I'll be brief. My truck has 225k miles on it. 2004 lariat 4x4 w/ 2.5 leveling kit. Original motor, rebuilt trans. Runs and drives great. Have 35's on it and want a little more pep and maybe finally correct my speedometer. BUT... will a tuner start altering certain components thus finally leading to my trucks downward spiral? I do a lot of highway driving and I tow a boat in the summer and four wheelers on a trailer in the winter. thanks guys!

 

A quality programmer and custom tunes from a reputable tuning house should be fine.

 

Sometimes adding a tuner will prolong the life of the truck.

 

I wouldn't worry about installing a tuner. However, a tuner typically bumps up the ignition timing to give a little more hp and by doing so, it increases the combustion pressure in the cylinder. So there is a chance that the cylinder pressue increase could affect engine longevity. I installed a Superchips tune in my 02 and I am really pleased with the result.

 

I've been running a superchips programmer on my '04 ram since about 30k. I now have 283k miles and no issues whatsoever.

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will a tuner increase pressure in the transmission?

i have owned a few over 200,000 mile trucks. I would leave it alone.

yes, they are still reliable and run good, but everything in and on the truck is 14 years old. If you are driving a 14 year old truck you might not have the budget for a new motor, trans, rear end , driveshaft.

not to mention that some trucks in these year had head and spark plug issues. that extra pop might be all that is needed to launch a plug.

i guess everyone knows but what engine is in your truck and i also assume it is the newer body style and not the heritidge body

 

Definitely not too old for one. As a matter of fact it sounds like you would benefit from the flexibility it offers. You could take advantage of the tow mode, performance mode or fuel economy mode. Tuner is a great idea, you can't go wrong. As an added bonus you can program different tire sizes so your odometer is accurate - at least mine does. It also lets u pull up error codes and clear them, so they offer a lot besides just a performance tune. I have a Superchips Cortex and it does all this and more, I love it. There are other good ones out there. The good ones aren't cheap, but I think they are worth it. You can find used ones on eBay for much less.

 

I don't have a tuner in my F150, but I do have a ScanGauge II that I monitor the trucks performance and fuel economy. I also like the fact I can read and reset any codes on the fly.

I usually have it set on RPM, MAP, AIT, CT.

Here it is showing fuel economy.

 

What is the best tuner to get? I know thigs can get pretty subjective, especially with recommendations of people over the internet.

I have a 2001 5.4L automatic with 175k on it

 

I'm very pleased with my Superchips 1715. Lots of them are available on ebay for $100 or so.

 

oh yeah, what tuner will allow me to compensate my speedometer due to large tires?

I will be re-gearing the axles at some point, at which time I will reprogram it back to stock

 

Any decent programmer can do that. We usually recommend SCT devices. You get what you pay for, custom tunes from a reputable tuning shop are the best way to go.

 

I don't have a tuning shop, is this something I can program myself? or are there preset programs?

 

The Superchips will allow you to adjust for tire size/gear ratio. You can also tune it for 87 octane or 91 octane and it allows you to adjust the trans shift points and firmness for each shift. The tuner will walk you through the process. It will retrieve/delete codes. You will like it and it is available for cheap on ebay. If your engine is stock, the Superchips will do a great job. Custom tunes are needed when you modify the engine.

 

I concur, the superchips tuners can pretty much do it all. I have a superchips cortex and it can do all the things Roadie mentioned and more. You can customize it how you want it by customizing your shift points and performance or you can use the pre-programmed modes such as performance, economy, Towing. They are very easy, because it pretty much God's you through the process. You can also adjust the odometer when you change your tire size, very handy because pretty much everyone has done that or will at some point. The good ones are not cheap, but you can find deals if you look around. If you have the same type of vehicle you can use it on a second vehicle as well. I got mine on eBay for a great price and it was barely used. I have been using it for years and I highly recommend super ships. I don't have experience with the other manufacturers, but I'm sure if you do your research you can find one that will fit your needs.
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