Let me start off by saying I've poured over the injector/tuning threads the past week. It's been tremendously helpful, but every application is a little different. I'm hoping once you guys know a bit more about what my expectations are, you can give a little clear guidance...

The truck is a 2002 F250 7.3PSD 4X4, XCAB Long box, SRW, with 166k miles. It's a daily driver (not far) during the winter, and a camping/firewood/hunting/dirt-bike hauler during the rest of the year. I have a 9.5' Lance slide-in camper, 2700 lb empty, that gets put in the back regularly (Ride-Rite bags). One Utah trip per year sees the camper and a 14' construction trailer behind (w/all the toys and necessities). The truck is paid off, it's awesome, and I see keeping it for a long, long time - meaning the possibility of a gooseneck camper for family should some god-forsaken girl take me in.

The injectors are tired - a decent amount of smoke on start-up between 30F-40F, and a pretty considerable amount (picture neighbor-hate-creating toxic plume and rough idle) below 30F if I don't plug it in. With tax refund season here, I'm ready to bite the bullet. Yes, I've replaced the glow plugs (myself), and I'm very familiar with GPR testing/replacement (3rd one now).

I've got a 6637 intake, AIH delete, turbo pedestal and outlet (bye-bye butterfly), and 4" exhaust all the way back (aftermarket muffler). Those alone made a HUGE difference in power.

I'm not power-hungry - I'm impressed with what I have. BUT - now's the time to step up if there ever was one. I don't want to go too far here. I want to keep the stock turbo, HPOP (til it's done), etc. And I'm capable of keeping my foot in check with an upgraded injector set, so I don't think I'll push that stock gear beyond reason. I want smoke/idle haze kept to a minimum. Questions:

1. I like the idea of larger nozzles and tuning bringing down the EGT's, so I've been leaning towards a setup like what Tugly has with the FFD 160/100's. Too much? 160/30's?
2. The tuner is going to be DP. F5 or F6? If I had an automatic, I'd prob go F6 right away in case tunes needed tweaking for shift points. But with my manual tranny, am I going to need DP to tweak any of their regular tunes? If not, I'd go F5 to save a little.
3. Tune suggestions - I'm thinking 60hp Tow and 80hp Daily need to be there. Should I add a smaller tow? I don't think I want a 100hp tune.
4. Gauges - EGT and Boost for sure. Do I really, really need to monitor Fuel Pressure given my setup and ability to keep my foot out of it?

Have at it guys, and fire me any questions for more info. And thanks in advance.

 

After much thought, I've decided....PIS 160/30's. I'll purchase from DP. I have an F6 already.

As I've stated before. I could easily get by on two tunes...a DD tune and a tow tune. Right now I run 60 DD from DP and a 80T. I have never run into EGT problems with the 80T. I'll be in excess of 20k lbs (GCVW) when towing.

 

If you want to go with the camper and trailer and not put your foot in it just get the 160 injectors and be done with it. With the stick you'll see increase in HP and MPG. Lower egt's and much better all around driving. Just my 2 cent's. DP can set you right up and so can Clay with Riffraff Diesel. And I hope you changed the relay when you did the glow plugs, that could be a lot of your problem.

 

Hope you're ready to replace your clutch soon....

IMO, unless you plan on upgrading your turbo I see no reason to mess around with 100% nozzles. They will work fine for simple driving around, but you will kill the turbo eventually and EGTs will be tough to keep in check while towing. So, if you want to upgrade the turbo when it fails, sure get the 100% nozzles. If you're going to keep the stock turbo and just throw in a billet wheel or something, stick to 160's with stock nozzles.. That's my .02.

 

160/30 gets my vote.

 

160/stock is on every IH shelf in the country... not so with custom nozzles. You get the Alliant warranty to back up the vendor warranty with new 160s, but the vendor is on his own when he opens the stick up for modification.

These were all things I weighed when I made a choice. I went reman 160/100s and things went completely sideways, so I chose to reload the Buck$Zooka and traded in my remans for new. Even with new, things can get a bit hinky... but not in the same league as remans. I now have 9 sticks, in the event I need to do any swap-type troubleshooting... and I've used it.

So... I'm saying read the "Adventures of Stinky" before you think "I want to do what Tugly did."

 

Rich, you ended up staying with the 100 nozzle when you went new, right? Or did you back down?

 

I have P.I.S.160/30's and if I had to do it again, I would go with 160/100's. The 30's are nice and I can grow with them, but there is so much more to be had with the 100's and you can tune for the set-up. I would get the F6 so you can tweak the tunes. I have an F5 now, and I am going to upgrade to the F6 as soon as snow season is over.

 

You should maybe get a few trouble free miles under yur belt first...just sayin'.

 

Sounds like your PSD will be used for towing 75% of the time and a daily driver the rest. As others have said 160/30's would be my pick with the stock turbo if it was only a choice between the 160/30's and the 160/100's.

If I'm reading between the lines correctly in Tugly's post (and please correct me if I am off base Rich) you can get a set of 160's with stock nozzles and have them under a full warranty. To add to this I would suggest checking into Swamps Diesel Performance, IIRC they have a 5 year 200,000 mile warranty on just about all their injectors. I've had their 175/146 (stock nozzles) in my F-250 for @ 7 years and about 70-80,000 miles. Mine are reman's and I have not had a problem with them at all (knock on wood). You can keep your stock turbo for now but you might want to upgrade it with a 1.0 housing or find a van turbo depending on your altitude. I love towing with this setup and have dragged our 31' 5th wheel to Florida, Colorado, Smokey Mountains and Texas. Here's the link:

175/146 Single Shot Injectors, Tow (Mild Street) - Swamp's Diesel Performance

 

Heck of a cold morning for you guys today!

Sounds like your PSD will be used for towing 75% of the time and a daily driver the rest. As others have said 160/30's would be my pick with the stock turbo if it was only a choice between the 160/30's and the 160/100's.

If I'm reading between the lines correctly in Tugly's post (and please correct me if I am off base Rich) you can get a set of 160's with stock nozzles and have them under a full warranty - and you should see a good bump in HP as well. To add to this I would suggest checking into Swamps Diesel Performance, IIRC they have a 5 year 200,000 mile warranty on just about all their injectors (new & re-manufactured). I've had their 175/146 (stock nozzles) in my F-250 for @ 7 years and about 70-80,000 miles. Mine are reman's and I have not had a problem with them at all (knock on wood). You can keep your stock turbo for now but you might want to upgrade it with a 1.0 housing or find a van turbo depending on your altitude. I love towing with this setup and have dragged our 31' 5th wheel to Florida, Colorado, the Smokey Mountains and Texas. Here's the link:

175/146 Single Shot Injectors, Tow (Mild Street) - Swamp's Diesel Performance



Good luck with your decision - I've been struggling on making the injector decision for my Excursion for over a year now. I just need to decide and go for it.

 

The 160/30 is a great all around injector. Perfect for towing and you will love the new power it has to offer. We carry Full Force and P.I.S. injectors, and both builders offer a 160/30. This is the injector I recommend 90% of the time unless someone is looking for bigger power. It can also be used with the stock turbo (even though upgrading to a GTP38R isn't a bad idea).

When it comes to the chip... The F6 would be my recommendation. It is much more convenient to have your tunes adjusted if need be. You can also test tunes before buying them with the F6. If the budget doesn't allow, the F5 will work perfectly fine. But you cannot go wrong with the F6 if it fits in your budget.

You will definitely want at least a Tow tune and Daily tune. I can help you pick and choose the perfect tunes for your needs if you want. Feel free to shoot me an e-mail, PM, or phone call at any time.

 

Yeah, but 30's vs. 100's wouldn't be the difference at this point.

 

Another vote for 160/stock. Like Rich said they are easy to find if you ever need one.
I had Jim Rosewood (Rosewood Diesel) rebuild my AB's into 160cc AC's with new stock nozzles, new plungers and barrels.
They really shine at highway speeds & while towing.

 

I stuck with the 100s, but that was my commitment at the time and I've learned a lot since then. If I had it to do over, it's hard to say what I would do - I'm "tainted"... it's easier to get a permagrin from powering up rather than down.

If I never experienced the power of the 100s and I had this knowledge at the time of purchase, I would have done what I suggest - brand new AC 160/stock.

My reasons? B50 life is at the top. IH 160s give cooler EGTs than stock sticks at the same power levels, and give more oomph at the same EGTs as stock. It's a great tow stick that's been engineered for this engine by IH, and they're on a shelf everywhere. I go far from home on a regular basis, and getting that 9th flow-balanced stick as a precaution is an expensive insurance policy. However - loosing a custom stick anywhere other than in my home area is more expensive. Stock (or 30%) nozzles don't need to be live-tuned to perfect the street manners, and it's much easier to keep the emissions in check with the stock nozzle. I'm not talking about emissions for licensing, I'm talking about idling in close proximity to noses.

Why new? I had remans, and swapped them... so I know what my truck sounds like on fresh remans and on new sticks with identical specifications. Dudes... seriously... new. This is an interesting slant on things - Joe (CSIPSD) suggested new as well, and he was instrumental in my choice of the AC 160/100.

Even with all the above being said... my EGTs are icy, so it's hard to argue against that.

As for warranty, I'm not saying any one vendor's warranty is sub-par. I have had great support all the way down my list of mods. I'm saying new injectors are backed by a very big company, as well as your vendor. Its more like that second blanket on the bed on a winter night - it's a warm and fuzzy thing.