Hey all. First off I love this forum, can't get enough of it.

As the title says, how bad would it be to put some mild tunes in my truck with stock head studs? Don't want any real aggressive tunes or anything, just some middle of the road custom tunes. Eventually I am planning on doing the new studs but don't wanna fork out the money just yet. If i tune without new studs what are the chances they stretch? Thanks!

 

Don't tune it unless you can afford the studs, or the downtime on the truck waiting for studs. It's a crap shoot, some stock bolts last and some don't. Not blowing $300-400 on a programmer and another hundred or two for custom tunes will cover the cost of the studs themselves, so you're halfway there on parts.

 

Depending on how you shop, not getting the tuner could pay for the studs themselves.

 

studs first.

there are a bunch of people here who have taken engines without
HG issues and changed one bolt to a stud at a time, and say it works
good for them.

but if you blow the head gaskets..... mo money.

if you do the work yourself, the tuner and tunes is about the price
of the ARP's.

 

I would love to buy the ARP's and do them myself but I am afraid to mess something up. As well as this being my daily driver I would want it done as quickly as possible. How hard is it really to do them yourself?

 

I can do them in about 15-20 hours depending on the truck. you on the other hand I have never met and cannot speak for your mechanical abilitys so that is an impossible question to awnser.
theres also the fact I have done a bunch of them.

 

I've had my custom street tune and my SCT Tuner from MKM Customs for some time now on my stock head bolts with no problems. I don't get on it much and the boost never exceeds 20 psi when I do. I think you're fine with mild tunes. Your HGs are gonna go with or without tunes if they're gonna go. Might as well have a good running truck and better mileage in the mean time. And then they might just be fine for a long time, too. You never know. My two cents.

 

I say if you can't afford to do the studs if the hg's blow then don't tune it. Murphy's law still applies.

 

I really hate the tuner marketing department that perpetuated this little myth. Tuners are performance enhancers, not economy enhancers. "You" might see an improvement in MPG, you might not. Just because one person saw an improvement, doesn't mean that the next person will.

MPG improvement really shouldn't be on the list period for getting a tuner. Even those that claim improvements, I have to wonder how they came about calculating improvement when most don't allow for all the variables that go into MPG, but they managed to narrow it down to one variable.

 

I agree with this to a degree. I purchased an SCT tuner and installed custom tunes from Matt at Gearheads Automotive. I was told, from Matt that the tunes he sold me were safe to run without studs. So far so good. Been running this way for a couple of years now. I wasn't seeing improvements in mpg, until I took a road trip and set the cruise control. I got 20 mpg on the trip South, which was to a lower elevation. The way home was mostly uphill and I was in a hurry to get home so my average speed was higher and I was passing slower vehicles more. Got the regular old mileage of 16 mpg on the way home.
I think what it comes down to is that the tuner CAN help with mpg, IF you keep your foot out of the go-peddle. The engine will burn fuel better when programed to run better and it makes sense to me that (with a steady peddle) you should see better mileage.
On my drive home on that last road trip, the drive home (being an increase in elevation and a more aggressive drive) put a little more of a demand on the fuel, thus no benefit from the tuner. The other way (being a slow and easy trip) I got 20 mpg, due to there being less demand on the fuel.
Furthermore, when I drive around town I can't help but to enjoy the much more responsive accelerator from stops. I also really enjoy how she takes off now when passing a slow poke on the highway. These temptations to step on the go-peddle will not allow me to see mileage improvements so I cannot claim mileage improvements from using a tuner. I think this is the case for most folks as well.
I still don't drive too aggressively with the custom tunes installed as I am leery due to how good the truck performs now. It is just hard to imagine that this isn't a dangerous mod on my stock head bolts so I take it easy, at least until I eventually get my ARPs. But for now, as long as I don't overdo it, I seem to be okay with stock head bolts with Matt's SRL tune. The unlimited tow tune he sold me is basically the same as the stock Ford tune, but without that pesky old CEL for low EGR flow... Just make sure to NEVER use the SRL tune while towing/hauling or you will certainly be tearing those heads off in short order.

 

Im running matts SRL tunes, truck runs like a bat outta hell. Most PSI i see is 25 at WOT

 

But that's not what people are selling this as, they are selling it as a "it will help with MPG". More of a sure thing, rather then a possibility.

However, even in your example, you have to think of all the other factors that were going into your travels, elevation, weather, blend of fuel as well as how you behaved with the go pedal. All that goes into MPG.

Even if you don't tune your vehicle, you can do driver related changes that could help with MPG improvement as well.

As for the dangers of using a tuner, if you are adding more heat, stress etc with your tunes then yes you are putting more wear and tear on your engine. Rather or not it blows the heads in short order is irrelevant, it is still more stress on the engine and it's components. Now you can get custom tunes that will detune the truck from it's Ford factory settings (yes, there are actually people that have done that, but they are by far the minority of tuner owners) and in that case it will actually be adding longevity to your engine.

 

Yup, good points. My thinking, in my case anyway, is have a tune that makes the engine utilize the fuel more effectively and keep out of the accelerator. I think I can keep it running long that way as well, and still have some umph when I really need it... For me, it's really all about disciplining my right foot.

 

My 06 6.0 is stock except for a bully dog power pup i run it on tow/performance however the previous owner run it on extreme not towing and performance when towing since 40000 miles and it seems to be doing fine for now and its at 136,000 miles

 

Some of you need to realize that you already have more of a tuner so to speak than a tuner,it's called a TURBO,and it's pulling 30 pounds of boost.and the way I look at it,if the engine is going to stretch the head bolts,it's going to do it regardless.after years of racing and fooling with various types of power adders especially a turbo,it's harder on the engine taking off flat on the floor from a dead stop than it is getting up in the rpm range of the engine and mashing the go pedal,also from my experience you may gain some more heat in the Diesel engine with a tuner but most of them I have seen cuts the boost down to usually around 20 to 25lbs.just saying