Hey All,

I am considering 1023 tunes but have some questions: I found and read most of a loooong thread about this on FTE.

In about two to three years I will retire and plan to full time a fifth wheel. So in the next couple of years I plan to get my signature truck ready!
I have stock injectors, stock turbo, all original. Truck is on it's second transmission, installed by Ford months before I bought it in 2003. I'm the second owner, and build date is Dec 1998 so early 99 I guess. Tranny has about 160K miles on it now. My truck runs and starts great with 215k miles total. I do have a few maintenance issues to clear up though, such as brakes, oil leak, and a suspected exhaust leak.

I want to upgrade the in next year or two. In that time I will save up enough to make a big purchase, $4-5K.
Question 1: Should I upgrade the turbo first or at the same time? Could I do sometime after? WW2, with I rebuild is what I'm thinking.
Question 2: Should I upgrade the transmission? If so I would like to wait so that the warranty is in effect when I start towing heavy. Haven't bought the RV yet...
Question 3: Which hardware should I get? I currently have the Edge 85200 Evolution CTS Programmer I bought April of 2015. I've read the Hydro is often preferred.
Question 4: Which boost fooler is recommended?
Question 5: Most important: does everyone still love their 1023 tunes, good customer support still?

I like to do things all at once as it makes sense and money allows.
Thanks,
-Josh

 

Question 1: Should I upgrade the turbo first or at the same time? Could I do sometime after? WW2, with I rebuild is what I'm thinking.

Look into the KC38R with the .84AR exhaust housing. This is good for Stock to 180CC injectors and comes very well equipped. It's slightly more expensive than the 38R, but you get a much better performing turbo for even stock injectors.

Question 2: Should I upgrade the transmission? If so I would like to wait so that the warranty is in effect when I start towing heavy. Haven't bought the RV yet...

Since your trans has been rebuilt, Ford incorperated all the updates that normally killed these things. You need to get either a BTS valve body or a John Woods valve body and it'll last forever. My 4R100 reman was installed February 2006 at 127K. I added a 6.0 trans cooler and Sonnax Tricumulator springs. With regular fluid flushes every 30K, it's lasted 342K no problem.

Question 3: Which hardware should I get? I currently have the Edge 85200 Evolution CTS Programmer I bought April of 2015. I've read the Hydro is often preferred.

The Hydra is the best option as it allows you to try tunes from PHP, Gearhead, Total Diesel Performance, and I believe 1023.

Question 4: Which boost fooler is recommended?

If you're running Gearhead tunes, you won't need a Boost Fooler, I can't speak for the rest.

Question 5: Most important: does everyone still love their 1023 tunes, good customer support still?

Gearhead tunes both my trucks, so I can't say that I know.

 

Your truck may well be a mixture of E99 and 99.5 parts. The engines were upgraded in December and the other parts were switched over as they used up the old stock. What size are your intake plenum tubes? 2 1/2" is early and 3" is late. You will want to know this before you start working on your turbo.

 

I have the Riffraff OCR (boost fooler) and it's been great. As Toreador_Diesel said, depending on the tunes you might not need it, especially if you're keeping your stock turbo and not planning to visit the north side of 30psi regularly. I do know that 1023 does not remove the SES light when you go above 24psi.

I have the Hydra but it's not cheap. It is very convenient as I can add, delete, move, and update tunes in my driveway any time I want. Since my truck is my daily driver that was one of the most appealing reasons for me to get one.

I have Gear Head and PHP tunes so can't speak to the others. @Sous has recently gotten tuning from 1023 and is very happy it. Maybe he'll chime in.

Dusty is relatively new on the scene comparatively speaking but I've read lots of good things about 1023.

 

Thanks Brian, I will state my thoughts and the Josh can do with them as he feels fit.

Question 1: Should I upgrade the turbo first or at the same time? Could I do sometime after? WW2, with I rebuild is what I'm thinking.

Not required, but you have to remember that the turbo is 20 years old and could use some refreshing. If you are looking to stay conservative in your turbo adventures, I would suggest the RiffRaff 4/4 wheel to start out. You can do things like the high flow outlet, turbomaster wastegate controller, 360 bearing kit, but all of that is not required for you to see the benefits of a billet wheel. Much better choices out there than the WW2 though.

If you want to get the best turbo available right now, that would be an SXE from Borg Warner. Here is a video thread where I recently installed one. https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...all-video.html

There are a couple of drop in turbos, but I can only recommend the Garrett 38R based on its tried and true history. There is the KC38R turbo, but I have it on good authority that there have been some problems as of late with them, so I cannot recommend that option.

Question 2: Should I upgrade the transmission? If so I would like to wait so that the warranty is in effect when I start towing heavy. Haven't bought the RV yet...

I am a ZF6 guy, so I don't know much about this one. Although, if you decide to upgrade the transmission I would recommend the HD4R100 or BTS, but each of those will chew through your budget quickly.

Question 3: Which hardware should I get? I currently have the Edge 85200 Evolution CTS Programmer I bought April of 2015. I've read the Hydro is often preferred.

If you are talking about a tuner and chip here, then I would suggest the Hydra and the tunes of your choice.

Question 4: Which boost fooler is recommended?

RiffRaff OCR is the best boost fooler on the market at the moment. I just installed one with my Borg Warner SXE turbo upgrade a couple weeks ago.

Question 5: Most important: does everyone still love their 1023 tunes, good customer support still?

Dusty who is the owner of 1023 Diesel hit the 7.3 scene like a ton of bricks about a year ago. He signed on with Clay at RiffRaff Diesel and has been going nowhere but up from there. His tunes make my truck run much better than Gear Head or PHP ever could. Not faster, better and stronger. I could maintain 5th gear towing heavy with 1023 Diesel tunes where as with anyone elses tunes I had to drop into 4th in the same places on the same roads.

Dusty at 1023 Tuning is doing something right, that is for sure. I have heard good things about Dan at SDK as well, but have not personally seen a truck in action on his tunes.

 

I've tried 1023 Diesel, Jelibuilt Performance, SDK tunes, and the PHP tunes that come with the Hydra. 1023 Diesel are by far the best tunes that I've run on my early 99.

I've been running them for about a year and a half, and still love them. The shifting is a tad firmer than I would like, but it doesn't jolt the whole truck like some tunes that I've run. I have a locally built transmission with a shift kit, upgraded torque converter, and upgraded valve body, so I know that it's gonna shift harder than a stock 4r100.

I purchased the Daily Econ, Medium Tow, and Street Shredder tunes.

Daily Econ: This tune gives a very substantial power increase over stock, yet is still very clean (only smokes at heavy throttle and its just a small cloud, then clears up once the turbo spools). The shift points on this tune are awesome for daily driving. Gears are closer together and the truck goes into overdrive at 48mph and will hold overdrive all the way down to 40mph.

Medium Tow: Holds each gear longer and won't go into overdrive until 53mph. However, it will hold overdrive all the way down to 40mph which is awesome. The shifting for the tow tune eliminated hunting between gears which is also awesome. Highest EGT's I've seen were 1000 in this tune and that was hammer down, up a hill, merging with traffic while towing ~8000 pounds.

Street Shredder: This tune is fun...I don't use it much though, unless I'm messing around, because I prefer the shifting of the Daily Econ tune. It will still shift into overdrive at about 48mph, but it holds each gear a bit longer than I like for daily driving. This tune has a lot more power than stock. It does smoke a decent bit when mashing it from a stand still (it is a "hot" tune after all), but is still very easy to daily drive. For instance, you can still lug the motor and not get giant clouds of smoke. This tune will get you moving down the road pretty quickly.

If you couldn't tell, I'm still very satisfied with my 1023 tunes, and their customer service is top notch. I asked for a few tweaks when I first ordered the tunes, and the next day, I had my revisions, which had been tweaked to do exactly what I want.

Hope this helps