I spoke to a guy who had his 7.3 custom tuned by a local tuning shop. He swears that his 2000 CC 4x4 is capable of 30mpg on the best days and averages 23-24 commuting. I call BS, but I got the info and talked to the shop owner.

My truck is a 2006 CC 4x4 that averages 12/15mpg winter/summer unloaded. I told him that I currently run a Superchips tuner with ARP studs. He told me that he will put my truck on a dyno for about two days while he adjusts fuel mapping etc.. and creates 4 truly custom tunes for it. The 4 custom tunes will be loaded onto a Diablo Trinity dash mount tuner. I could choose to go with SCT or a couple others, but recommended the Trinity because I do not currently have any gauges. He says he can pretty much guarantee at least 20mpg for my 6.0. He would charge $1100 for the dyno, tuning, 4 tunes and trinity tuner.

Has anyone else had experience with tunes that were specifically created for your truck? I'm not talking about the SCT custom tunes that can be downloaded, but a tune that was created by running your truck on a dyno.

 

And would this be anywhere near Stevens Point Wisconsin?

 

SCT tuner with custom tunes from Matt @ Gearheads or Vivian @ Quicktricks would be far cheaper and smarter to do IMHO

As for your current low mpg I dunno. Bone stock I saw 18+, I actually get slightly less tuned, but have never seen anything under 15 (winter blend) running light.


Josh

 

Maybe he has 35inch tires and 6 inch lift

thats what I have and stock tune Im getting 14 City and 18+ HWY

another thing is he probably giving Tank Average NOT actual MPG Especialy since he dont have any gauges

So his Numbers have Idel Time & Warm Up time everything that Kills ACTUAL MPG

 

Benny your numbers sound about the same as mine. I'm on stock rims and tires at the moment and drive like a grandma. For city driving, 16 mpg is about the most I will believe. Anyone who says they get more than that is probably calculating it wrong.

 

1. claims of high MPG gains are absolute crap. Yes, they can be achieved, but it comes at the cost of killing your engine.

2. dyno tuning is absolutely worth it over any other style tuning....if you have a tuner who knows what he is doing. any 2 bit shop can buy the tuning software and market his product. buyer beware.

3. Most people go with Gearhead, Vivian and a handful of other tuners for a reason. These guys (and gal) know their 6.0. They can give you amazing power without sacrificing reliability.

4. $1,100 is alot of money for what you are talking about IMO. They guy is going to spend maybe 1 hour of time "tuning" your truck. About $400 for the tuner. So you will be essentially giving the guy over $600 of pure unadulterated profit. These so called "custom" tunes he is going to write you are likely the exact same thing as what you'd get from other downloaded tuners. Hell, they could actually be their tunes, but slightly tweaked.



at the end of the day, it's your money and truck. I highly suggest you contact Matt @ Gearheads and get a SCT X3 tuner and his SRL+ tune. Then spend about $300 and get proper gauges. You'll spend about $700 for the tuning + gages. Trust me, you won't believe the power. I'm currently running a headgasket "safe" SRL tune. With 35" tires my truck has no problems lighting 'em up...it's actually scary how easily it can do it at times.

 

well, if you stop and think about it..... why would this be
an advantage? the guy is giving you the impression that he is
writing source code strictly for you, mapping it on his dyno.

just for grins, i googled stevens point, wi. and got one shop
that seems to do performance diesel work:

xdx motorsports llc - H&S Performance
Wisconsin Performance Dealer Locator. H&S Performance is number 1 in diesel performance tuners for Ford, GM and Dodge diesel trucks.

is this your guy?

 

Thanks for all the input. This is great. My mind is not made up. I can still be talked into or out of it.

What is peoples general impression of the Superchips tuners (that I currently run)? Not great I suspect.


Yes. Pretty original Moniker, huh?

No big tires or lift. I'm all stock except for the Superchips Tuner, head studs and turbo timer. Other then a fiberglass topper and about 500lbs of stuff that is always in the bed I am unloaded with the 12/15mpg. If I tow 3k# it drops to 11 mpg or so in the winter. A 6k# trailer will give me about 13mpg in the summer Those are hand calculated tank averages which happen to be close to the readout estimate. I drive pretty conservatively.



Gearheads website shows $425 + $50 for SCT Xcal 3 and 3 tunes. I would also want the tunes slightly customized to eliminate the CEL I always have for U0100 and U0155 codes due to the turbo timer. So, that puts me at about $600+ (I'm guessing on the custom charge). Then I need gauges so $900 or so.

I like the idea of the Diablo Trinity or SCT Livewire TS type of display because that takes care of my gauges, tuner and code reader all in one. If only the thing was a GPS too.

For an extra couple hundred bucks it may be worth the custom dyno tuning, install and local support if necessary.


D&D Mods and Rods in Stevens Point, WI is the shop I spoke to:
D & D Automotive Services - Quality Auto Repair Stevens Point WI

I might have to talk to this XDX place. Haven't heard of them.

My impression from the conversation is that he is creating 4 codes specifically for me and installing them on a tuner. Or at least taking canned tunes and tweaking them for my motor based on his dyno readings. He cautioned me that if I don't have head studs he can't do nearly as much for me. I then informed him that I do have studs.

 

I spent LOTS of time on the dyno getting custom tunes for my truck but they were strictly for high performance and not for fuel mileage. That's the ONLY way to get truly custom tunes for your truck. Going with the Diablo is going to severly limit your options as to what you can do strictly because of the availability.

 

He said I can go with SCT also. He also named another one that I can't remember. I'm leaning toward SCT Livewire TS right now.

What do you mean by availability of the Diablo? He sells the tuners and will write the codes for it. Do you mean someone else tweaking it after he writes it if necessary?

 

Exactly. There are just SO many more 6.0 tunes/tuners out there that write on the SCT platform than there are for the Diablo. The other factor you have to consider is transmission tuning. I have no idea if that's possible on the Diablo platform.

 

Got it. Thanks for the help.

 

see bold above

 

If it were me, I go with the h&s preformance mentioned above only because he is a Diesel preforance tuner and should know your truck inside and out. I didn't read that on the one you posted. And if he dosen't know 6.0L inside and out, just me, stay away. Good luck and report back. Custom tunes on the dyno I second!