I have an '07 F150 Screw 5.4L 4x4, no mods yet.
I live in Colorado (6,400' elev.) and pull a 4,500 lb popup camper in mountains often at 8,000 - 10,000 elevation.
Question: will a programmer help me up here? if so, any recommendations on what to buy and where to buy it?

 

Depends...some strategies have issues like mine

Some of us running tunes have had issues when driving at elevation regarding acceleration either from a stop or while driving. I had issues while driving and had the tunes changed. Now that I've gotten more time at elevation the new tunes are still not perfect and the problem is more during acceleration from a stop and not while driving.

You will need to discuss at length with the tuner the type of driving involved.

Elevation for me is between 3500-8000 ft with the photo of the cabin behind the truck at 5200 ft

 

Great question to ask. My 06 mustang with the 4.6 sucked with "custom" tunes here in colorado and maybe elevation was part of the issue.

Some will say the maf/computer should be smart enough to make adjustments for the altitude, but its curious seeing people here aknowledge people/tuners have issues at altitude.

Making a tuning choice on my truck is going to be more of a difficult decision than I thought.

 

I'm pretty happy with my edge evo, it livened my truck up some. I bought it in ND and drove it for about a week and definately noticed when I got back to Golden, CO that the 5.4 didn't have quite the same hitch in the giddyup. Like I said the edge helped out though.

 

Thanks for the info.
Another question, have you intalled an aftermarket intake/exhaust? I was thinking about installing a cold air intake to increase air/oxygen. I would think any added airflow should improve the 'umph' up here.

 

since I'm still in college my mod money only gets saved about $10 at a time (sometimes less depending on how many happy hours I hit after the short tour of coors ) I'm graduating in May and already have a job lined up back in MN so I won't be dealing with the elevation much longer, but my next mods will be intake, full exhaust with headers and cats, custom tunes from Bill here on this site, and then efans

 

One thing to remember about elevation is that you lose roughly 2% power output per 1000 ft. So in Denver you could lost about 25 HP and at 10,000 ft you'd lose almost 50 HP.

In most cases, the ECM *SHOULD* be smart enough to compensate for altitude. However, if this were true then there wouldn't be *Hi Altitude* calibrations from the manufacturer. The fact is that there are specific tuning changes to compensate for altitude.

We have dealt with this problem for years on diesels, and it is even more pronounced on gasoline engines because gas engines are extremely touchy to even small AFR changes whereas diesel engines are relatively insensitive to AFR requirements.

Bill

 

Thanks Bill, I'm happy I now have your contact.
Question; with my situation in consideration, will I gain noticeable power with the addition of CAI, Magnaflow Exhaust? should I wrap it all up with the Edge and tune?

 

Good thread Guys. I'm also in Colorado. I just Installed an older version of the Edge EVO on my '01 Supercrew. I must say that this made a huge differance in my truck from stock. Throttle response, acceleration, shifting and all around driveability are much improved. I'm running level 2.

I'm very happy with the edge here in Colorado. I have yet to tow or drive at the higher elevations with it. Can't wait until the camping season opens up.

Bill you are the guy when it comes to EDGE. Heres the setup. I live at just a tad over 5000 FT. I also do quite a bit of mountain driving. I also have a pop-up that I use quite a bit for camping. My question is: Do you have a tune that I would benefit from with my living elevation as well as mountain driving with and without the pop-up?

Thanks

 

Just to make you guys aware, much of the development for the Evo was done at 4500 ft and yes CAIs, exhausts, and tuning makes all the difference in the world. Creative changes in the the timing curve not only helped performance but had noticeable gains in fuel economy. Even when driving to sea-level (Vegas), performance was good without having to change levels or custom options.

Hope this helps.

Bill

 

Thanks to ALL!
I'm so glad that I can spend a few dollars on this great ride and take my mind off upgrading to the '08 F250 deisel.
Bill, hats off to ya man! I'll be in touch when I get the Edge Evo.
Question: Which specific model of Edge Evo should I order? or do I just got to the website and order for my specific truck?

 

Bill, very good to know, thanks for sharing the info. I'm at 4664 elevation and when I take my truck on camping trips it hits between 8 to 10k elevation. It looks like when I order up my edge I will be getting in contact with you. As my truck is the 4.6 every little bit will definately help. The power loss at 10k feet is insane.

 

You are looking for the EEF2400 (15051) Evolution. We should have our new units in this week. If you would consider a package deal, I can hook up your F150 AND your 6.4L for one low price! Let me know if this might interest you.

Bill

 

Sure Bill!............I just have the '07 F150 SWB 4x4 Lariat. No 6.4L
So yeah! what do I need to do to get that Edge and tune for this elevation and towing 5000 lbs every other weekend at higher elevation?

 

Who did your tuning? .. and why do you say it sucked?

I don't understand why elevation would have an issue. I can see if affecting BOTH the stock programming and the custom tune but not just one.