Hello
I got my truck in the shop and wanted to know how many people have a good quality custom tune on their stock headbolt/gasket 6.0L and haven't had issues in the long term. I am speaking for Economy and Tow tunes not the super high horsepower ones.

 

scroll down to cracked head tty vs arp by olfordsnstone, you are playing with fire!

 

However if you stick with Matt at Gearhead Automotive Performance
He has a tune for the non-stud and for the studded 6.0
I am running the SRL most of the times and I don't have studs. Lest say that he knows
how to write a good tune and not blow up and engine and transmission in the process.

Sean

 

Tunes are fine on stock trucks, as long as you don't get stupid.

"Stupid" includes (but is not limited to) running a tune designed for studded trucks, or running a moderately hot street tune and trying to tow 12,000 lbs up Rocky-Mountain grades.

-blaine

 

I hate to say it, but I was using Matt's SRL tune, which was supposed to be okay for stock bolts when I had my problem. Well, the gaskets didn't blow so I suppose the bolts didn't stretch but at least one of the heads cracked, will know if both are toast next week. Whether this "problem" was related to Matt's SRL tune or not, I dunno. Maybe it's just another 6.0 thing that happens, you know what I mean? I have heard of others who have had cracked heads that were stock so, I suppose the jury is still out.

If you do tune your truck, at least make sure to get bigger exhaust and a pyrometer. Learn by my mistake...

In case you're interested, here's more on my "problem". https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...ty-vs-arp.html

 

I agree with Yahiko, I run the same tunes in my truck, with out issues. Mostly the tow tunes and occaisionally the SRL. The tunes were written specific to my trucks PCM and mods/no studs, gears, etc.

-Mark

 

(posting error)

 

My truck has 155k on original headgaskets and bolts. I run Matt's SRL for my daily driver and the 8k tow tune even when im towing 10000+.
I run the **** out of my truck, countless boosted launches down the track and many races. Also several mudding trips running the srl.
Proper tuning goes a long way

Just take a look at my sig pic lol

 

Proper tuning and common sense goes a long way in keeping the 6.0 happy.

Yes things happen no matter what, but it all comes down to being level headed and not trying to be a moron doing moron things with an improper combo

Josh

 

I have been running a mild street tune on stock bolts for 4 years/40k miles with no problems (yet)

One time I forgot to change to the tow tune and pulled my 5th wheel 500 miles on the street tune. I only realized it because my towing mileage was 2.5 mpgs better than usual.

 

When I see the words "tune" and "economy" together, I really do cringe. The goal of most tunes out there (now there are some that detune the engine) is for performance, not really economy. Some might benefit from economy, but I would never expect economy out of tuning that's main purpose is performance. What supports that claim is that I have yet to see a tune that was labeled "economy" (or what ever title derivative you prefer to use for that term) that didn't also increase (albeit slight in some instances) power. Perhaps one of the biggest marketing ploys out there is that tuning in of itself increases mileage.

Now that I got that out of my stomach on to your original question.

Tuning even on stock bolts isn't the dangerous thing, it's how you play with that new found "power" that will get you. Now, you might start off thinking that you won't do this that or the other when you have those tunes in there, but that extra get up and go can be quite addictive if you don't watch it.

The biggest thing is letting the truck get up to operating temp. That's probably the single biggest aspect (there are others, but that one in my estimation is the biggest one out there) as to if you can get away with tuning at all and/or for how long.

 

Simple physics says you can't increase the power output of an engine without also increasing the pressure on the heads.

You can get tunes that don't increase HP/TQ, but still improve throttle response, or turn off EGR, or exhaust brake.

Head bolts fail with standard Ford tuning, so don't expect a failsafe truck with or without tunes.

No one can tell you their tune can increase power output without increased risk of head bolt failure. Only you can decide if the increased risk is worth it to you.

 

A really late update is the shop uses Innovative Diesel so I got the SCT Livewire with 4 tunes AND got the HG and studs. I really enjoy the new power and mpg's don't seem to have suffered at least on the highway.

 

I really hope that SCT has improved their LiveWire unit. I seem to remember people having a 50/50 shot that something (particularly the screen or no power) would happen to those models.
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