I bought my 2003 F-250 as a tow vehicle for my wrangler. I had planned on putting a real trans temp gauge, EGT, and boost gauge on the pillar. After reading on this site I see a lot of talk about other things that are important to monitor. I hadn't planned on running a tuner that that would display a lot of these readings. I had only planned to install a few on the pillar. Now I'm not so sure that is the best or most cost effective way of doing things.

Just looking for a little guidance as to the best and most cost effective way to monitor this thing properly. Is it best to buy a tuner that will monitor it. If not, what gauges would be most important to install?

Thanks for helping another new guy out.

 

I'm new at all this also but what I CAN tell you is that you're going top need to monitor your EOT (engine oil temperature), ECT (engine coolant temp) in addition to the TFT. I monitor boost also but the gauge on the dash is pretty close. Fuel pressure is also a must but I'm not sure if the '03 sends that data stream to the OBDII port. If not, a separate gauge should be installed.
Look here for recommended pressures and temps. Some more knowledgeble than me will surely chime in. The Edge Insight is popular and will do everything you need

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

 

IMHO from most important to lesser important, EGT, eot/ect, fuel pressure, trans, boost

 

How can I see the fuel pressure on the Edge Insight?

 

EGT
Coolant
Transmission
Oil
Those are the top 4

You can not see fuel psi from the insight.

 

I bought my gauges from glow shift out of new jersey, all four with sending units and pillar mount : 300 hundred,exhaust temp comes with the sending probe,there are some write ups about where to install the sending units,check out diesel manor web site for install process ed

 

Avoid Edge like the plague!!

 

1) Fuel Pressure 2) EGT 3) ECT/EOT 4) Boost

 

I've only seen them mention the Edge Insight which is gauges only, so that isn't much of an issue. However, if they switch over to the tuners/modules by Edge that's a different story entirely.

I would make sure TFT was on that list before I would boost. The stock boost gauge does seem to do a good job(surprisingly), the range of display is the only issue that I really have with the stock gauge as long as your turbo is stock(which mine is not).

 

03/04 trucks don't have a factory boost gauge, but if he's using it for a tow vehicle then trans. temp is needed also.

 

I agree with boost, I have compared the Edge insight reading with the stock boost gauge and it shows about equal values.

What is TFT and why is it more important than boost?

 

Yes it is definitely a tow vehicle, but in stock form it has plenty of power to pull the jeeps I tow. I don't feel that I need to tune it for more power. I'm really just interested in making it last. I was looking at the 3 and 4 gauge pods and trying to decide what gauges to put in them or if I should just be buying the insight. Summit sells a kit with EGT, boost, and trans temp on a 3 pod but it sounds like I should piece my own together with a 4 pod.

Thanks for all of the knowledgeable replies! This question stemed from reading the tech article about what temps should be but it is hard to monitor all of them so I wanted to make sure I am looking at the most important.

 

TFT = Transmission Fluid Temperature

Trannys are the lifeblood of a hauling rig. I've hauled with a tranny that had burned servos while on a trip, that wasn't fun trust me on that. Since that happened on my two previous trucks(all stock performance wise, not even a muffler delete) I'm a firm advocate on gauges no matter how solid the engine seems to believed to be.

You're right about that(I'm sure you know that already). I happened to miss that part of the original post.

 

The top two parameters to monitor on a 6.0 are FP and EGT.

If you go with a 3-gauge pod, I'd recommend FP, EGT, and TT.

If you go with a 4-gauge pod, I'd recommend FP, EGT, EOT, and ECT. Though you may want to substitute TT & Boost for EOT & ECT if you tow heavy often and are confident in the health of your cooling system.

There are monitors that plug into the ODBII port that will provide info on all of these PIDs and many more, except for FP. For example, with an Edge Insight you can monitor EGT, ECT, EOT, TT, Volts, Boost, IATs, etc.... Fuel pressure would be the only additional gauge needed.

 

I have EGT, Boost, Fuel pressure, Trans Temp in my truck.


got them from Clay at Riffraff.