I have been saving to get a tune for my 91 XLT Lariat 5.0 since I bought it. It seems like almost all the threads in the tuning section on this site are about the newer trucks (97+), so I'd like to know if any one has bought a tune for the 88-91 EFI years and see how it went.

I'm in school for my masters so getting a little fuel mileage would be nice, but basically I want to make this thing go a little bit better than it does.

It seems like the favorite in the other section is Troyer for tunes, but I've also seen Wait4me and a few others. The only other thing I've seen is the Jet chips for this year truck, but it sems that something a little more custom to my own needs would be better than a stock aftermarket tune.

Any suggestions would be great.

 

Go to a local tuner and not mail order.

 

i may be wrong but i dont think troyer or any of the common custom tuners do anything for the obd1 systems. they may but i dont think they do. i do know that hypertech started doing custom chips for our trucks, of course they had to do it after i already bought the plain jane chips. and i believe superchips is too.

 

Troyer and Wait4me said that they put their custom tunes on blank superchips that can work for my ECM. But past that I'm not sure what else is available. I'm working on a pretty limited budget so I want to get the best mods for my money. I've gotten some good ideas on this forum, but there hasn't been to much ECM tunes for the older trucks.

 

Troyer has tuned a number of trucks that owners here on the (Pre-97) forums owned. I can't recall anyone having a problem with them, other than being a PITA to install due to the service port location.

I met Mike at one of the first F150 rallies, and he's loaded with information. I'd buy a tune from him without hesitation.

 

hmm. i'm gonna have to get me one when i get money together. how much does it normally cost for the chip?

 

They told me it was about $240. I think I might end up going with them, but I need to find the ECM code and I don't know where to find it.

I talked to a local tuner this week and he said that there would be no point in getting an ECM tune until I had some kind of forced induction/cold air intake on the truck. He said, after that, that making my own would not be as beneficial as buying a K&N set-up. My idea was to cut the two tubes going to the air box and mount an aftermarket filter at the ends (and maybe cover the tubes in heat resistant tape like some on the forum have suggested), but this guy didn't seem to think that would be good enough.

 

I would do the timing bump and ignition upgrade before I added tunes to a truck that old.

 

Just out of curiousity, what makes you say that? I'm not too savvy yet when it comes to ECM's and ignitions.

Is there a "how to" on this forum about the timing bump?

 

to advance the timing you unplug the spout connector. hook up the timing light. with the vehicle warmed up and idling break loose the distributor hold down bolt and turn the distributor a little bit. i would just go to 13-14*. stock is 10*. if you go any higher you will have to use higher octane fuel.

 

Here is one of the best writeups on the process:

http://fullsizebronco.com/forum/show...=ignition+bump

 

Thank you. That write up is great.

What if I did an ignition coil upgrade, the timing bump, gapped new spark plugs to .55, and maybe added a MAF set-up? All of these have been covered in the forum, but would it be comparable to an ECM tune?

ECM tune from Troyer = $240

Some guys have done the MAF set-up with used parts for around $150, and I've seen coils for around $65 (+ or - $20). Through in a K&N drop in filter for $55ish, that brings it all to a loosely estimated $270.

 

On second thought, scratch the MAF. I won't be doing any major mods to go along with it for quite some time.

 

You figured that one out on your own. Unless you plan on modding enough to out do the speed density, MAF really isnt neccisary.

 

Is there any benefit to gapping the plugs at .55 without an upgraded ignition coil?