When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
It seems to me that you can accomplish most of what the tuner does by using manual shifting mode. Most agree that tuners don't influence mpg and many have pointed out that they are not happy with the new shifting points of some tunes. If you want to improve performance while towing or with larger tires, going to the 4.30 gears is a better investment.
Two things, first $450 (cost of tuner) won't get you anywhere close to 4:30 gears if you have 3:73s especially if you have a 4X4. Switching to 4:30s from 3:73s might cost you more than 1 mile to the gallon. Second manual shifting mode won't do anything for the throttle delay Ford put into the stock tuning. I highly recommend the 5star towing tune it's a night and day difference from stock. It's a lot more fun to drive.
Mark
I will second that. The tuner makes it much more fun to drive-i also went with 5 star ($385 open box w/3 tunes). I run 37x12.5x20's tires and it isn't as much of a dog. One day I will get the 4.30 (or higher if possible) but at 2K+ for gears and install I knew it wasn't in the cards. When I get the gears I can just resell the tuner if I want.