I have an 05 250 with 125,000 miles. It is a work truck and also my everyday driver. Im looking to try and make some more power and maybe even some better fuel mileage to help offset the cost of a tuner. Everything is stock except for a Cherry Bomb exaust that dumps out in front of my hind tire. Just lookin for any advice at all. Thanks in advance!

 

I actually got one of those for my grandfather for fathers day, he has an 06' F350 dually 6.0. and that thing will throw your head back now. If you really punch from a dead stop the thing has some turbo lag but when it kicks in it KICKS in hard. Besides the tuner he got an S&B boxed cold air intake and egr delete along with it. combined it gained 65-70 hp of a 50hp tune because the intake. when we had it on a 65hp tune it gained a good 80hp. and he can now spin them back tires. if you take the programmer to a tech they can make a special tune for you up to 150 extra horsey's. its a serious programmer. Of course one of my buddies bought a spartan programmer and about 2000 in upgrades at one and jumped to 612hp in a dually. so sct is good but there is better.

I have an superchips cortex and it made my f150 gain a decent 15 alone, but when paired with an exhaust and intake with upgraded plugs it was an 37hp in a 4.6 v8. But with a superchips programmer you can select an updated tune for alot of different intakes and exhausts which could help in the end.

 

Yeah Im not looking for anything crazy because I dont want to start breaking stuff, I just want a little more snot for pulling or just driving around on the hills. What do those chips do for fuel mileage, any increases?

 

Do you have the 6.0 diesel or the 5.4 gas motor. Because the SCT did damn good in his truck, went well over 100 miles on a quarter tank and over 400 on a full tank with the SCT programmer. Its a great programmer for diesel but not gas. also it does not let you pick what part you add such as an intake or exhaust or even a throttle body spacer. On the other hand i've only used the Superchips in a gasoline engine, never tried it on a diesel. But you can actually pick what upgrades you have besides it, letting it work in tandem with the intake, exhaust and so on and so forth. I can not simply tell you which is better but only state the facts so you may buy it on your knowledge. But if i wasnt much help i would do some research and see if one is to your liking. and as for the mileage, my Mpg went from around mmm 16 to somewhere around 18-19. and on long trips outa town i can get 20. But the Sct in a diesel does good to.

 

Hey thanks a lot that really does help me out especially with the update options and also being able to match it with my exaust and maybe an intake. I have the 5.4 and it's been used pretty good as a farm truck for the last 6 years or so. Do you have any experience with K&N intakes? I had one on my truck but the oil on it kept messin up my mass air sensor and making my truck run like crap.

 

Intakes are worthless on a 6.0 with just a tuner. I have bigger injectors, bigger turbo and stock intake and it runs like a top.

There is this misconception that the intake doesn't flow enough on the 6.0. Not only does the stock intake flow very well, but it also has a much better filtration capacity compared to the a/m intakes. Most a/m intakes increase surfaces flow by sacrificing filtration ability. That's the easiest way to do it.

Another thing that you have to realize is that if you were to actually look at a dyno chart of when the a/m intakes flow more then stock, it's beyond the peak rpms of a stock or just tuned truck. Meaning, that unless you raise the peak rpm of your truck through mods (turbo, injectors etc) you aren't going to receive the full benefit of those a/m intakes as far as air flow. Filtration will still be sub par compared to stock. If it was the 7.3 intake system, then this would be a completely different story.


Sorry about the off topic portion.

Now as to the 5.4, go custom tuning. Gas engines don't have the propensity for huge gains compared to a diesel and custom tunes, providing that they are written correctly, have a much better chance of being more efficient for you and your truck then an off the shelf tuner. Plus it gives you a platform for future mods as well.

As to MPG gains. Tuners are performance enhancers first and foremost. If you see any MPG gains, consider them a bonus, don't do a tuner with the expectation of MPG gains. If you even see any gains period, it will take a long time for the device to pay for itself with just MPG savings alone. Even despite the higher cost of fuel.