The TS chips on the ebay, CL, and Amazon are mystery meat. Really. This is akin to asking us to give our opinion on buying a sealed tin can with no label on it. It could have spam, creamed corn, or a jumping snake in there. The nice thing about the chip is you can send it in to have it tuned for you, and even then - it can be hit-or-miss. The big deal about the Hydra is you know what the tunes are for, and you can have modifications emailed to you. Buying the TS could be a complete waste of money if you are not willing to spend more on top of the purchase price.

I'd save up for the Hydra or go without a chip.

 

What Rich said.....

 

I'm not sure about the reason for all the hate. The tuning that goes on a TS performance chip can be exactly the same thing that gets put on a Hydra. Before buying the TS chip though, I would call any of the tuning companies that you are interested in having tune your vehicle and ask if they still program TS chips. Some no longer do.

I have dozens of TS performance chips that I have bought over the years and there's no reason to not run one if it's cheap enough. A lot of them are going for around $100 and the tuning companies that are out there won't charge any more than that for their stock truck tunes so you're in a chip for $200 to $250 instead of $450 plus for Hydra. This might be the way to go if you don't plan on doing anything ridiculous with injectors in the future.

 

No hate....pay once, cry once.

 

I had a 6-position chip for years with no issues. Once I replaced the stock injectors I went to the Hydra so I could install tune revisions in my driveway instead of shipping the chip to be re-burned.

If I still had stock sticks I would still be rocking the 6-position chip.

They may or may not help with shifting. It depends on the tune(s) but yes tunes can be written to help.

Lots of vendors advertise on eBay so proceed with caution. There are well-known ones and others that aren't. Tuning is one of those things I think is VERY important and can lead to catastrophic results if not done properly on both ends (tuner and truck owner). Everyone has their own preferences (and experiences) and many of them are posted throughout FTE. I would love to post some thread links to look at but there are so many that it would not be prudent.

You truck's current state, your desires, and your expectations will dictate who you would go with. Driving style plays into it also.

I have PHP and GH tunes. Both are great but approach things differently. The modified pedal response and more aggresive curves of my PHP tunes bring out the 25-year-old in me but are harder on the truck (312K miles) and the wallet (lower fuel economy) although very fun to drive with . The truck runs like a scalded dog and I can max out my ICP and boost quick, fast, and in a hurry.

My GH tunes are a bit more reserved but still very strong. Pedal is linear so feels "slower" but really isn't. Curves are not as aggressive until "late" in the pedal and makes it easy to modulate demand on the truck. I don't drive to my gauges as I do on the PHP tunes and are great daily driver tunes as I also get a little better fuel economy. Both deliver my needs and I love having both sides of the coin at my fingertips.

Your needs and desires are not the same as mine though so you may or may not like them. Call some of the more frequently discussed tuners (Gearhead, Power Hungry Performance, 1023, SDK, Tony Wildman, and Jelibuilt roll off the top of my head) and tell them what your driving, how you drive, and what you're looking for. That may be the deciding factor.

I would, however, be hesitant to go with a tune bundle from a generic company. Just my .02

 

I found this but it won’t ship to commiefornia... https://www.dieselpowerproducts.com/...xoC-zMQAvD_BwE

 

I don't know of any tunes you can buy for the 7.3L that are "legal" in CA. That's the first one I've seen that won't ship to CA though.

In case I get called on my Hydra (installs in the same place as the 6-pos chip) my PCM is flashed with a modified stock tune to run my single shots.

 

I'm running a TS6 and have for a decade and a half. Same truck. Not one problem or complaint. I bought it off ebay.

I had it when the trans was original and wracked up 50K on it back then before the trans upgrade at 156k. (Tugger kit and converter).

After the trans was fresh, the shift was slightly harsh but not enough to concern me. 24k on the clock now.

It definitely woke the truck up and even tho I've had the finest muscle cars, I drive the truck responsibly but if I want to pass, hold on, this thing flies.

I wouldn't shy away.

Denny

 

 

 

I ordered it with Stock, 50 75 100 140 high idle,