Flip Chip Installed
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Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 97
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From: Chicopee, MA, USA
Flip Chip Installed
This is my first post regarding the Superchip I just installed. Wow, Wow, Wow!
I must say..the whole experience was terrific. Here's a little background.
I put really nice tires on my truck. However they are 1.5" taller than the original. This threw off the computer. Consequently, the truck shifted into third gear before I was going 20 mph. Very annoying.
I read alot of threads here and on F150World, then decided to call Mike Troyer to discuss my truck. He was very knowledgeable and took the time to understand how I use my truck before recomending a particular chip. After speaking with him on two seoerate occasions, I ordered the AirForce One Intake system and the Superchip "Flip Chip". I'll let Mike explain all the details regarding the "Flip Chip".
First I put the Air Force One in. Did the truck perform differently after? Not quite sure. Sure sounded a lot better. I drove it like this for a few days just to make sure everything worked OK. That's the engineer in me. Change one variable and observe the difference.
Then I put the chip in. I was a bit apprehensive because now I'm mucking around with the brain of the truck. Serious I thought. It turned out to be so easy. I disconnected the battery and the computer harness right behind the battery. Then went inside the cab and removed the little plastic clip that holds the computer in place and the computer slide right out. Took all of 5 minutes. Brought the computer into the house, removed the covers on both sides of the printed circuit board to access the connection port to be cleaned. Drank a beer and watched RPM Tonight on TV. Cleaning the connecteor as they mention is the most time consuming part. Not hard though.
After I sufficiently cleaned the connector I reversed the whole process, used an existing frame hole to locate the switch for the "Flip Chip", hooked up the battery, ran back to the house to get the keys cuz the alarm was killing my ears. Fired up the truck no problem.
Took it out for a test drive. Idling through the neigborhood, first thing I noticed was the shift points were normal again. Once I got to a back road I stopped and waited a minute. I put it in neutral and gave the throttle a couple of stabs. Sounded OK. Then put it back in drive then nailed it. Off the line it felt good. Then I really noticed a difference once I started approaching the 1st to 2nd shift. It waited to exactly 5400rpm to shift. Right before the red line. Also there was no "Nose down" between the shiftpoint. 2nd to 3rd 5400 rpm again exactly.
I did notice a slight ping at each shift. But I had the switch set for 93 Octane but I have a tank full of 89 octane.
So...what's my overall opinion. Being an ex drag racer with cars that ran 11 second 1/4 miles...this was the best $500 performance combination I've ever bolted onto a vehicle.
I'll post a shorter respnse later once I get more experience under my belt.
I must say..the whole experience was terrific. Here's a little background.
I put really nice tires on my truck. However they are 1.5" taller than the original. This threw off the computer. Consequently, the truck shifted into third gear before I was going 20 mph. Very annoying.
I read alot of threads here and on F150World, then decided to call Mike Troyer to discuss my truck. He was very knowledgeable and took the time to understand how I use my truck before recomending a particular chip. After speaking with him on two seoerate occasions, I ordered the AirForce One Intake system and the Superchip "Flip Chip". I'll let Mike explain all the details regarding the "Flip Chip".
First I put the Air Force One in. Did the truck perform differently after? Not quite sure. Sure sounded a lot better. I drove it like this for a few days just to make sure everything worked OK. That's the engineer in me. Change one variable and observe the difference.
Then I put the chip in. I was a bit apprehensive because now I'm mucking around with the brain of the truck. Serious I thought. It turned out to be so easy. I disconnected the battery and the computer harness right behind the battery. Then went inside the cab and removed the little plastic clip that holds the computer in place and the computer slide right out. Took all of 5 minutes. Brought the computer into the house, removed the covers on both sides of the printed circuit board to access the connection port to be cleaned. Drank a beer and watched RPM Tonight on TV. Cleaning the connecteor as they mention is the most time consuming part. Not hard though.
After I sufficiently cleaned the connector I reversed the whole process, used an existing frame hole to locate the switch for the "Flip Chip", hooked up the battery, ran back to the house to get the keys cuz the alarm was killing my ears. Fired up the truck no problem.
Took it out for a test drive. Idling through the neigborhood, first thing I noticed was the shift points were normal again. Once I got to a back road I stopped and waited a minute. I put it in neutral and gave the throttle a couple of stabs. Sounded OK. Then put it back in drive then nailed it. Off the line it felt good. Then I really noticed a difference once I started approaching the 1st to 2nd shift. It waited to exactly 5400rpm to shift. Right before the red line. Also there was no "Nose down" between the shiftpoint. 2nd to 3rd 5400 rpm again exactly.
I did notice a slight ping at each shift. But I had the switch set for 93 Octane but I have a tank full of 89 octane.
So...what's my overall opinion. Being an ex drag racer with cars that ran 11 second 1/4 miles...this was the best $500 performance combination I've ever bolted onto a vehicle.
I'll post a shorter respnse later once I get more experience under my belt.
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Joined: Mar 1998
Posts: 13,385
Likes: 4
From: Virginia
Hi Dan,
Wow, what a post!
Nicely detailed, and very good descriptions that others will appreciate reading.
Thanks for being candid about having 89 octane in the tank when you ran it on the premium gas program, and of course, that's why you got a little pinging there towards the upshfit point. The total effective compensation range of the knock sensor systems in these vehicles do vary, sometimes they'll have enough compensation range for that, and sometimes they don't, looks like you found the limits on yours. This can also be affected somewhat by the actual energy content of the fuel being used, as a fuel with a nice high energy content will be a bit more "forgiving" along those lines; but the bottom line is, we need to run the appropriate octane for each program, and your post is an excellent example of that point, among others.
Glad you're enjoying your new parts, & thanks again for your comments!
Have fun,
Wow, what a post!
Nicely detailed, and very good descriptions that others will appreciate reading.
Thanks for being candid about having 89 octane in the tank when you ran it on the premium gas program, and of course, that's why you got a little pinging there towards the upshfit point. The total effective compensation range of the knock sensor systems in these vehicles do vary, sometimes they'll have enough compensation range for that, and sometimes they don't, looks like you found the limits on yours. This can also be affected somewhat by the actual energy content of the fuel being used, as a fuel with a nice high energy content will be a bit more "forgiving" along those lines; but the bottom line is, we need to run the appropriate octane for each program, and your post is an excellent example of that point, among others.
Glad you're enjoying your new parts, & thanks again for your comments!
Have fun,