Nice Dodge, Mike, but you should have got the Hemi.

 

If you spent half the time you spend making snide remarks & whining on actually looking for the info, you'd have it by now.

Grow up, son.

 

jward, just a guess but,

ford makes trucks that have to operate at sea level and high altitude, in 110 deg dry weather of Arizona, to 100 deg humid weather in Texas, to zero deg in Alaska. for winter blend gas to summer blend, from a cheap 87 octans to 93 super. some people like a hard shift, some like it soft, (this is all information mike would need to know before he does a chip)

basically ford builds 1 million trucks a year and have to try and please everyone.

think about it how much would it cost ford to put electric fans in these trucks, or a better exhaust system, or a smoother flowing air intake, how about some weight saving product from a better composite plastic, how about using a fuel sythetic oil in the trans rear end and engine. the automarker could always do more to make the vehicle perform better, but the cost and the risk are not worth it to them, that is were the aftermarket comes in.
i alway go hmmm when i see my house a/c components made from stainless steel and they rust out, the problem is they use 400 series s.s. not 304 or 316, they could make a much better product for maybe $50 more in material, why dont they? why, because of money and because the competition dosent.

 

Mike, I'm trying hard to give you some respect, but son, you are making it hard. You said it..."they're dummed down.....built for the lowest common denominator".

That's all of us who buy new, or stock.

I get the feeling that that's what you think, we're dummies, the lowest common denominator.

You seem very willing to re-post other info on your products, over and over and over, ad nauseum, when folks talk up your products.

I've read between the lines, and you've answered my question.

Best of luck to you.

 

Brother Dave, I'm talking about a $300 dollar or so chip that Mike says will give a stock F150, right off the lot, more horespower and better mpg. No mods, no dealing with where it bought or how it's driven. No regards to temps or humidity. Buy the chip, load her up, and get more horses with better mpg.

Now, why would ANY automaker dummy down their vehicle?

I don't doubt that Mike's products would work well for certain vehicle configs. Automakers have no control when a person starts making changes to their vehicle with add-ons and/or mods. And when they do, you don't have to be the lowest common denominator to see that re-tuning would be of benefit.

 

is that the chip that requires 93 octane, if it is then i believe the chip is tuned to take advantage of the better gas.
i have heard way to many rave about the transmission shifting better (firmer) and i can see were some soccer moms would like that soft shift.

i dont know about this chip but i can think of 2 older cars i had that responded in similar fashion. in the 5.0 mustang world it was common knowledge that the factory timing was set at 6 btc, moving it to 10 or 12 was the first thing anyone would do. the second is that my 460 distibutor being recurved to get the timing in sooner really woke up the mid range and also changing the timing chain to the the older striaght up (429)timing is good for 15 hp.

my point is that all mfg leave room for improvement and i would think epa and the bottom line $$ have an effect.

i realize that there is more to it than this but basically every stock fuel injected engine responds to better gas, a little more timing, raising the shift point just a little and a little more line pressure in the trans.

 

Dave, I bought my truck from a friend. He needed to get out from under it, and it was basically what I wanted. More to the story but it's boring.

Well, this thing has heated seats. Heated seats?

Man, I'd much rather Ford saved that money and put it into the chip Mike says will make the differnce. Probably would've saved Ford money in the process. And make Mike richer, too.

 

HI!... JWARD : Just a little warning, attacking the supporting venders on this site will get you one thing, and that is banned.

Now to your question. For the F-150's FORD just does a genaric tune in the PCM. What MIKE does is fine tune it to get every little bit of power he can. Just for instance, in my stock PCM tune, FORD decided to retard the timing so much during the WOT 1ST - 2ND gear upshift, that it would cost me about 100FT/LBS of TQ during the shift. This was done to give the auto tranny a SOFT shift. The 1ST time I went to the track, my truck ran a 16.01E.T. After installing one of MIKE's tunes on a SUPERCHIP my E.T dropped down to 15.38E.T. That shows right there how much FORD's left on the table concerning the stock PCM tune. Trust me MIKE T has been tuning my truck for over 6 years and everything he said his tune would do it has and then some. I wouldn't trust anyone else to tune my truck or any other vehicle I get later on.

 

Jward, whether you believe it or not, that IS the case, more or less.

Case in point: When the 2003 Dodge Rams w/the Hemi were released, halfway through that fiscal year (I used to own a 2003 Dodge Ram 1500 4.7L), not only did they have a nice engine, but the stock exhaust sounded a LOT better than expected. They sold loads of them the first year.

When the 2004's came out, the exhaust was a LOT quieter. Why?

I talked to the manager of the dealership at that time, and believe it or not, the reason they 'quieted down' the Hemi's exhaust (by adding a resonator and an extra cat or two, I believe - I dunno exactly how it was done) was because a lot of people who had purchased those trucks 'didn't like the Hemi's loud exhaust' and wanted it a lot quieter.

That, to me, is just nuts...but it's the truth. You buy a 5.7L engine with 300 HP and 375 FT-LB of torque, and it is GOING to make some noise...yet, the company bowed to what they perceived as the lowest common denominator - soccer moms and dads with oodles of money.

Another example: When I moved to Arkansas (this was after the first incident) I purchased a set of Yokohama Geolandar H/T's. Soon as I did, the truck started exhibiting the same shake and shimmy a lot of Ford's have. I did almost three WEEKS of calling around, calling Dodge, talking to a lot of dealerships, etc.

You know what I found out? The official reason, from both Corporate Dodge and the 3 dealerships I talked to, was that the independent full suspension the newer Dodges come with transmit 'a lot more' of the road to the frame/interior of the truck, therefore making it shake a lot more. (Who dictated the change to the IFS? I asked. The dealers' answers? "You know...rich mommies and daddies with a lot of money who evidently want a ride smooth as silk when they go four-wheeling.")

I completely agree with your sentiments, but I've seen it time and time again, and the more I think about it, the more I realize that the big 3 really ARE marketing to what they see as the lowest common denominator.

 

Guys, thanks for the feedback.

I sorta can see that mentality with other vehicles, but it's hard to justify it with truck. I guess I'm just used to using a truck for truck purposes. I've owned trucks for almost 30 years. Pulling boats, trailers, off road use(I own a farm), etc........ Maybe I'm living too much in the past.

From doing many *searches* on this site, I've noticed the many women and young people(college, teenagers, early 20s) that own these trucks.

But, I still see far more folks, like myself, who buy and use trucks for they were intended. I guess I question why Ford, and others, don't use the reverse and give the trucks all they can and let the *rich mommies and daddies* dumb 'em down.

Speaking of which, if Mike can make'em better, I'm sure he could do the reverse(not really worse, just dumb 'em down), too. In which case he'd probably be better off financially. I mean, you know how the rich like their mods.


And to set the record straight, Neal, I wasn't attacking anyone. Just asking a simple question. I've been members of forums like this for 15+ years. Am a moderator on another. Supporting vendors don't mean much to me(hell, look at the adds for the Turbonator). It rarely means their products are better than others or for that matter, a better purchase. Anyone can use the internets many *search* functions to find out about most any product. And while I do try my best to support vendors who pay to help keep these type sites going, I don't feel it as an obligation.

And if the moderators of this site feel that when a person questions a suppoting vendors product to the point where banning is necessary, then so be it. I think as a moderator, myself, they are tolerant of all but the most deflamatory.

BTW, on the many of the sites I visit, supporting vendors don't tell folks to *grow up* or call them *son*. And while I understand Mike's point to *search* first, you must understand that people join forums like this everyday and don't have the patience or time to sort through *8 years* worth of info when a simple to the point answer is all that's needed. Plus, if it's that easy to find, just supply a *link* to the answer. No need to re-type a bunch of stuff. Geeze, I do it all the time.

Anyway, who really cares, eh?

Joey

 

i would advice you to just not get a chip, if you doubt it that much then i would spend the money else were.

in the old days you had your carb tweaked, recurved you distributor, bumped the timing, and installed a shift kit,now you just get a chip.

as with anything else in the world, there is always a little bit more to be had. every single part on a new truck can be improved upon, from the paint to the seats to the c/d player to the tires, why not the base tune for the engine?

btw, truck are not just truck anymore, with over 50% of vehicles sold being trucks or suv, trucks are big business, people like the safe feeling, sitting high in traffic and the utility features, i would love to drive around in a new corvette but it does not fit my life style, i have to drive a truck and there is nothing wrong with wanting it to run a little better than the other guy.

the first car was built to have a better way of transportation, the second car was built to out run the first.

 

Dave, it was never my intention to question the performance increase due to a chip. Mike's or anyone elses.

My question from the start is WHY DOES FORD NOT ROLL THEIR TRUCKS OFF THE ASSEMBLY LINE WITH THE MOST PERFORMANCE AND BEST GAS MILAGE THAT TECHNOLOGY WILL ALLOW?

I never questioned any vendor products.

I don't know how to make that more simple.

We've just been chasing our tails.

I fold.

 

I think that your question has been answered if you go back and read the replies

ALL car makers put their vehicles out with a generic "safe" tune that will suit about 99% of people.
They have warranty and satisfaction to contend with.
As stated, the vehicles are good for any area, i.e. the heat and humidity of South Texas to the Cold of Alaska.

Custom tuning is just that. If you tuned the truck for max performance unladen in Minnesota, it would probably detonate like crazy if you towed with it through California on Reformulated Gas.
Most people want to use the cheapest gas possible (87 Octane). If all vehicles were tuned from the factory for max performace, that would mean using 93 Octane.
How many people would remember that? Can you imagine the warranty claims?

It appears that you are not completely clear on what custom tuning is.
Factory tuning is a compromise. It has to be.
If you want max performance, custom tune.
Ford sells millions of trucks. This site has approx. 80,000 enthusiasts. Even then, only a small percentage want increased performance and the associated costs.