I just bought a 1715 tuner for my 5.4L 4x4. What is the best program I should run if I tow about 2-3 times a week and do regular driving for the remainder. If I do 91 oct tow can I easily switch to 91 oct performance after Im done towing that day? Or is swithing not that easy? Or should I just leave it in 87 tow full time for towing and regular driving. Just asking for suggestions, thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

p.s. How much did you all get your tuners for?

 

Hi gata119,

If you tow, you need to use either the 87 octane tune or the "tow-perf" tune. You can simply leave the premium gas tow-safe tune in all the time, whether you are towing or not - same with the 87 octane tune. The only limitation is that you cannot tow on Program 3, the MAX performance tune.

Changing tunes is easy, takes about 6-8 minutes - you just pull the fuel pump fuse & flash the PCM, basically, unless it's a late 2003 F-150 or a 2003 Expedition - in which case, you simply disconnect one of the 3 PCM harness connectors, very easily, in all of about 10 seconds. Then just connect the Micro Tuner to the OBD-I port & flash with whatever program you want to use.

Specific parts pricing is not allowed to be discussed here, that is against the rules of F-150 Online so as not to turn these message boards into a free-for-all and upset F-150 Online Supporting Vendors, who pay significant fees that keep this web site available for everyone to enjoy free of charge - and it costs a *ton* of money to keep a huge high-traffic web site like F-150 Online up & running. All Superchips dealers have to advertise the same price due to the manufacturer's MAP (minimum advertised price) guidelines. We do provide special discounts on the 1715 Micro Tuner to members of F-150 Online who *call* us for their orders, but we cannot discuss any specific pricing here - we have to do that by phone, & thanks in advance for your understanding on that.

Enjoy your Micro Tuner!

 

No harm intended about the price thing, I wasn't aware of that, thanks.

I understand that I cannot tow under the max performance, but is it safe to tow in the morning with the tow-perf. and then flash the pcm to max performance in the afternoon after im done towing and then do the same thing the next day? I wasn't sure if it is ok to switch programs so often. I tow a lawn maintenance trailer so I tow about 2-3 times a week so I would definitely be using the tow program, but I also wanted to utilize the max performance when Im not towing. Thanks for all the help!

 

Hi gata119,

No problem, don't give it a thought - that was just FYI so you'd know.

I do not recommend flashing the PCM numerous times every week like that, that is not necessary or practical. While there are no set limitations with regard as to how many times you can flash the PCM, or how long you have to use one program before changing to another, I would never flash the PCM multiple times every week like that - that's not a good idea long-term, just like you wouldn't flash your PC's BIOS time after time every week.

In your scenario, you need to either just use the tow-perf tune in the 1715 all the time while you are having to tow frequently - or, if you want to upgrade & get even more power & performance, we can provide you with our custom-tuned 4-program 4-bank Superchip, where you just turn a **** to change programs instead of flashing the PCM, and thus change tunes numerous times every day if you want.

For somebody who wants maximum possible power & performance gain (even on a bone-stock vehicle), both when towing and when not towing, and wants to be able to change tunes frequently (as in your scenario), our 4-program custom tuned Superchip is just the ticket - you get exactly what you want to do, as well as even more power and performance gain over what the 1715 delivers.

Now of course, that means spending some more money, and I think you just recently got that 1715, so you may or may not want to do that - only you can decide what your budget will tolerate. That would get you another 10-12 more HP gain and another 4-5 tenths off the 1/4 mile times over what the 1715 delivers, on average. You would then be able to change tunes as many times as you want like that. It's a one-time installation (that is removable, of course) where you just turn a **** to change programs instead of flashing the PCM's ROM.

If you'd like to explore doing some kind of trade-in allowance deal for your 1715 Micro Tuner and get you into the 4-program 4-bank custom chip for even more performance and the practical ability to *instantly* change programs as many times as you want, give us a call at our number listed below & we'll go over the details with you about costs, how much additional power & performance for your truck's computer code & configuration, etc.

Realistically, I would say that unless you want the maximum power & performance that in-depth custom tuning will give you *enough* that you are willing to spend some more money over your 1715 to get it (as there will be some additional cost in an upgrade like that), just stick with what you have and leave it on the tow-perf tune. The 1715 gets you very nice performance gains over stock, and you own it already.

Since that vehicle has to tow frequently as a routine, it's just not practical to continually flash the PCM - over the course of just 1 year, you'd be flashing the PCM *hundreds* of times times in your scenario - not a good idea. Even if it was a summer-only thing, with no towing the other 9 months of the year, that's still 80-100 flashes if not more, every summer. That's just too many PCM flashes, IMHO.

Best of luck with whatever you decide,

 

Thanks a million. You hit it right on the dot. Thats exactly the info I was looking for. Unfortunately, like you said I just bought the 1715 so I think I will stick with that for a while. Maybe down the road I can upgrade again. Thanks for the advice!!!!!!!!!!

 

You're very welcome, and enjoy your new 1715 Micro Tuner!