moved from Chips and Tuners section

I am considering buying a SCTx4 for a 6.0L with Head studs from 5 Star Tuning. What has slowed me down was is the fact that 5 Star appears to be more oriented to gas engines than Diesels. Has anyone bought tunes from 5 Star for a diesel and if so what has been your experience with them. Pro or Con about them. I have talked to Mike at 5 Star and he seemed like a fair guy. As finicky as the 6.0L is I want to make sure that I don't buy something that adversely affect the engine and transmission.
Thanks in advance
Greg

 

Then buy your tuner from a more recognized shop that deals with the 6.0 more often... like GearHead Automotive. Give them a call, they will answer all your questions, ask for Matt.

I wouldn't let anybody tune my truck that hadn't tuned a bunch of them successfully, good that your asking before it's to late. In general, lots of tuners don't de-fuel during shifts causing early transmission failures.

 

Your reputable choices for 6.0 tuning are as follows:

Matt Robinson, Gearhead Automotive Performance, maker of the popular SRL tune

Chris Buhidar, Truck Source Diesel, maker of the SPD or "Super Panty Dropper" tune

Eric Eldreth, Innovative Diesel Performance

Tony Wildman, Total Diesel Performance

I can speak for Matt and Chris as I run both their tunes. As far as I'm concerned it's a close race between the two, but I've met Matt personally and he tunes both my trucks. He has a VERY intricate "should have been and probably was a Ford or International Engineer" knowledge of the 6.0 and the Torqshift transmission.

The power and mileage are very similar between both tunes and you can't go wrong with either.

Eric and Tony have been at the tuning game for some time now and are some of the top players in the game along with Matt and Chris.

 

Greg,

We tune a wide array of 6.0L, 6.4L, 6.7L and 7.3L all the time. Just seems like we tune more gas with the increasing popularity of the EcoBoost. If you decide to go with our tunes I know you will be impressed! Our tunes will give you more power, better driveability and are designed with longevity of the vehicle in mind. If there is anything else we can do for you please let us know or ask us on here and we will be happy to answer it for you.

 

Greg,

We tune a wide array of 6.0L, 6.4L, 6.7L and 7.3L all the time. Just seems like we tune more gas with the increasing popularity of the EcoBoost. If you decide to go with our tunes I know you will be impressed! Our tunes will give you more power, better driveability and are designed with longevity of the vehicle in mind. If there is anything else we can do for you please let us know or ask us on here and we will be happy to answer it for you.

 

After 18000 miles on my 2015 Powerstroke, and while I hadn't planned on tuning, I am having found memories of my tuned F150 EB, so I ordered an SCT X4 from 5-Star. The tuner arrived Thursday evening and on Friday I loaded the canned tow tune. After about 300 miles, I will say I feel a small power increase and it looks like my fuel mileage may have improved. I may try the canned street tune for comparison. The X4 does allow for transmission tuning, but I didn't look at those options because I wouldn't be sure what to do.
I submitted the 5-Star calibration sheet. I am looking forward to that as the 5-Star tow tune should have a little more power than the canned SCT tow tune, plus transmission tuning that should make things even better.
While I got this truck to tow my 10K fifth wheel, towing season is over and I would like just a little more sport out of my truck.

Day 3: Sunday
I decided to load the SCT Street tune from the choices of Tow, Street, or Performance. While I was in, I checked the Transmission options and was surprised to find the same options for the transmission, so I check Street for that.
What a difference! I can feel quite a bit more power and the shifts are firmer. It does hold the lower gears a little longer, but will still engage 6th gear at 40 if not pushing it. This woke the truck up and made it more sporty. I am not sure how it will affect fuel mileage as I only have 15 miles on it. I will drive it to work tomorrow and that is a 74 mile round trip.
I now want to try the canned tow tune again with some Trans tuning to take the laziness out of the shifting and it should feel more sporty than the stock transmission did.
It was interesting, maybe because of the Trans tuning, that it took a while to load and seemed to load twice. The X4 is a lot more sophisticated than the SF3 I had previously (gone to the good home of a 4.6L owner).
The sweet thing about ordering from 5-Star is that I get three custom tunes for the same price I would pay for the X4 itself from somewhere else.

Day 4: Monday
The 5 Star tunes showed up in my inbox late this morning. I spent lunch installing them on the x4, and loaded the Daily Tow tune just before going home. Wow! This is just what I was looking for! There is as much power as the canned street, but the transmission tuning was perfect. The shifting is quicker than stock and softer than SCT street. Where SCT held low gears longer, but was in 6th by 40. 5* only held lower gears slightly longer than stock, but doesn't hit 6th until 46 mph. One of the most annoying things about the stock tranny is holding 6th too long when starting a grade, bogging down, dropping to 5th and bogging again so a drop to 4th is needed. I frequently locked out 6th unless I was doing 50 or more. 5* eliminates the need for that. It quickly drops to 5th and keeps pulling with no bog. This tune has a perfect match with power and gears so they work well together. It appears to get better than stock mileage as well and better than SCT Street. Leaving a stop light is much more satisfying than stock as the lazy feel with light throttle is gone. The truck feels 1000 lbs lighter now.
The Daily Tow tune is a great job by 5-Star. Highly recommended!