Just remember "the best" is all subjective to the beholder of both the holder of the tunners/chips and you, research, research and more research and reading are going to be the "best" thing to do, figure out what YOU want out of your truck.

 

^^^THIS^^^

Here are a few suggestions:

1. Ask for people to state how many different tune writers they have experience with.
If they only have experience with one, take their input with a grain of salt.

Back when I had only experienced the gold brick on the PCM, I thought that thing was the best. Then when I had a SuperChips programmer, it was certainly better than the gold brick. Move forward a few years. Then I made the transition to professional "custom" tune writers. Several in my family and circle of friends already had, so I was a late adopter, and I did not listen to their advice. It has been sort of an expensive mistake.

2. Ask the tune writer/company how many other tune writers are authoring/writing tunes for their hardware. If it is less than four, walk away. Otherwise, if they can't properly tune your truck to your satisfaction initially or after you modify your truck, you will have to purchase a new chip/programmer. Ask if their hardware, software, or code is proprietary.

3. Ask the tune writer/company if their tunes are code compatible with other tunes from different companies/authors and if they can be run on the same chip/hardware. This can/will affect shifting on the fly.

4. Ask the tune writer/company if they have a library of tunes available for your PCM calibration. Also ask how much it costs to access that library and each tune.

5. Ask the tune writer/company how much it will cost to update the tunes that you receive during your initial purchase each time that you update/modify your truck. If they charge you for each tuning update, then, you should know that there are companies out there that don't charge to keep your truck running smoothly.

BTW, many of us on here have experience with Matt @GearHead, Tony Wildman, Bill @PowerHungry, BriansTruckShop, Beans Diesel, Swamps, DP, and etc. Several of us have experience with several and have multiple tunes from different tune writers on the same chip.

They are not all created equally.

 

^^^^good advice... Especially number 2. Switched to Gearhead, wish I'd done that in the beginning. Would have saved myself a lot of money and headaches.

 

Great Advice!

Couldn't word it better myself...

Some people are late to the game of custom tuning, but you're dead on when you ask how many people tune on the same platform (TS6 and Hydra vs. Moates). I was one of those who was late to the game and living in the past with DP-Tuner. Sure I jumped on the bandwagon December 2009, but I leapt off and went to Gearhead before my engine and trans were trashed, January 2012. People had warned me, but fortunately I listened before it was too late. (PM me if you want to know my experience)

Not all are created equal, they just use different methods to achieve the same thing. It's a 50/50 matter of what your truck likes and what you like.

Reps to you sir...

 

Avoid proprietary chips for custom tunes? That's kinduh focusing a laser there.

 

For an Excursion that tows, I prefer DP to Gearhead, and tried both. I posted elsewhere in this forum as to why, but it boiled down to tranny behavior and PATS compatibility, not engine tuning. Both outfits provided good support and experience.

I get a little worn out with the "so and so ruined my junk" posts. If you're certain of that, man up and post up, and tell us exactly why it happened, and when. If you're worried about getting sued, or of an IB beat down, post elsewhere without mentioning names or products. We'll find it, and figure it out.

My $.02,

Mark

 

That's the thing - the "IB beat-down". There is also the aspect of everybody here makes a living, and tuners have families to feed. If everybody that had issues with one particular tuner started laying out charts, graphs, and testimonials on how a specific tuner was less than optimal - they'd be hitching a ride on the Joe train. They would also be assaulting a person's livelihood.

I look at it a different way: There are a gajillion options for "performance enhancements" out there - call it Fordagra as a generic term. There are tunes that I wouldn't want in my truck, for fear of reduced longevity and the less-than optimal performance for my modding dollar. I have seen tunes that make a great show, but the data doesn't lie: The 0-60 or the 0-80 time reflects the real performance - hang the crazy boost numbers and the uncalibrated dynos and pant seats all over the country. I know of several tunes from multiple tuners that have better 0-80 times if you back off the pedal by as much as half from WOT.

I can hear it already - "But Tugly, I don't race." Neither do I. I have never raced "Stinky", the wonder truck. I do pass bogged semis on two-lane roads on hills, and few can tell me they've never reached 80 in this maneuver. You can damn sure bet this is a bad time to feather the throttle on safari for that "sweet spot", in an attempt to get optimal performance before an opposing car rounds the bend. I want WOT to be top power, not 25%, 33%, or 50% past top power.

 

Justin thank you for reply and eveyrone who put in their opions it has helped a lot!

 

Fair enough, and I figured as much. As someone who's spent most of his life in sales, a lot of the veiled comments come off as FUD-slinging, to which I've developed an allergy over the years.

I've had three different tuner's (people) tunes in my X, and none behaved the way I wanted out of the box, but there were things I particularly liked about two of them. From those experiences I figured out how I wanted my truck to behave, and asked the guys to make it so. DP came the closest. It still isn't perfect, but I've not taken the time to ask them to fix the imperfections, so that's on me, not them. If had a pickup, not an X, and didn't tow through mountains, perhaps the results would have been different.

Is my choice going to make my truck a smoking hole in the ground? If anyone believes so, they need to explain why in clear, verifiable and unambiguous terms.

Mark

 

This is where my OCD really kicks in. I won't say a particular tuner will "upgrade" the truck to Windows 7.3, but many out there ask too much from the system. This has the end result of firing up the ol' Seat-of-the-pantsometer at hammer drop, but masks the fade as the tach bends to the right.

I want the system balanced where the tuning doesn't demand 180 CCs from a 140 CC stick. I'm also partial to smooth shifts, throttle response, and idle transition. Oh... and there's little use in the engine sounding like Thor playing patty-cake with Bam-Bam.

 

Agreed. We have similar tastes in tuning, and I've seen some of the needlessly aggressive behavior from a few different tunes. Most of the tuners (people) seem to be able to correct those things, though, and make the tune work to one's liking. The exception seems to be tranny behavior, which only DP was able to make work the way I wanted. I don't know why that is, as my tastes there aren't much different than most folk's, I don't think.

To a point you made earlier, FUD can be every bit as dangerous to one's livelihood as facts, IMHO.

Mark