Hi all,

Looking to finally pull the trigger on a Hydra chip for my truck, I have narrowed it down to two possibilities as far as where to get it from and have their flavor of tunes.

The first is Gearhead (Matt). I have seen a lot of people mention them several times on the forum, and they seem to have a great reputation tuning these trucks and great customer service. Cost for the Hydra and their tunes = $485 and they offer free lifetime re-burns as you upgrade your truck (or that's how I read it anyway?)

The second is Total Diesel Performance (Tony Wildman). Again I have heard great things about their tunes, but not quite as many mentions as Gearhead (but that isn't a really good metric to go off of) again good reputation and I believe good reputation. Cost for the Hydra and their tunes = $425, not sure about lifetime free re-burns (doesn't really mention anything on their site about it).

I am not saying that these two are any better than any others, but just based off my research and reviews I have seen, I believe they would be the best fit for me.

Has anyone had any experience with either one, or both? any insight or advice as to which way to jump? The cost part is not so much of a concern, more the final finished product and how my truck will run / last using either option.

I appreciate any and all input on this, part of the reason I love this site!!

Thank you in advance!

 

Someone correct me if I'm wrong but can't you just get the Hydra ,$375 several places, and just use the PHP canned tunes for free unless you need tuning for a heavily modded truck? I'm asking not stating as I too am looking at getting my first chip

 

I'd roll with Gearhead.

 

Yes sir, you can. I will still be able to access that library also, no matter who I ultimately go with. These are just two different tuners out there that offer their own versions of tunes, with their own little tweaks and nuances. I like having options, plus i have some upgrades to my truck coming down the pipeline.

One other thing to keep in mind, and something that I have done, and continue to do, is to make sure your truck is 100% before putting tunes on it. Any issues you may have now will manifest themselves tenfold once you start tweaking and pushing the limits of your truck. This was some very sound advice offered to me when i started down this path (got to love the Brotherhood!), advice I have taken to heart and made complete sense.

 

Gotcha. Thanks

 

I went with GH after many months of research and I am very happy with my choice. I had them remove the Street Fury and All Out tunes because they were not what I was looking for. I had them add no start and stock instead of those two.

As you said, I have lifetime re-burns via email in case I decide to change something up in the future.

Paul, you can get the Hydra with a default set of tunes from PHP that are already loaded on the chip. Although, I did not care for what I was hearing about the tunes from PHP for my application. PHP may do a fantastic job for another 7.3 owner that has different goals for their truck, but it did not fit my goals. I think the only PHP tune I would be comfortable using is a slightly different high idle than the 1100 RPM GH put on the chip for me.

Just my .02

 

Gearhead I will never go elsewhere, 460ish HP to the wheels on my pmr motor for about a year with there tunes and truck runs awsome throttle response is great, not touchy. Rolls on smooth like stock. And there awsome to deal with, put there tunes on my brothers OBS pushing little less power, and my dad's unstudded 6.0 on the highest setting. No problems gh all the way ran DP, tw and hydras stock tunes. I have a 6sp so dono how shifting is with auto.

 

I found the stock PHP files to be very good, much better than a set of TW custom tunes I had purchased in fact. The custom tunes were unnecessarily hot/aggressive for my taste/application and this was very obvious through datalogging.

With my new injectors that are single shots, custom tuning is required so, I went with Gearhead.

 

I've tried a stock tune from PHP for my Stage IIs - I saw no real gains from another tuner that I lost confidence in. Cody set me up with some "proper" tunes and I then had a taste of how these trucks should run - I have since had Cody live-tune the truck.

This is not to say you can get tunes from Cody (he's exclusive to central Montana with rare exception), this is sharing what I have learned about getting the right tuner in lieu of grabbing what's easy.

Note: Going for more than about 60-65 HP gains on stock sticks will likely give you a "hot" tune. I've seen a lot of data on a lot of tunes and trucks, and I have spotted a pattern: Those that feel "If 60HP is great, 80 HP will be better" are in for disappointing results. The truck will have a great SOTP feel in very specific ranges on the tachometer - but the feel will fade as the tach climbs, the EGTs will be higher than necessary, and the coal will roll. With those hotter tunes, you can pretty much guaran-freeaking-tee a HPOP conversation will ensue.

 

Following up on Tugly's comment, I learned this first hand as well. The 65hp daily and street php tunes are great. The customs were clearly designed for 1/4 throttle wow factor and petered out while taxing the HPOP and sensors to their max.

 

Thanks everyone for the input, I greatly appreciate it!!

So, it looks like Matt may well be getting an order here very shortly. Bring on the permagrin!!

I will post my thoughts once I get it installed, I can't wait to see what everyone keeps talking about once they have put a chip in a truck and the difference it has made.

Thanks again!

 

I think you made a good decision. My brother has a tw chip and it took forever to get it and the communication was not the greatest either

 

It's always fun to hear guys report back after getting a chip. Let us know what you think.

 

I too am thinking of going with the Hydra set up, I hear that you have access to all of PHP's basic tune library but what are those tunes ? I am not making a race truck and have stock sticks with just a VB intake and exhaust. From what I am reading PHP will be fine if I'm not expecting too much change. Is this correct? Where I am buying it from the guy says they come blank and I. An download the tunes I want my self. All I see on PHP are 6 basic tunes . Is this right?

 

Im really happy with my Hydra using only PHP tunes, i have found i get the best MPG on the 100+ hp tune