Just bought a new f-150 platinum and am going to put on a 6" pro-comp lift w/ 35" tires this week. The truck is a daily driver but will be used occasionally off-road. No crawlin, mainly just mud and sand. Will also be used to pull a boat and other small trailers with 1 or 2 UTV's. Nothing very heavy, probably around 6000lb max.


My questions:
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Should I chip it, and if so what would be my best options?
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I apologize for my ignorance, but if a chip is recommended or not... would someone explain why either way?
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I would rather not do a gear swap right now for money reasons, but is this something I should do eventually?

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Once again, either yes or no but would an explanation would be great.<O</O
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I am sure my local shop should be able to answer these questions but I just hate asking them things like this because I never know if they are just blowin smoke and trying to sell me something or if they are being straight up.
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Thanks in advance for the help. Any input is appreciated.<O</O

 

I just now noticed this in the chip/tuner forum. Here is my answer from the F-150 forum:

Quote:
Originally Posted by topnotch286
Should I chip it, and if so what would be my best options?



It would be better to get custom tunes for these vehicles. Think of it like buying clothes off the rack or having them custom made. Which do you think would be better or have the potential of being better? Because the custom tunes are written for you(driving habits and styles) and your truck(other mods if applicable) you stand a better chance of having a truck more efficient(better mpg) although it isn't a certain thing, just your chances are better.




Quote:
Originally Posted by topnotch286
I apologize for my ignorance, but if a chip is recommended or not... would someone explain why either way?



The only negative thing against all tuners is the fact that their output(hp over stock) is pretty pathetic in the max setting compared to a diesel. So not as much hp/dollar spend there.




Quote:
Originally Posted by topnotch286
I would rather not do a gear swap right now for money reasons, but is this something I should do eventually?



Actually a gear swap would probably be the single best thing that you could do considering your planning on that lift and tires. A tuner would also be needed in order to help out with power, but lower gears should be done, tuner alone won't get you there.

 

In 2006 (popularity) dyno tune shops were really just beginning to provide custom tuning on ecm vehicles. Today it is almost a common practice. For what you will pay retail price for a tuner, you can have your vehicle professionally tuned. It is simply a better buy!

 

Are you talking about one tune?

Or are you talking about a programmer/tuner with three (or more) custom tuners?

While you are correct about the dyno tuners are more common, tuners that specialize (and have extensive experience) in tuning the 5.4L, 3V for truck applications (especially with the new 6-speed tranny) are VERY limited.

 

I guess I need to clarify.....

In most major cities, dyno tuners with experience are almost common. Considering IMHO, the Ford AOD electronic trans has been around for 20 years and 6 speeds sticks, well, have little impact on fuel/timing curves, I just do not see this as any issue with regards to dyno tuning and ECM equipped vehicle- Ford especially.

With regards to the plug and load tuners, with only small changes at best, most of their "core" programs have been around for 20 years as well. If you do not have a "real Dyno Shop" that is capable of tuning a late model oem vehicle, then you are right, that you should purchase a "conventional" portable user programmer.

But 4 for 4, the user programmers are just not as good as what they could be and what is routinely available from a "real dyno shop" (in terms of actual fuel/timing/auto trans programming) IMHO.

 

I can tell from my experience with the tuning of the TS mated to a 6.0 is few and far between finding people that have the experience to really come up with good well written tunes. I live in Dallas and in Nashville, so I think I would have been able to find somebody I would trust to handle that, but I get all my tunes out of NC.


There isn't a reputable dyno tuning shop for the 6.0 in my area(s) that I would trust. I still have custom tunes, I wouldn't advocate getting a conventional tuner with regard to the 6.0 just because there wasn't a dyno shop in my area(s). With email, I can still get custom tunes.

Now you are right, a dyno written tune would be the best way to go, but it isn't either get a dyno tune or get "off the shelf" tunes. I wouldn't advocate off the shelf tunes to anyone(especially with a 6.0, but I wouldn't do it no matter what the engine is), especially considering that while my tunes aren't dyno written they are still better then the off the shelf tunes that I had from the Bully Dog programmer and safer.

Plus, if the unit has shift on the fly programming(and some gas programmers have that) then that's not really tuning the vehicle. Shift on the fly is mutually exclusive from truly programming these vehicles. Now granted most of my experience is with the diesel world(this 150 is the first gasser that I've ever owned in my life), but the over application of tuning isn't different between a gasser and a diesel. Individual parameters, sure but not the overall theory.

In all honesty, even a dyno tune has some failings as it really isn't totally indicative of what they truck(or whatever vehicle) is going to "face" on the road. I would think it would be far more beneficial to have a datalog of important PIDs over varying terrain, speeds etc, send that off to a custom tuner, tell them your particulars as to what your looking for in each tune and go from there. Now having them in the vehicle doing all this first hand is better, but not truly possible for a variety of reasons.

 

I agree, especially with the diesel crowd!

 

What did you end up doing?

 

Here's what I ended up doing:

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/9...-released.html

 

Do the gear swap. And when you do, make sure you get low enough gears to at least get you back to what you were in stock setup.
4.10s or 4.56s will be what you want. There is a formula that can tell you what gear you need with the tire increase, but I can't remember it. It was in a 4 wheel and off road magazine.

With those big tires, you are putting your truck at a huge disadvantage, and basically gearing it much higher. Also the speedo and shift points are going to be all out of whack that way. A tuner can change the speedo for you, and to some degree the shift points. Just realize that the truck won't perform the way it once did and there will be a learning curve for a while until you figure it out.

 

Here's a helpful and free utility:



Power Hungry Performance - Customer Support

 

@topnotch - Good question, exactly what I was looking for. Thanks.