My dad has an 02 with the legendary 7.3. the onlymod he has so far is a straight pipe done by the local shop. we just purchased a new 35ft 5th wheel, and im trying to talk him into a chip or programmer to help with the towing. What would you diesel guys recommend? I figured yall had a few suggestions from personal experience.

Thanks

 

A custom tuned chip is the only way to go. Tony Wildman or DPTuner are the top two. You shouldn't do any performance mods before guages, though.

 

so get a guage cluster for the pillar, they get a chip or programmer to monitor EGT, Boost, and all those things?

i will try talk to my dad into this. he looked into a demo of the banks six gun @ our local ford dealership, but i told him it would be much cheaper somewhere like ebay or a diesel performance shop.

 

Dont do Banks their over priced for the power they give out. Get a DP tuner, a full set of gauges(boost,trans,piro), intake, and an exhaust.

 

well he not lookinh to post a 11 flat quater, just something to help get the truck and brick of a trailer up to speed easily and keep it there(i.e better mileage). for the money, would a intake or programmer be better? he already has a straight pipe, and doesnt feel like messing around with a turboback.

 

Gauges + a DP Tuner. An intake will add what, 15 HP on a good day? A DP Tuner can easily add 140 HP if you get the right tune...

 

15hp isn't even a good day, its a stretch to 5hp on a great day. I'd say you're more at 2-3 tops. Its really not going to add much to hp as it is the spool up time. It will help the engine work to its potential with a chip on it, but in stock form you're not throwing enough fuel. The 140hp claim for DP would be a stetch because the hpop probably isn't going to keep up. Thats why I don't run that program on mine on Jody's advice. It'll probably max out at 120-130 if you have a strong stocker. If you had big or moderate oil then you're golden.



An 11 flat quarter mile will take you roughly $40-50k in mods to get there in a PSD. Now even though he's just looking for a little more power a custom chip is the way to go. A programmer is just an off the shelf program that tries to fit every truck. A custom flip chip is written with the mods to the truck, drivers preferance, and end use of the truck in mind. Jody can put transmission shifts wherever they need to be to help it tow better. In my tow program it holds each shift much longer which puts the truck right in its power band to get it moving. The fact that a chip can make much better power is a side benefit.


You want to do an intake for sure no matter what you do. If he wants longevity the Ford AIS is a good idea as it has good flow and the best filtering out there.


Now since he already has a straight pipe he's probably ok, but a 4" turbo back system would be ideal. For what he's doing if he's dead set against a 4" system I wouldn't even think twice about staying with the stock with a straight pipe. It'll actually be quieter in the cab as some 4" systems may tend to drone at certain rpms. I know mine did real bad at about 1700rpm. Its partially a function of the length of the system. I added some length to the end of my pipe and could change the drone rpm.


And as others have said, gauges are a MUST no matter what. You have to know what your EGTs are preturbo whenever you throw any amount of fuel at the engine. This goes double if you hook a trailer to the back. The trans temp is also critical if its an auto. When you put a trailer on it you will drive up your temps. Boost is good as it can help to diagnose a problem, but its not absolutely required, though you really need to do this with the others. Just remember that if he does this stuff he needs to watch the gauges like a hawk. The more he watches them the better off he is, as he can catch a problem before it becomes a disaster. FYI gauges can do exactly this on a stock truck too. I won't ever own a diesel, stock or modified, that doesn't have a full compliment of gauges.

 

but how much $$$ are we looking at??

 

well my dad drove semis in alabama for like 5+ yrs, so he knows he way around them pretty good. i will try to talk him into some of this. he thought about a 4" awhile back, but just went with the straight. our camper is all aluminum shell, so its almost as light as our 29.5 was. but i will give it my best effort this summer!

thanks for your help!!

 

ok what about a tuner for the 6.4?there is a place here called H P performance

 

Sct Tuning Is The Name Of The Company Chck It Out

 

Diesel Manor always has the best prices on Ford gauges... Figure $300 for gauges, plus another $3-400 for the tuner, depending on the number of tunes you get.

What the hell does this thread have to do with a 6.4? Exactly. Nothing.
Quit spamming.

 

I'm def. not the smartest guy in the world here and this will probably seem like the stupidest question ever to some of you......but is there a way you can tell if your truck is chipped or tuned or whatever......I just bought my F250 and it came with the Pyro and Turbo gauges as well as an aftermarket intake....i noticed you guys said to do those before the chip or tune or what have you...lol

 

If there is a "chip" on it it will be plugged into the PCM.

 

PCM? Sorry I'm still taking classes on how to speak this language lol