i bought a 2006 F-250 6.0 powerstroke and it had the banks 6 gun tuner with the IQ touchscreen controller. my question is there is a lot of bad talk about it so should i keep it or trade it for somthing else?

 

It's really not a tuner. It intercepts, modifies, and then sends false signals back to the truck.

Not really something that I would advise keeping, but that's just me.

Shift on the fly "tuners" seem like they would be fun, but they aren't good for the 6.0 (or really later trucks).

In order for a program really to take hold correctly, your truck's computers have to reboot. Same way that a computer has to reboot after some software installations and/or upgrades. Shift on the fly "tuners" don't do that. By definition they can't if they are truly shift on the fly.

Now you might keep the IQ device for gauges, but I would ditch the actual performance part of it.

If you must have performance parts on there, get SCT, Spartan Phalanx or something along those lines that can handle custom tunes and get custom tunes from reputable people.

 

Does spartan make tuner's for the 6.0 anymore? Their site suck's, and there is no mention of the 6.0 on their site anywhere. I think you are the only one on here running one, how did you get it? Would you recommend it? Do you know of anyone running an H&S tuner? good? bad?

Edit: They (Spartan) mention the 6.0 at the bottom of the page, but have no product/advertising for the 6.0

 

They never did do great advertising for the 6.0 products. There are a couple of other users in the 6.0 Forum that use it. I can't remember their handles right off hand.

I have had great experience with mine, but after we got all the tunes dialed in, I really haven't been talking to him as much as I used to, so I don't know what all has gone on.

SCT still has a very big following for it and probably should be the best bet to go to. Matt, in the best, has been hard to get a hold of if you didn't know how to.

Also, you can use somebody like Power Hungry Performance that takes the Edge Evolution and "converts" it to handle custom tunes, which is sold as their Gryphon tuner.

The biggest thing with the 6.0 is not to do shift on the fly. I would just personally recommend custom over canned tunes as well.

 

6 gun is a great clean tuner for the 6.4. They did alot of development for the 6.4. It does work inline with the pcm and modifies the programming that way.

I do not know if it is a good one for the 6.0

 

Great clean tuner is up for debate. Anything that modifies program by trickery, I wouldn't call great. Which is what you are saying when you talk about it being inline with PCM.

Very much not so considering the tight tolerances of the 6.0.

Not something I would suggest for a 6.4 either. Some don't have problems and/or the problems that they do have they don't associate with the "tuner" even though the "tuner" might be responsible for those issues.

 

We will agree to disagree on the 6.4

 

That we will. I know quite a few that have had issues with the 6.4 and banks tuning through my association with Matt as he really was making a name for himself with 6.4 tuning with his new tuner.

Although, I can say that the 6.0 does have different needs then the 6.4. There is some leeway with the 6.4 compared to the 6.0, it still does have it's own quirks.

7.3 deals with that type of tuning the best. The only drawback with tuning on the 7.3 is the auto tranny, but then again with shift on the fly tuning, that auto tranny doesn't like it either. Some issues have been noted with the 6.4 as well, even though the TS behind the 6.4 can handle more HP then the 6.0 in stock form.

 

so its not a package? its 2 seperate pieces? i looked and found the 6 gun tuner pluged in under the hood but theres one wire that goes into the cab to the IQ controller. i would like to keep that cause its nice but as for the performance i can change that to SCT or other.

 

Unless they use a different one when it gets bought in a bundle, the IQ device should be separate.

The wire that you found that goes from under the hood to the IQ is more then likely the wire that allows for the control of the shift on the fly "tunes". That wouldn't need to stay connected to use it as an OBD-II reader (which ranges from reading codes to reading sensors). All you would need for that is the OBD-II cable. Do you have a cable going from the OBD-II port to the device?

 

correct the IQ will read from the OBD port. The wire to the cab allows you to change the power settings on the 6 gun.

Check with Banks themselves to ensure you have the latest software for the IQ so that it will read independently.

When the IQ first came out it was needed in conjunction with the tuner to be able to work.

They have since done alot of changes to allow it to be independent on some models

 

there is somthing pluged into the obd port but its not the iq screen, i think its the 6 gun tuner.i was going to update it today but its running the latest sofetware version 2.13.

 

Item plugged into the port is called a bridge. USB cable goes from it to the IQ. It has to stay with the IQ for it to work. 6-gun connects to the bridge as well.

 

Then the question becomes: Does the "bridge" plug into the module and the IQ independently of each other or does it connect to one and then from there go on to the next one?

Even if they are all connected by the same cable, if there is a tap that can be independently disconnected, it could still work. But if it goes to say the module first and then from the module to the IQ, then it more then likely won't. Even though you might be able to dial the module down to zero, I would still be worried about a fluke happening and there still be input being sent from the module. One of the worrisome things about this type of "tuning".

 

Each plugs into the bridge independantly.