Sorry, forgot......shut up and search.

It depends on the tuner. Troyer asks for more info than you can imagine. It takes a bit of time to get his worksheets done.

As far as the tune menu is concerned, you get to pick three tunes. My first three were, 87 performance, 91 performance, and 91 drag strip only, all three were " no towing ". A common selection is a tune for towing an 87, and a 91.

 

jbrew, probably whatever your local dynoshop sells that way you can always have it datalogged on the dyno and then again on the street to compare the databases.

I'm running xcal 2's and they are very user friendly

 

yes your right. there is 3 tunes to choose from and then the stock program as well.
you have to turn the key off to switch tunes so you cant do it on the fly like with some diesels. But it only takes like 45 seconds to switch tunes.

the first tune is the caned level 2 tune
the second is the performance tow tune bill did for me. (thanks php)
the third is the caned performance tune that requires 91 or better octane fuel.

I always run the level 2 tune that bill made me.
once you use custom tunes you will never go back.

 

jbrew,

For all out best performance, putting your rig on the dyno is the best way to go.

When I received my tunes from Justin, I felt the performance gains were significant enough for me without going for a dyno tune. Dyno tunes tend to be more expensive and I didn't feel the need to get one after flashing my PCM.

Justin dyno tunes a lot of F150s and his custom tunes are written using his past experience with dyno tuning F150s. The tunes you receive should be almost spot on for the mods you email him.

Justin is very accessible by email and he will gladly answer any questions you may have. His website is:

www.vmptuning.com

Later.

 

Thanks allot guys , very much appreciated!! Yea , I need an experienced tuner that's for sure, as most of you know- the 97-98 5four's flow a little different than the 99+ models (a little less). That's all that concerns me about mailed tunes without data to configure from. Seems like a tuner should have base sheets to draw from. I can always voice that concern over the phone as well.

Anyway, I checked out a Mark VIII fan install yesterday, that prop really kicks it! Strong fan, it would probably melt my 90 amp tho - The guy cranked one up via manual switch w/KOEO in a TA. Nice! - Most likely need to bump up to a 130 amp to handle the draw/Some heavy cable as well. There might be a controller out that will govern that, but that's another project I need to get a little more educated on.

Trying to decide wether to go with a tune now, or wait until I do a e-fan /UD pulley install. Will doing this after compliment the tune ? Or will it need tweaking ? Personally I don't think it matters, but want to be sure.

Thanks, brew

 

I ran dual16" and a 12" (IC) with a 90 amp for a while, and it worked OK. If you get a tune you can have the idle set up 25 or 50 rpm, which works out about right. With dual fans, the a/c idle can be set a little higher than the regular idle.
I'm not a UD fan. A three pulley set will speed up the alternator, so not so bad.
Here's the controller I'm using, works good.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/_Car-...1%7C240%3A1318

 

jbrew,

When I installed my Flexalite 270 fans, I noticed that my truck seemed to coast better when I let off on the gas. Fans definitely helped, but the custom tune was far more noticeable (as far as performance goes).

If you take it easy on the gas and have an efan, you will see some real improvement on the mpg. Unfortunately for me, my rig sounds so good it is difficult to let off on the gas

The efan will definitely give you better acceleration and better coasting ability.

The custom tune will enhance acceleration even more. You may want to mention to whoever you choose to go with that you have a shift kit installed. I don't think it is a good idea to firm up the shifts with a tune if the hardware is already doing that.

If you install the efans and UD pulleys first, just let your custom tuner know this. I really don't know if it matters or not....

Take Care

 

Great info, that helps allot..

Thanks for the links .