Hi All,
Since I'm going to be towing my 5th wheel to Idaho & back this year, I'm thinking on a programmer or tuner. A friend has his older Duramax on a Hypertech and says it really helps when he's towing his utility trailer with construction debris and concrete demo.
My research took me to Hypertech's site and DP tuner too. My understanding is that the DP tuner is in the $1200 range. That's beyond what I feel like paying to give my 2000 F350 7.3 the extra umph I want for mountain towing. I already have gauges for EGT, Trans temp, and Boost. Unsure if I may already have a chip or has been "tuned". I bought it used from a dealer a year and a half ago. No paperwork or knowledge from dealer of stuff on the truck.
So,
1. How do I tell if my rig has a chip or been tuned?
2. Anybody willing to chime in on why I would spend $1200 for a DP Tuner (All respect to DP as a loyal sponsor of this great forum) as compared to the Hypertech for $350 or so? All I want is to gain a 40-60 HP gain for mountain towing.
Your thoughts, as usual, are greatly respected and appreciated.

 

Well the cheapest option, I believe, would be to pull your PCM out and send it to DP-Tuner for the 40HP or 60HP tow tune...that would run about $110 I believe. If you pull the PCM and it had a chip, you would see it.

 

If you want a little more flexibility and the ability to change between a lot of tunes for a little more money you can get a hydra. Pretty easy to install and they have a library of tunes that are available. Been real happy with mine.

 

I have the DP tuner with switch on the fly 16 position. The only reason I went for this was because I wanted the choice in one easy bite. To be fair 99% of the time I run in either 80hp daily or 60hp tow which I could have had for around half the total cost. The deceleration tune is also great. You don't have to buy all the tunes from any of the suppliers, you can pick & choose, some will let you try before you buy, I know that DP does this. As said, if you pull the PCM you will see if there is a chip fitted, I don't know how you tell if the PCM has been flashed, other than the feel of the truck or a sticker that says "do not flash, ****** tune installed"

 

The $1200 you are referring to would be for their Infinity system. That is a programmer, OBDII tool/gauges, and music player (need the head unit as an amp) in one unit. I feel quite strongly that anybody who wants to know these rigs at this age, they need an OBDII tool/gauge in one form or another, but I never liked the screen size of the Infinity from day one. I have a Nexus 7 and OBDII port adapter that does a splendid job as an OBDII tool and gauge set.

As for the tunes, DP also has a chip instead of the programmer. This is less expensive than the Infinity, and a chip can switch on-the-fly - where the Infinity cannot. I hear tell the DP chip is now an open platform that other tuners can provide tunes for, but the Hydra chip has far more support by a variety of vendors. Hydra also has a massive library of tunes available from PHP by default, and you can buy it from a vendor with some of their tunes.

DP and PHP are pretty much Apple and Windows in the tuning world - but many of us have moved on to Google: Matt at Gearhead or Tony Wildman at Total Diesel Performance both program on the Hydra or the TS chip (Hydra tunes can be sent via internet, TS does not have this feature). I don't yet know if Brian at Brian's Transmission Service is tuning on the Hydra, but he knows his stuff - he's been tuning on the TS chip for years.

Be careful with the horsepower hype - the Ford engineers did not leave 140 HP on the table with our injector system. They did leave about 60-65 HP on the table. 40 HP is an excellent tune for going heavy, and 60-65 HP is an excellent daily driver. The decel tune is a fantastic brake saver when towing in the mountains, but "whisper", "stealth", "quiet", or "coffee window" tunes are almost useless. Are they quieter? Sure. Can you use it at the coffee window to keep the cab heat or A/C on? No. The emissions chase you and the barista behind closed glass. However, it makes a nice "pull into the campground in the wee hours" tune.

 

How heavy is your camper? I tow a 21 foot boat home from the river in 60HP tune from DP and all is well. But if your heavy, the 40 tune is all I would get. I say this if your going to have your PCM flashed. He dose a good job, DP. I had one done years ago, and had the trans pressure increased also. Lots of guys have done this and like it. It will over ride your pcm setting if already flashed or not. The F5 or F6 is nice if you want many different tunes. His tunes are a little noisey, you will notice this at first start up.

 

So I have to send PCM out = no truck, correct?
5th wheel is Keystone Sprinter 27 not over 10K lbs

 

Yes, you have to send it to him. Under 10K you should be okay with the 60 tow tune. But the 40 tow tune should be enough just in case you increase the weight later. With the f6 or f5 chip you could get many tunes and try them all. Way better then what you were going to get.

 

I am curious as are others....I have noticed that they are quite noisy also on more than one truck. Do you have any idea why that is....specially considering that other tuners are putting the same HP to the ground with tunes that are considerably quieter?

 

I have a 2000 CC LB 7.3 also. Had a Banks Stinger plus system and chip when I got it. Switched to the Banks Ottomind programmer, then discovered the diesel world of stuff on the forums. Now running the 16 position switch on the fly PHP Hydra and I love it.

 

I know elevated ICP equals elevated noise - and that we would be able to see with the OBDII tool/gauge. What we won't know is the Start Of Injection timing, and that makes the truck louder/quieter as well.

 

Well, SOI timing adds a piece to the puzzle. I have logged data back when I was running DP's tunes and have compared it to Gearhead, PHP, TW, and couple of others. After comparing all of them at idle where the loudness of the DP tunes are most noticeable, lack of wind noise, I can honestly say that I have to agree that it is not based solely on ICP. Thanks. Unraveling one mystery at a time.....

 

I kept mine a little more on the budgeted side and went with an SCT X4 power flash tuner. It's not switch on the fly, but rarely quick, only taking about 40 seconds to change tunes. I pull a 31' passport bumper pull camper using the SCT tow tune and was pleased with performance over stock night and day. Their level 2 street tune or level 3 performance tune are both decent daily driver tunes and can net you some better milage and shifting patterns. Then if you decide to experiment, you can buy E-mail tunes from DP where he'll write it for your truck specifically and send it to you via email, then you just upload to the tuner and then flash to the truck. Only ran about $380 for the SCT which was pretty reasonable in the opinion of a 19 year old like me with a tight budget.