Heya Mike,

I know that with the 7.3TD you have two programs, the "tow safe" and the "High performance".

Right now we have the High performance tune installed and the truck is a BEAST! ~MY. GOD.!! WOO HOO! ~ I would like to keep that program in, but is it ok to carrry a 4000lb. overcab camper on the truck with the High Performance program or should I step it down to the Tow Safe program when carrying the camper?

BTW, what are the appx. figures for HP and TQ gains on either program again?

Last question; What are the key changes made to obtain these gains on the TD? My pops is kinda worried that maybe the power gains are overstressing the motor/trans. I told him that there was SO much room for improvement with the diesel that it's now where it SHOULD be....

Thanks in advance man
Kyle

 

Hi Kyle,

We can go over a few of the basics here..............

First, yes, you can tow 4000 lbs. on the +80 HP program, that's fine. We recommend installing an EGT gauge for any towing on the +80 HP program, but what Superchips says "officially" is that you can still tow up to 4000 lbs. and have safe EGT's (exhaust gas temperatures) on the +80 HP program. Some PSD's can tow 10K lbs. on the +80 HP program, it depends on the weight of the vehicle as well, we always like seeing an EGT gauge in any turbodiesel at *any* power level.

It's far too much to go into *how* Superchips makes the power that they do, as well as not being appropriate. Much of that information we'll never release as that is highly proprietary, of course that is knowledge gained only via exhaustive testing, R&D, etc., so that will never just be handed out. One obvious fact is that boost is raised, but by exactly how much on each vehicle & code and all the many other changes that have to be made to properly support that are highly proprietary. To make all of that additional power while maintaining strict CARB & EPA emissions certification as well as improving driveability under all conditions, all while maintaining safe EGT's, takes a huge amount of work.

If he is concerend with engine and transmission health, then he should do like the other PSD owners and invest in proper gauges so he can see the EGT's and the automatic transmission fluid temperatures, and install an active transmission cooler which is the *only* way to insure those transmission fluid temperatures will always be under control.

The thing to remember is that International designed that engine to be operated at much higher power levels in bone-stock trim to begin with, depending on who they were providing it to, Ford, or other manufacturers, etc. They've been provided in power levels as high as 335-350 HP & 670 lbs./ft. of torque in *stock* trim, so there's plenty of "headroom" so to speak, without any reduction in service life of the motor.

With regard to the exact HP & torque gains, all of that is printed there on the box for the Micro Tuner on most of them, and again in the unit's manual, too.

60 HP & 115 lbs./ft.
80 HP & 130 lbs./ft.

Those are the "official" numbers, there are some vehicles that will vary a bit and gain more power, like Excursions for example, they tend to pick up a bit more torque.

Anyone who is worried that any modification *might* reduce service life should familiarize themselves with all the TSB's & service history of these vehicles. You don't have to be modified to have a transmission or engine fail, that happens every day to vehicleds in bone-stock condition. The PSD engine is darn near bulletproof, the 4R100 transmission are another story, depending on model year. By the 1999 model year, the 4R100 in the diesels is pretty darned tough if it was built right to begin with.

I'll put it to you this way........if he has a failure with anything in the driveline, it would have happened in stock trim, too. The only difference is, it might have lasted a *little* bit longer on bone-stock trim if he drove it easy, but usually there is no reduction in service life of anything in the PSD's from the Superchips tuning, as long as the vehicle is not forced to tow 18,000 - 20,000 lbs. at full-throttle or abused in other ways.

We have many, many customers with 300K - 500K & more miles on their PSD's while running the Superchips tuning from Day 1.
And there are others who have had 3 transmission failures in 10K miles in bone-stock trim, and everything in between those 2 extremes. The norm is a long, healthy service life, which is why the PSD is so popular.

 

Thanks Mike, I completely understand the proprietary aspect. FYI, I didnt see any figures on the box or the literature, but I had a good idea from memory. The truck even *sounds* different under hard acceleration! I cant even describe how it woke this big beast up!

I will emphasize the benefit of a EGT gauge to him. In fact, Im just gonna print your response for hime
Thanks again man

 

Hi Bikenut,

Thanks for your response, and thanks very much for your understanding. If you'd like to give us a call, I can go over some more specifics with you, if that might be helpful.

Yes, those PSD's will sound a little bit different under hard acceleration with the Superchips tuning, just like any engine will sound different with another 60-80 horsepower added. They will generally sound a little bit "meaner," is one way to put it.

On the gauges, for the PSD's it's nice to have an EGT gauge and an automatic transmission temperature gauge as well. Those are your 2 primary indicators of basic engine & transmission operating conditions. Having a boost gauge is nice, too. Of all of them, the EGT is the most important. We wish all turbodiesel vehicle manufacturers would make EGT gauges standard equipment, even in stock trim that's pretty standard data to have for any turbodiesel.