I am looking at adding a chip to my 04 F-150 5.4 supercrew. I tow a 18ft bass boat three days a week. Looking to get more power and better gas mileage. Going to add a cold air intake as well. I am looking to see what brand is the best for performance chips and for cold air intake. Thanks

 

This the only guy I'd trust:
Mike Butler - Ford Truck Enthusiasts Forums - View Profile: fordmdb


5 Star Tuning | Custom Dynomemeter Chassis Tuning Products and Services

 

I tried to get a hold of Mike but no response back. Do they have an email?

 

That's not like Mike, he's usually pretty reachable. Did you leave him a message? Why dont you try messaging him here first. I gave you his profile info in my first response.

 

I did message him I think? I am kind of new to the site.

 

How about PHP tunes? I know they are one of the best for diesels

 

That is what I run. I went that direction because I wanted an EDGE tuner over an SCT. I have no complaints, but I have not ran on a 5 Star before to compare. Either way, I know they are both solid choices.

 

Thanks, did you see a big differences with it? is it worth the $$

 

I had the Edge tuner with the pre loaded tunes... it seemed to have a little more power, got rid of the thottle lag when you first step on it.The gauges and the ability to read codes made it great, felt it was good money spent. No gas mileage improvement. I later added a cold air intake, felt the only thing that did was lighten my wallet.

 

how about shifting lag? seems like when I let off the gas to go up around a corner on a hill it lags big time. RPMs drop off and them come back up again.

 

Shifting overall with the tuner is improved, i think thats a good part of why it feels more powerfull.

 

Definitely saw a big difference. Mainly the shift points were much smoother and seemed more aggressive. Before, and you probably notice this now, whenever you get on the gas a little or go up a hill, it will hang in a lower gear forever before it finally shifts up and that is just annoying. Now it shifts much quicker and gets you going a lot faster. That is the biggest and most important change I saw. I am sure there are many other subtle things that I don't notice, besides, I have had the truck running on the tunes for close to two years now so I have forgotten a lot of what has changed. Bottom line, huge improvement, but you have to shell out $400-500 for an EDGE with PHP tunes. I think SCT and 5 Star are in the $300 range, but the two devices are quite different.

 

Thanks for the info. My tranny really needs something!! I just hope there is nothing wrong with it since other then the normal way the run that you stated when if shifts down a gear or 2 it sounds like the RPM's drop right off then comes back. I am going to do a total truck fluid change ( will post on that for advice) and hopes that helps. It only has 70,000 miles on it
as far as 5 star tunes:
Pricing for X3's custom tuned are $429.00 plus shipping

Pricing on the Livewire TS with custom tunes is $649.00