ended up switching it back to stock at the first fill up, I seen little to no improvement. But others that recommended it to me seemed to like it. Custom tunes were far crisper. Customer service is great and if you call he will generally get back to you ASAP and is happy to answer any and all questions.

 

Yeah, Mike did get back with me pretty quickly.

Just need to swing it by the Finance Minister.