Im sure this has been asked before, but there are so many different options out there and everyone has there own opinions on what is best. I dont know to much about tuners and which one works best...So I was hoping you guys could help me figure it out.

Here is what I have:
2004 2WD F-150 Lariat
6" Fabtech Lift
2.5" Spacer
35" Toyo M/T's

My gas mileage is around 9.5mpg's right now, if I want more power and better gas mileage, which tuner would be best for me and which custom tune? Or would it be more beneficial for me to re-gear my truck?

Thanks

 

You probably need both. Re-gearing will net the most seat of the pants performance gains. That being said though, I would probably start with tunes as its cheaper and you can re-cal your speedo for proper shift points. As for which tuner, its seems to be commonly agreed to go with any of the custom tuners. I had an Edge on my 04 and wasn't overly impressed, my Troyer tunes for my SCT will be here in a couple weeks.

I just noticed your 2wd, I guess gears wouldn't be too expensive for you. I say shake the money tree and just do both.

 

I would go with 4.88's and a PHP Gryphon Custom tuned by Bill

 

I would read this before you go slapping new gears on.

http://dygytalworld.ehost-services13...t=gears&page=2

 

I would recommend a VMP tuned XCal3.

 

the Xcal2, Xcal3, gryphon, sniper and diablo all can be custom tuned

custom tuning is better than canned tuning and you need a gear swap

 

Gryphon with Bills custom tunes....

 

You need custom tunes. You can't go wrong with either an Xcal3 tuned by Troyer or the Gryphon tuned by PHP. The Gryphon is my choice since it provides the gauges that I use constantly.

 

Ive got an 08 F150 with a 6 inch lift and 35's getting the same gas mileage as you. I got the gryphon and im getting 13.8mpg now. I dont even have my custom tunes yet i just have it set on the canned 87 octane tow tune.

Edit: the gains arent from recalibrating my speed-o either that had already been done prior these are true gains.

 

Is that hand calculated or using the "cheat-o-meter"?

 

Well guys i am gonna buy a used XCal 2 from a guy tomorrow. It already has troyer custom tunes...but i wanna know how to send it in and get my own custom tunes? If it already has troyer tunes do i have to send it to them or can I send it to VPM or something like that?

Thanks

 

Unless the tuner and custom tunes came with the truck they were built for, the tunes are useless to you. Make sure the guy returns his truck to stock before you get the tuner or its as useless to you as the tunes are. Once you have the Xcal and it is no longer locked, you can get any three tunes you want from anywhere, even three different tunes from three different vendors. My Xcal2 from Innovative diesel that I bought for my F350 will soon have tunes from Troyer for my F150. Good luck!

Oh and BTW, you don't need to send it in, you can get the tunes emailed to you.

 

x2

 

I just got !!! I bought the XCal 2 and the guy assured me it was unlocked...well it wasn't. I get home and start messing with the tuner and it shows it set to aftermarket not stock. What should I do? I will try and get my money back or the guy i bought it from set his truck back to stock, but if none of those work is there a way to unlock the tuner...preferably a cheap way.

-Ryan

 

You can get in touch with troyer or VMP and they should be able to unlock the device.

Whoever unlocks the device will have to write tunes for your strategy code.