Before I ask for advice I will say I've looked through and read a lot of posts about dpf deletes and tuners turning these trucks into girlie getting black smoke blowing racecars and that is not what I'm looking for at all. I have a 2010 f-350 fx4 crew cab dually with the 6.4 that I take on longer trips empty and maybe about 5000 miles towing a 48ft gooseneck with a gcw of up to 30,000lbs. What I'm looking is to just delete and make the truck run better and last longer and maintain or possibly gain mpg. My only concern is removing the filter and the possible fines. Any advice is greatly appreciated since I cant believe when the truck goes into regen and blows out with smoke can be good for it.

 

From what I understand, there are DPF delete pipes that look like the regen pipe on these truck, that are available. As for emissions violations, thats really based on where you live. I have run some pretty wild stuff in emission controlled states, such as my 7.3PS with open pipes (no kitty, no muffler), and as long as you are not out rolling coal and breaking eardrums, not many pay attention anyways.

Tuners, they make some that you can use when you want/need to, and can be removed when you play at the dealership. Some of them have gotten good enough that it clears the hard memory and restores it stock without indicators of a tuner.

I am in the same boat as you. I really do not want to go full tilt with tunes and power, as these trucks are pretty slick as it is, I just want the regen gone, and better mileage. So in that, I am looking that the regen delete pipe, and Spartan tuner. Pricey, but hey, get a good one, and one is set.

A friend of mine that has a 6.4 she bought a couple years ago, hit me up on the regen issue and mileage frustration. I suggested that she delete the regen and tune up with a spartan. She went half way, did the delete, but went with a cheap no name tuner. it worked, with some software glitches. In the end, the tuner had switched into the highest power setting when not expecting it, and flipped the truck.

I think I am pretty set on the Spartan and delete!

 

If I was you I would go with spartan or h&s. Personally I installed spartan on my 250. They have different tunes you can swap depending whether you are towing or not. And the dpf delete pipe vs a gutted dpf depends on where you live or travel like mentioned above.

 

Let me start out by saying this truck in it's stock form can be reliable If you follow the severe duty maintenance schedule and constantly check your fluids. Make sure to read the diesel supplement guide from Ford that came with your truck. It will give you insight on what to do during a regeneration and extend the life of your truck.

There are many other things to consider like the legality of removing the DPF. There can be stiff fines imposed if removed, I personally have not heard or seen anyone being fined because of this. Also depending on the state you live in could have emission testing. Do you want to crawl under your truck once a year and put your truck back to stock to pass an emissions test?

That being said I personally view the 6.4 as a ticking time with the DPF. The DPF causes the motor to make oil due to temperature differentials on internal components specifically piston & rings which allows the extra fuel introduced during regeneration to blow by and this fuel will collect in the lower crank case. Which can cause the overfill condition on your engine oil. This fuel that has been introduced to the oil will cause premature wear on internal components in your motor. Oil and fuel do not mix. A good way to find out if this is happening to your truck is to get an oil analysis done. A good company to have oil analysis done with is "Blackstone."

If deleted you will see gains in fuel economy and depending on the tuner and settings better shift points and performance from the transmission. When calculating current fuel mileage be sure to hand-calculate and do not trust your in dash lie-o-meter. Conservatively if you delete you will see 2-3 MPG gained.

Hope this helps.

 

I pulled a 30ft camper trailer to Mexico with Spartan's 210 horse tow tune and was very happy with it. The transmission shifted well, EGTs did not get too high, even when I stepped in it. I normally run the 210 horse non-tow tune when not pulling, with dpf delete, and have had no problems.

 

I ran a banks 6 gun with IQ on mine and kept the dpf. Trouble free and did not make oil.

I kept the dpf because we travel cross country and I didn't view it as a problem. If I need warranty work then I did not have to worry about trying to re-tune it.

Worked well for me.