If this happens, I want in. Cody seriously saved my truck. It is dumb how good it runs. It is the best running 7.3 I have ridden in and sat in.

 

Maybe not you, but well......poop.

Stewart

 

We do appreciate what you have done not only for us, but for perfect strangers that you saw were in need of assistance. We as common sense thinking people (most of us anyway) fully understand the challenges and setbacks that may have led you to the decision of calling the tuning off.

All that we ask is that you stay here on FTE with us as a great source of experience and knowledge that is not replaceable. There are several members on here that know the 7.3 backward and forward, and you are one of them. We value your insight and advice on problems or good things going on in our own world which involves a 7.3 diesel engine.

Thanks for giving the tuning option your best shot.

 

I'm just going to throw this out there, you can agree or disagree... I'm thinking the Hydra would be the best option for you anyway. You already know the tuning on it, and the hardware has the kinks worked out by now. People that own them have already paid the developer (php) for that chip and the engineering behind it. PHP I assume would deal with the warranty, so you wouldn't have to fuss over those problems either.


As for the tuning, you have every right to get paid for the tuning you do. I know absolutely nothing about tuning, so it would be worth it for me to pay someone like you that has the skills and knowledge to do that kind of thing. Just because other tuners offer free revisions, doesn't mean you have to as well. If charging full price for retunes bothers you, maybe a half price retune might fit your fancy? You have a great reputation for your tuning abilities and the smart people would be willing to pay for new tunes based on upgrades. If they don't want to pay to play, you don't need their headaches anyway.


Just a side note, My ex has 414k on factory injectors and trans. You're the only one I would trust to tune it when I upgrade to say 160/80's and need a "subtle" tune to save the trans until I can afford to go down that road. That's how good of a reputation you have, and I've never driven on your tunes. I would then accept and be willing to pay for the new tune when I get that BTS put in and need a tune that would let those sticks reach their potential.


You and only you know what's best for you, and only you can decide what you want to do. You're a great asset to this brotherhood, and hopefully you'll stick around here and continue to share your knowledge with us.

 

To Cletus...Dilly Dilly

 

Cody knows the technology inside and out, and the Hydra is about the only technology he'll "tolerate" having his tunes on... but he was hoping for something more secure. The backstory goes much deeper, but that's a novella.

 

While I certainly don't get any "warm and fuzzy" feeling about this guy, based on many of the rather gruff/"prickly" posts of "Cleatus12R", I have heard enough good things about his tuning that I probably would of paid money to try them. However, I would have only been willing to part with "tuning" money, not "new hardware too" money; especially since I just bought a new Hydra- because of the option of getting tuning from multiple sources.

Just how many new "chips" are people expected to buy? One of the biggest reasons for DP hardware/chips falling out of favor is their limitations of being proprietary and only able to be tuned by one company. Conversely, Hydra's huge rise in popularity is primarily due to its flexibility and openness making it possible to choose from many different tuners. The fact is the Hydra chip is probably the defacto "standard" chip for the 7.3L now. Given that it is an aging platform, with a shrinking market base, further "forking" of the tuning hardware ecosystem is probably not a good idea.

Honestly, I think this project was doomed to failure from the start, IF it relied on expecting people to pay for yet another chip; even more so if this proposed hardware was to be proprietary.

If you want to write/sell tunes, then I think the only viable option is to suck it up and write them for the Hydra, and its huge and growing installed base. Trying to re-invent the wheel, in the name of paranoia over other people "seeing" the tunes, only results in nothing happening.

Let's say the tunes you write for the Hydra are not 100% secure. I'm guessing its still pretty good, given the large number of vendors offering custom tunes. Beyond that, so what? The vast majority of end users are not going to have the time, knowledge, technology, or desire to go digging into discovering your "top secret" tunes.

As for potential competitors, again, so what? I doubt most of them want to copy your tunes. They do their own thing, and I'm sure most of them believe THEY are best. Its like when a disgruntled employee tried to sell Pepsi's formula to Coke. They said "no thanks" ,and reported the person to the authorities and to Pepsi. They have their own thing, and don't need or want to copy the competition.

Will a few people try to copy it, if its technically possible? Sure. Again, so what? That's just a part of business. Every business expects and accounts for a certain percentage of "shrink" ( loss due to theft, mistakes,etc..) The vast majority of people who would be willing to pay money for the tuning, will. The few that don't may never have been paying customers anyway. I get doing what you can to minimize it. But, if the unattainable goal of total security results in the product never being made available at all, then what's the point? A small amount of lost sales due to "theft" is better then zero sales due to no tuning being sold at all.

 

There were how many 7.3L Powerstrokes made... over the course of 10 years? Given the history of the 6 point oh and the industry taking DIY out of the equation since those years... many trucks with 7.3L Powerstrokes are getting a second round of power. I myself am converting a 94.5 to a Superduty era Powerstroke, complete with 8-bolt billet intake plenums (another new product from Clay). The aftermarket loves these engines, almost as much as the owners who keep placing orders for upgrades. With a B50 of 350,000 miles, more and more engines are due for serious work - but guess what? People like me are doing it.

Why am I doing it? It's about $60,000 cheaper than buying a new one with a warranty... or $25,000 cheaper than a newer one with a high risk of expensive repairs needed that I can't conduct and the aftermarket doesn't support me yet. I want that torque, economy, and reliability... plain and simple. I bet I'm not alone with my reasoning, because it's not irrational. This is why the market for good tuning is not shrinking, a lot of TSs and DPs are being swapped out every day, and the market is nowhere near the saturation point just yet. FTE is a pinhole window to the elephant on the other side.

There is even more to the story, but I can't divulge more than Cody is willing to share. The business is very competitive, and somebody with the right resources can swoop in and piggy-back on Cody's efforts to date - leaving him out of whatever chance may still exist.

Think buying drinks for the girl all night, then she goes home with the last person to buy her a drink.

 

Very well said Rich and thanks for speaking for most of us here that put the blood, sweat, and beat up knuckles into keeping these trucks in service. You touched on every point that was running through my head, and I suspect many other 7.3 owners.

 

In order to avoid going too commercial and crashing into forum policy, it could slide under the same umbrella as doing a group buy. Nothing says "See... I told you it would work" like pre-orders.

 

Good point Rich. Also at this point in time and technology I really don't have any idea how long something can remain secret/private if someone really wants to pick something apart.

 

Then there's the whole ordeal or getting a patent....and then having to defend it.

 

That is the whole problem. A simple US patent does not do you much good these days. That in itself is $$$. Going international pretty much eliminates the small business guy.

 

Yup, it doesn't matter how worthy the cause, FTE doesn't allow fundraisers, donation drives, charitable contributions, raffles, etcs, to be posted, hosted, talked about or organized on the forum.

Sorry guys.

Stewart

 

Little bit of trivia here: The Hydra was developed between Bill at PHP and the actual maker of the chip. I don't know what arrangement was made, but the original maker is no longer supplying the chips. Or to put it another way... Bill is no longer ordering them from the original maker.