Reliable tuner
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Fleet Mechanic
Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 1,613
Likes: 106
From: Albuquerque
Reliable tuner
I have been considering tuner options , never sure what I am looking for , but I do know I want to be able to change tunes on the fly.
with that said I think I am mostly just looking for something that has good basics for pretty much a stock truck.
rather doubt I’ll ever want or need to go to the high side of modifications.
what are your opinions on this?
with that said I think I am mostly just looking for something that has good basics for pretty much a stock truck.
rather doubt I’ll ever want or need to go to the high side of modifications.
what are your opinions on this?
FTE Leadership Emeritus
Joined: May 2014
Posts: 27,355
Likes: 5,947
From: Lake Hartwell, GA
Hydra is hands down the best hardware available right now. As for the tuner, that is really up to you.
Years ago I ran Gear Head tunes and they were good with the MST. I switched to 1023 for a while and they were good with the MST after I got Dusty to tone down the throttle response. Then I installed the T4 turbo and both of those made the truck run like crap in regards to fuel delivery and turbo performace. It was very sluggish and I did not like either of them at all.
I tried the PHP tunes (already paid for) available for download from the Hydra Flash software and the first one I tried (65HP Performance) was great. Made the truck a pleasure to drive unloaded or loaded with 12,000 lbs 5th wheel in the same tune. I now only have 2 tunes on my Hydra and they are 1 - 65HP Performance 2 - High Idle.
There are a lot of tuners out there for the Hydra. Some are good, some are not so good, but this is not across the board. Each truck is different and each truck will respond just a bit differently than other trucks. My tuner selection was made 50% easier because I have a ZF6 and half of the tuning equation is removed from my tune unlike the 4R100 tunes that are available.
Gear Head, PHP (included with Hydra), 1023, Andrew Arthur, Jelibuilt, SDK, etc... I am sure there are more, but these are the ones right off the top of my head.
Years ago I ran Gear Head tunes and they were good with the MST. I switched to 1023 for a while and they were good with the MST after I got Dusty to tone down the throttle response. Then I installed the T4 turbo and both of those made the truck run like crap in regards to fuel delivery and turbo performace. It was very sluggish and I did not like either of them at all.
I tried the PHP tunes (already paid for) available for download from the Hydra Flash software and the first one I tried (65HP Performance) was great. Made the truck a pleasure to drive unloaded or loaded with 12,000 lbs 5th wheel in the same tune. I now only have 2 tunes on my Hydra and they are 1 - 65HP Performance 2 - High Idle.
There are a lot of tuners out there for the Hydra. Some are good, some are not so good, but this is not across the board. Each truck is different and each truck will respond just a bit differently than other trucks. My tuner selection was made 50% easier because I have a ZF6 and half of the tuning equation is removed from my tune unlike the 4R100 tunes that are available.
Gear Head, PHP (included with Hydra), 1023, Andrew Arthur, Jelibuilt, SDK, etc... I am sure there are more, but these are the ones right off the top of my head.
Fleet Mechanic
Joined: Jun 2015
Posts: 1,635
Likes: 564
Like the others have said....the hydra is the latest, greatest and most versatile. I however really like my "old school" six position switch because of the way I have it mounted. It's on an aluminum bracket under the dash mounted right next to the OBD2. Completely hidden , out of view and still very easy to manipulate while driving. Unless you open the door and stick your head under the dash you'd never know it was there. That's the only reason I still run one. If I could figure out a way to mount the hydra in the same fashion as I have now I would get a hydra.
Hotshot
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 12,782
Likes: 2,142
From: N.GA Mountains
All Hydra’s come with access to PHP tuning library for stock injectors. Most hex codes (for your PCM) have enough files that you can choose (15) tunes to put on your chip.
Should you find there is something you don’t like about those files, you can explore getting tunes from another source like the ones Sous mentioned above.
Should you find there is something you don’t like about those files, you can explore getting tunes from another source like the ones Sous mentioned above.
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Hotshot
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 12,782
Likes: 2,142
From: N.GA Mountains
Like the others have said....the hydra is the latest, greatest and most versatile. I however really like my "old school" six position switch because of the way I have it mounted. It's on an aluminum bracket under the dash mounted right next to the OBD2. Completely hidden , out of view and still very easy to manipulate while driving. Unless you open the door and stick your head under the dash you'd never know it was there. That's the only reason I still run one. If I could figure out a way to mount the hydra in the same fashion as I have now I would get a hydra.
I would not ‘upgrade’ to Hydra if I was happy with the tunes on my TS6. In my case, I f’ed my PCM up by accidentally unplugging the chip with the engine running.
I had to pull a Hydra off the shelf so I could get some single shot tunes for a different PCM code. Or, I’d still be rolling the old school with my ‘vintage’ DiPricol Optix gauges. Lol. FTE Stories
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Mountain Pass
Joined: Dec 2013
Posts: 234
Likes: 0
Like the others have said....the hydra is the latest, greatest and most versatile. I however really like my "old school" six position switch because of the way I have it mounted. It's on an aluminum bracket under the dash mounted right next to the OBD2. Completely hidden , out of view and still very easy to manipulate while driving. Unless you open the door and stick your head under the dash you'd never know it was there. That's the only reason I still run one. If I could figure out a way to mount the hydra in the same fashion as I have now I would get a hydra.
Fleet Mechanic
Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 1,753
Likes: 34
From: Los Angeles, Ca.
I run a Hydra with the 'free' tunes. I use the "65hp Fuel Sipper" tune 99% of the time. It shifts at lower RPM, locks the converter earlier, the shifts are crisp with no harshness, and it just drives great all around. I used it briefly towing my 13K lb. boat and it was great, but having no pyrometer I turned it back to stock. I use the high idle somewhat often and occasionally change to a 'race' tune if I expect to need to jump through an intersection quickly or someone pisses me off enough to deserve a puff of smoke.
Before the Hydra I tried my friend's SuperChips 1705 and loved it. If I owned that tuner I probably wouldn't have looked any further. Some don't have as good of luck with the SC tuners. It's not change on the fly, but most people find a tune they like and leave it there. I was sure that I wouldn't be one of those guys and I would be tinkering with many different tunes all the time. At first I did, it was fun to play with, then found that the 65 fuel sipper tune just does everything really well.
Before the Hydra I tried my friend's SuperChips 1705 and loved it. If I owned that tuner I probably wouldn't have looked any further. Some don't have as good of luck with the SC tuners. It's not change on the fly, but most people find a tune they like and leave it there. I was sure that I wouldn't be one of those guys and I would be tinkering with many different tunes all the time. At first I did, it was fun to play with, then found that the 65 fuel sipper tune just does everything really well.
Lead Driver
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 7,308
Likes: 250
From: Hartford, WI
DP-Tuner is good especially if you rent the infinity unit to datalog. I decided to install a Hydra unit to try other tuners. Right now, trying to make it work with Gearhead. Jelibuilt was a mistake. Thankfully it was only $80. Pedal seems twitchy and there is shuddering at certain RPMs. He suggested changing pretty much every sensor and maybe the 2 oil pumps without really wanting to do testing. Tried to schedule a time to talk but he never called me so if Gearhead can't do it, I think I will go back to DP-Tuner which I already have.