Im FINALLY a part of the powerstroke crowd, had to earn my way up here, love it so far, my main question is what is the BEST tuner for the 7.3 ive heard many say that superchips is the best, i dont do alot of towing, but i go off road alot, i already beefed up my tranny, now i just need the power to match, with the lift and the 35's its a dog, i know i could wake it up with a tuner. any ideas?

 

Superchips is ok for the 7.3L as far as I'm concerned. Diablo, Bully Dog, and Hypertech are all pretty much junk. The Edge Evolution has my vote for the best 7.3L programmer. Though I wouldn't run a programmer with an off the shelf program again. Get a custom tuned 4pos chip. You won't have any code reading or data logging features (Edge only), but you can change settings on the fly, and can have any program you want. DP Tuner now offers up to a 16 position chip, and no thats NOT a typo. Granted that chip would cost about $1000. A 4pos costs around $380, whereas a tuner only costs about $20 less or so.

Whatever you do get a full set of gauges first!!!!!! A good diesel performance shop won't sell you a chip until you've got gauges. You need a pyro mounted preturbo to measure EGTs, boost gauge (30psi range for a stock turbo setup), and transmission temp (if you have an auto). Gauges will run you around $300 for the 3 and a pillar pod.


Oh, and you don't have a PSD A4OD. The A4OD died a long time ago. The E4OD replaced it back in the early 90s, and the 4R100 replaced that in 98 for the 99 model SDs.

 

my bad again new to the 1 ton crowd, been drivin rangers and F150's all my life, but am very pleased with the PSD i will change the signature, i have beefed up the tranny, and the gauges are on the way. iM not expecting a Cobra here or anythin, as i have stock gears and 35" tires.

 

Welcome! The 7.3L is a badass motor you can have fun with even loaded wayyy over the GVWR. 3.73's won't be a screamer off the line like 4.10s would be, but if you keep that thing at 2000rpms (70mph with my stock tires), the PSD just sipppps the fuel and 19mpg for me is easy to consistantly get.

I also find that below freezing, a 15amp timer set for two hours before you roll in the morning makes a super easy and toasty off the line start.

Adrianspeeder

 

What have you done to "beef up" your transmission? Also since you have a 2001 you have the mechanical diode in the transmission that likes to fail and wipe out the rest of the trans when it goes. It may have been fixed under recall already, but just be aware of it.

One thing I didn't mention before is that since you have a 2001 you need to be careful with the mods. You have a 99% chance of having PMRs, which are powdered metal rods. They are just as strong as the older forged rods which they replaced, but they are stiffer and more prone to breakage because of this. The forging process allows the rod to slightly bend and flex, whereas the PMRs will simply snap in 2. The magic number is 400hp for the PMR limits. However that being said, you can break them on much less. If you go out and get one of those bargain basement chips where some idiot thought he could write a PSD performance program you're going to get burnt. Most of the bad programmers out there get more power by advancing the timing to get a longer injection event. This advance in timing is murder on the rods as you can get ignition long before the piston reaches TDC. A forged rod can handle this better as it can flex, a PMR breaks. I've seen guys snap PMRs at only around 280-300rwhp on bad programming only. Any drugs such as propane, water/meth, or NOS are going to have similar effects as bad programming. Propane is the worst as it really advances timing and makes the fuel mix very volatile.

 

Just rebuilt the transmission all the guts, and also threw in a stage 3 torque converter, that is all i have done to the trans so far ya think that will be enuf?

 

Whose parts did you use, who did the rebuild, what stage 3 torque converter did you use?


There are alot of "performance" 4R100 parts on the market, and only a small handful of these parts are any better than factory parts.

 

id probably go with the superchips

 

For a 6.0L yes, for a 7.3L never. Thats where research tells you alot.