Vehicle is in the signature, mods included. I don't plan any other mods except for this tuner. Short story is that I plan to tow an 8000 lb RV around the country for the next couple of years.

I would like to uncork a little of the power that I know is there for the taking. I'm not interested in squeezing every bit out of it that I can, sacrificing reliability along the way. I would like the truck to maintain its reliability and longevity.

I would also like a tool that I can monitor the things the PCM tracks, like boost pressure, tranny oil temp, water temp, voltage, etc. I don't care if it's a standalone device or an app that I can run on a tablet, I would just like to be able to access the data for my own information.

I've read a bunch of tuner threads on here, but I still feel like I don't have enough information to make a decision. I did read Tugly's "chip chasers" thread so I just decided to start my own thread here on his advice.

 

I'm a big advocate of Gearhead for tuning.

For monitoring parameters, I really like my ScanGauge II, it works very well and can be programmed with an additional 24 gauges. Displays four at once and you can switch through them on the fly. Also reads and clears codes if you get any. You won't find trans temp nor water temp through the OBDII port, and boost is only to a certain point. For important stuff, I would really recommend a set of real gauges (boost, trans temp, EGT) then use a standalone for the rest of what you want.

 

I've run the canned SCT X2 tunes, DP-Tunes, and Gearhead tunes on my 7.3 Excursion.

The SCT X2 tunes were nice and delivered on power and fuel economy, but the shifting left much to be desired.

I jumped on the DP-Tuner bandwagon December 2009 and leapt to the Gearhead camp December 2012. Though DP-Tuner is indeed custom tuning, it's not the safest and most up to date tuning. I learned this the Winter of 2011 when my engine and trans were almost destoyed because Jody wouldn't make the required effort to properly resolve the tuning issue I had.

Moving to Gearhead was the smartest thing I did for my 7.3 Excursion and later, my 6.0 Excursion; BOTH trucks are efficient, well tuned power monsters.

I've used Matt's tow tune on both trucks and neither have yet to disappoint with their performance. Throttle response, shifting, acceleration, as well as the ability to maintain speed are vastly improved over stock. You basically don't know you have a trailer behind you until you look in the mirror.

When you're not towing, your truck will be light, but surefooted and press you back into your seat when you decide to mash it.

 

I'm running a BullyDog GT Tuner and love the ability to monitor temps on the fly. They also have been extraordinary with their customer service. I am, however looking for other suggestions and was sold on DP, but now this is the first time I have heard about Gearhead. Do they write custom tunes and why is DP not safe?

 

Yes, Gearhead does, if you opt for the Hydra chip, they can email you tunes instead of you having to send the whole chip in.

It's not that DP tunes aren't safe, it's that there are better options out there as I've learned.

When I first got DP tunes December 2009, I fell into the crowd of sheeple as it was the best option at the time. I never did see much of a performance increase and my mileage suffered as a result. I had an SCT X2 and was getting 17-18 mpg with it as opposed to the 14-15 mpg with the DP. (this was 70% highway and 30% city) The other problem was that my engine never really started right with DP tunes. It would fire with a vengeance and at times, I would think the engine was trying to jump out from below the hood.

I later upgraded to Stage I 160cc injectors and it only got worse. Jody reburned my F5, for the new injectors and from that my truck ran worse. When I started it, it would cough to life, when driving it would slam into gear (I have video to prove this), and it eventually got to the point where I was sure the engine, trans, or both were going to blow. To expedite things, I had to purchase and paid for the newly released (at the time) F6 where new tunes could be emailed to me. (I had to do this as it was costing me in overnight shipping) Even so, the issues I experienced were never resolved with DP. I was sent on a wild sensor chase and even had a shop give my truck a clean bill of health. As soon as I pulled the chip off my truck and ran splits tuning with my single shot injectors, my truck was back to it's normal self, clearly pointing to the tuning. After going back and forth with Jody for 2 solid months and him not even offering to live tune on his dime (he wanted me to pay $600+ for it), it became apparent that I would need a new engine and trans before this was all fixed. So I jumped ship and went to Gearhead...

I was on a roadtrip and text Matt that I was interested in one of chips for my 7.3. Within an hour, he text me "good to go" and I headed to his shop limping my 7.3 there. I pulled the DP F6, installed Matt's chip and as soon as I started the truck, I could hear and feel the difference. Matt sat in the front seat, I put the truck in drive, drove not even 20 feet, then put the truck in park. Matt looked at me and asked if something was wrong, my "Nope, trucks fixed".

Bottom line: DP-Tuner has they're way of doing tuning and have stuck to it. Other folks like Matt of Gearhead and Tony of Total Diesel Performance embrace some of the newer and better ways to tune and keep EGTs down. Running Gearhead tunes, my truck starts, runs, and drives night and day smoother. Acceleration, power, shifting, and especially fuel economy are much better (16-17 mpg easily).

Since Matt did such a good job on my 7.3, I run his tunes on my 6.0 with the same result: Good fuel economy, power, and shifting.

 

I jumped ship from DP and went to Gearhead after driving Razzi's 7.3.

Every single tune I had on my DP ran obscenely hot. They'd billow smoke out the tailpipe, truck shifted harder than my Chevelle with a race trans and shift mods, and consistent similar starting never happened.

That and no reburns for free UNLESS you buy the upgrade items from DP? No. I'm not going to go and buy an intake or injectors or a 38R through DP (who has consistently higher prices than competitors), but if I don't I have to pay $35-50 PER TUNE for a reburn? **** you

Also, Jody tunes to only use half the pedal. I could floor it from half-throttle and the engine would scream but no more speed. The truck was maxed out by half throttle. Matt's tunes run progressive maps based off throttle inputs so you get the whole pedal, and a much less twitchy and touchy throttle pedal.

Gearhead's tunes run better, cooler on EGT's, more comfortable driving, and FASTER. Truck is quieter, starts happily and consistently, shifts smooth but firm... Shift points are back to stock as well.

Run away from DP tunes. Compared to the magic Matt puts in his tuning... Well, there is no comparison.

 

So glad I started this thread! I was really looking at the DP tuner but I will steer clear based on the information here.

Someone else mentioned in here a while ago that some tunes will change the shift points so it doesn't drop into overdrive at 39 MPH and lug. That was one thing that irritated me when I was towing last weekend.

 

The tuner (the person) can fiddle with the shift points and intensity, most of them will up the line pressure and firmness to help stave off the 4R100 exploding. DP tunes moved my shift points all over the place, OD wouldn't engage until 52mph on the GPS which kind of left me screaming around town at 45... Gearhead's are back down to stock for me, which was OD in at 43 per GPS.

If you're towing you should technically leave the OD off unless you're running flats on the freeway regardless of stock or tuned, you'll be lugging the hell out of the turbo below 2000rpm and temps will climb. If you have a tuner and do that, you'll peg your EGT gauge before you can blink. Have the towing I did moving across country I had to switch my DP back to stock mode due to skyrocketing EGT's. On the contrary, GH tunes have been perfect and the max I've seen is 1200-1250 pulling hills with 10k behind me. Actually I can't peg my gauge into the red on any of the GH tunes except the All Out, the tuning is on point.

 

I had no idea about any of that. I wonder how many other important bits of knowledge are floating around that I've yet to discover.

 

I stumbled across that tidbit myself on here about a year ago. At first it made no sense to me at all,... higher RPM for cooler exhaust temps? Right...

Then I tried it out one day, running about 65 up a decent grade leaning on it almost to the downshift point but maintaining speed, RPM around 1700 (35's and stock gears) and EGT's whizzing up very quickly into the red. Hit the OD off on the stalk, and they dropped a good 250-300 degrees even while maintaining 65 now at 2200 rpm.

One very important thing you will need to do prior to a tuner of any kind - gauges. I didn't see them listed in your sig. Stock parameters and tuning won't let anything get too crazy for boost and EGT, Trans temps maybe on hot days and hard tows. However a tuner will modify all of these, and you'll need to be able to watch your boost, trans, and EGT's. Clay over at Riffraff has a pre-assembled (as in all the parts shopping is done, not physically assembled) setup for a good price.

Something else to consider would be the 6.0 trans cooler swap, the stock 7.3 cooler is an absolute joke and is only a little bigger than the steering cooler. Not absolutely necessary, but worth consideration.

 

I have a 6.0 cooler and I was planning on doing that swap tomorrow. I also have a set of gauges but haven't had the time to put them on yet. Plus, I've never done them before and it's a little intimidating - hence some of the procrastination.

I have a pyro, water temp, trans temp, and boost gauge. They're autometer gauges and look really nice but I have to get the pod painted to match the interior too. Maybe I'll see if Napa can match the interior color. I have to run over to pick up front turn signal harnesses.

 

Have a 6.0 with SCT livewire.

+1 for tunes from gearhead. Very happy

 

All due respect to Matt, he's only "kind of" right on that.

You can tow with your OD button untouched without a problem, flats or uphill. You want to turn it off when your trans starts to hunt for gears, constantly dropping out of OD then back in, then back out due to the weight of the trailer and the grade of the incline.

Another situation you'll want to turn it off is if you start running hot, even if the trans isn't hunting, and you want the different gear and higher RPM to allow the engine temps to run cooler. This happened to me heading back from Oregon into California.

Also, keep in mind, Matt has larger wheels and tires than stock, so unless he's regeared, he's pulling his load differently than you are, or anyone else that's stock.

Stewart

 

Thanks bud, I was in a hurry and didn't have time to refine what I was getting at - appreciate you picking up on my slack.

In my defense, my post was in reference to his shifting and lugging around at 39... Instead of getting custom tunes to change that, I was recommending just turning off OD to keep it from being an issue until he was up to speed where OD wouldn't lug. The tangent on high temps and whatnot was kind of an off-shoot.

 

Yup, that is PERFECT advice. I still do that.

Stewart