Hey everyone,

I've got a couple of questions about installing a tuner on my truck.

I've got a 2011 F-150 FX4 5.0L Supercab, 38,000 well maintained miles. It's about to be paid off (Yay no more 500$ a month car payments!) so I'm thinking seriously about putting a 5-Star Tune on it with the extra cash that I'm about to fall in to, but I've got a couple of questions first.

#1 - Will a tune of any kind effect the long term reliability / durability of the mechanical's of my truck? First and foremost my trucks long term durability is priority as I intend to keep this truck for many many years into the future.

#2 - How do tunes work? I hear terms like 87 Performance / 91 Performance 87 Economy / 91 Economy but don't really know what they mean or how they work? Really if this someone could enlighten me on the different kinds of tunes/programs you can use it would be nice.

#3 - If I were to get a professional tune by say 5-Star, then how does that work? Do I order what's needed and receive it in the mail along with ''How to'' install instructions? Or will I need to travel somewhere to have this installed on my pickup?

Thanks for any help here guys.

 

Durability all depends how you drive. A tune can make everything work better, but become a boy racer and bets are off.

87,91,93 is the minimum octane required to use with the tune. Towing, economy, performance is how aggressive the tune. Higher octane tunes are also more aggresive. Performance is most aggressive timing and fueling and the aim is horsepower. It is for short sprints, not continuos use. Towing ratchets down the intensity so engine doesn't suffer when working hard for long periods. Economy focuses on mileage, not power.

Two ways to get a tune: (1) Mail order, and (2) dyno/drive. The mail order is from a pre-developed database. Developed on somebody else's truck and sent to you. This is most common. The dyno/drive is done with your truck at the shop by a professional and is optimized just for your vehicle. It costs more money and is for the crowd trying to get perfection.

If you get a dyno tune then you're probably not walking away with a hand held tuning device. The shop uses their own tool. If you do mail order then you're buying a hand held device, such as an SCT X4. The SCT device is sold by SCT and comes pre-loaded with their tunes. Other outfits like 5 Star load their own tune on the SCT device and sell it to you. You pick your tune from a menu.

The tuning process consists of plugging the device in to the datalink (OBD II connector) under the steering column. Just follow the instructions on the device. The stock tune is copied onto your device and the new tune is flashed to the powertrain ECM. Once flashed, the device is now paired to your vehicle and will never work on a different vehicle until you restore the stock tune.

Once running a tune you can never let the dealer update engine or trans software. It will totally jack up everything.

 

Very informative! Thank you sir!

 

No problem.

Honestly, with the 5.0L you're not going to pick up hardly any extra power between a moderate tune to aggressive tune. Most the improvements of a tune on stock engine come with the revised trans strategy. I would keep it a bit on the tame side and focus on engine hardware changes if you want more power, and let the tune compliment those changes. In other words, don't try to force out too much power with just a tune. Rather enjoy a decent tow tune with a good trans strategy that keeps your engine healthy.

 

Yeah I knew the actual gains would be minimal with the naturally aspirated 5.0L, But I've heard so many good things about tuning (Namely 5-Star) regardless of what engine you have it almost seems silly not to do it if you have the money.

 

I installed the 5 Star SCT X4 on my 2014 F150 5.0 about a month ago, i ordered the 87 tow/performance, 89 tow/performance and 87 economy tunes.. Installed the 87 tow/perf. as i have a 22' camper to tow around colorado...First off, threre is a noticable difference in throttle response and power off the line...totally different truck, just have to keep my foot out of the gas, as it's easy to want to have fun with it. I towed my camper before the tune and it did ok, but now with the extra power off the line and transmission shifts going out longer it tows much easier and hills are not a problem.
I love it and will probably just keep the 87/tow/perf. tune in for a while, i don't see a reason to go to the 89...i get about 17.8 mpg and about 12.1 with the camper.