I'm new to the Texas chapter. How's everyone doin? I just bought a 2003 f250 6.0 quad cab. I wanna do some work to it as I go. It's all stock except a 4 inch pro comp lift with which I'm debating takin off and getting to stock height then leveling out.

What exhaust do y'all think will be good not necessarily for performance but enhance mpg and longevity of the motor?

Do you think taking the lift off and putting the leveling kit on be good in the long run? Also changing from 305 tires to 285.

What's the deal with these sct tunes or tunes in general? Are they chips? I I've heard a lot of bad things with chips with blowing seals and gaskets and other things.

Main thing is I'm a college kid and am workin on increasing mpg and longevity. What would be some good places around the metroplex to get this stuff done or talk to em about these things?

 

First off, welcome to the TX chapter... Lot of good guys in here with alot of knowledge. If the lift is there, I say leave it but then again you may be really short... Just kidding. As far as the DFW area someone should be along to give you suggestions as to where to go. You can probably get all the info on here and do everything yourself though. If I remember correctly the SCT is a handheld programmere that you can change the settings of your truck with. A chip actually stays plugged into your truck. Again someone with more knowledge on this will probably respond.

 

hello gmangh15, i believe cheezit is in ur area. he's a great guy and he'll be the most qualified fella to help u best. from my experience, exhaust pipes aint gonna increase ur mpg. not by a mile. it's jus a nice thing to have, and sounds loud. it's a matter of personal preference. if u go lower on ur lift kit, tat might help wif improving ur mpg cos u'll have less air resistance. think aerodynamics.

welcome to the six-o. we recommend spending a little bit of money to help u out in the long run. get a scangauge II scanner. u can monitor all ur temps much better than the gauges on ur dash, especially ur ect vs eot. tat has to be a max of 15 degrees spread. anything more than tat and ur looking at something busted. it helps cos u can catch the problems earlier.

u can pm me if u got more questions. welcome once again to the six-o, and i hope u enjoy her as much as i do.

 

Welcome to the chapter. SCT is a tuner that plugs into your OBDII port and flashes the program on the computer to make the truck run better. I'd suggest you stay away from it unless you do all the supporting mods first.

If you're interested in MPG's, ditching the lift will have the biggest effect of anything else. For longevity, stop by the 6.0 section and read up on what they suggest. Things like EGR delete come to mind.

Cheezit is in the area. If he doesn't have time to work on it, I'd suggest you joint the NXTPSA. (local powerstroke forum). There's a diesel tech there that does work on the side. Or of course, just hang around FTE and learn to do this stuff yourself, maybe with the help of some locals.

 

I'm not one that subscribes to that mod as being a reliability mod.

Cheezit is in the Ft. Worth area if I remember correctly. I would have been able to help on a few things it would have been earlier in the week. I have been dealing with some things in Plano, but fixin to head to Nashville tomorrow first thing.

Tuners, exhaust, intake if you are doing things along these lines for MPG gains for a good part of your reason for doing it....don't. The ROI on those mods you would have to be keeping that vehicle for a long long long long time.

 

I thought that the head bolt mod and the EGR mod was one of the first things that should be done on a 6.0 is that right or not? Also I am not in favor of any Pc programmer that over writes the PCM/ECM

 

yup im in the north end of dfw. anytime I can help shoot me a pm. I tend to avoid side work most of the time as I stay pretty busy more often then not, but you never know so feel free to ask.

 

Should be done... that's up for debate. Now if your stock bolts crapped out on you for whatever reason, then I would do the swap. If they are working and you are in a relatively stock truck, then I wouldn't do it until it craps out.

As far as the EGR system delete, forgetting the fact that it's illegal to do so even if you don't have emissions testing in your area, it really isn't going cure the core problem. The issue why people suggest it is two fold. One, the EGR system crapping out is one of the easiest to spot even for the laymen and it is also EPA mandated equipment, which a lot of people consider them to be the devil incarnate. The irony is, even if you were to delete the system, you might still have the issues that the delete are supposed to "cure". I personally know of 3 people that still had problems with their oil coolers after having the delete or bypass being done. The EGR system isn't the core issue.



This would also depend on your situation. I can see where PCM programming can be a positive compared to factory tuning. Tweaking the truck to where it behaves how you want it to be behave and that can be done without increase HP/TQ output or you can even reduce HP/TQ output. So I would say it would depend on the application that it was going to be used in.

 

I would say that it depends on how the application mods the PCM. There are a few that are linked to PCM failures or corruption of the circuitry impluse at the bit level. So as typed I am not in favor of programs that overwrite the PCM. Here is one example-https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...rogrammer.html

 

The irony is in that evidence, the Edge doesn't overwrite the PCM, it tricks it. The PCM still has the same programming, the Edge sends a false sensor signal. Unless you are talking about the Evolution, then there might be something different to that. However, in that first post, I didn't see a reference to the Evolution or the Juice (one of the trickery devices I mention), I just saw Edge programmer mentioned. Unfortunately, most people use programmer incorrectly, he may or may not, not enough info in that first post to determine that, people think the Juice actually programs the PCM and it doesn't, so based on that I don't know if he is one of those or not.

You also have to make note that the post is talking about 7.3s, you cannot apply what works with the 7.3s to what works with the 6.0s. Shift on the fly (your multi positional chips) works on the 7.3, it'll ruin a 6.0 real easy. Doesn't matter if it's DP or Edge shift on the fly, it'll cause damage. Same thing goes with intakes. Intakes work better with regard to flow on the 7.3, not so much with the 6.0 unless you really mod the truck.

You would be surprised how much the stock 6.0 bolts can handle if properly maintained. The biggest problem is that people just want to turn the key and go and you can't do that with the more "sophisticated" trucks that started with the 6.0 to current engine models. You have to have a different mindset. I was hauling ~16k for about a year and a half before I modded it to over 500HP and the stock bolts were fine. I would like to think that I would have worked out the stock bolts, but then again maybe not.

No, you did not mention one of the 3 types of EGR mods, however, when you talk to a 6.0 owner about an EGR mod, they automatically either go to bypass and/or delete more often then not. Both of which are illegal at the federal level. If your truck came from the factory with emissions equipment, the only way that you can legally take it off is either to fix or to replace with equal component.

The Bulletproof EGR system hasn't reached enough people to be one of those mods that people automatically go to.

But lets take legality out of the equation, that's just icing on the cake for me. Let's take my example here. I have 508HP at the rear wheels (all four of them and yes, I will pass emissions testing as it currently is,). I'm still running not only a stock EGR setup, but the same setup that I had on my truck when I took possession of it with 20 miles on the clock. It has over 200k on it now. My temps run hotter then at least 90% of the other 6.0 owners out there. Not only do I have the stock EGR system still in good shape, but I also have one of the systems from what some people regard as the worst years for the 6.0 EGR systems. Now I will always be a statistic of one just due to at my modification level, most people don't get emissions equipment, hell, people have a hard time keeping them on relatively stock trucks. However, given how much people vilify the EGR system on the 6.0, my example shouldn't exist. In fact, if anything, I should be a spokesperson for this mod. The irony is, I personally know of three people that still have had issues with their oil cooler despite having gotten rid of the EGR system, either partially or totally.

Now if you want to go with the "bulletproof" system for a placebo effect that's your call. No issues with that, however, like I said when you talk to a 6.0 owner about an "EGR Mod" and that's how you put it, more often then not they are going to go on about either the bypass or the delete, until you find people that are in favor for keeping the EGR system, but just going with different system then OEM.
If your truck came from the factory with emissions equipment, the only way that you can legally take it off is either to fix or to replace with equal component.

That sums up the lit. at the federal level. Now is there testing with regard to that at the federal level no. But if you get pulled over for something else, say speeding, while they have you there writing the ticket, they can have another cop searching for other violations and if you are caught without say a Cat, you can be cited for it unless you show them a sticker on the truck that says that it didn't come with a Cat. On the 6.0s, there is a sticker under the hood that it says it came with emission controls on it. Some 7.3s say the same thing.

Now, you may never get caught, but does not getting caught mean that it isn't illegal?

 

Welcome Gman ! and congrats on a great truck...

course it's only rumor until we see pics !!!!

I'm in the metroplex and glad to meet up anytime to let you see how a well used 140K mile truck runs with just an sct tuner and a walker btm muffler.

first off, good luck with your truck and don't panic about ALL the stuff you HAVE to do...
you only HAVE to do the maintenance as far as I am concerned (and I've done) everything else was a WANT, not a need

I even have a spare scangauge that they sent me to test out their new version.


on edit to the arguments about legality of egr changes..... here in the metroplex I've passed road side emission 'opacity scanners' multiple times so I won't be challenging the potential $10,000 fine for that little change

 

were are, when have they been doing roadside testing on passanger class trucks?

 

In Plano I don't come across them so much, but I know they are using them with more and more frequency in Nashville, Brentwood, Franklin (Brentwood and Franklin are like Plano to Dallas, but smaller in size (way smaller)) area and that is were a lot more people due mods like the one I'm talking about. The irony is that they have emissions testing of diesels up to 10k sticker weight (my DRW is exempt from testing just don't think that it's exempt from the fines though, which is what a lot of people do think, exempt from testing means exempt from fines) around here in the Nashville area.

 

nope does not make you exempt from the fines.

 

Around here they move around, there isn't a fixed point. Usually on the on/off ramps on the interstates is where they put the ones around here.