the Edge. I have an edge (04 F-350 6.0) and it is my understanding that it primarily affects fuel flow and is in line "after" the factory brain thus not tracable.

Are there any inherent problems with this set up? That is burning down motors etc?

 

Matt has run the Edge, he will help you on this one!
A coulpe of other members have, just slipped my mind who they are...

 

Is the edge a programmer? In a nutshell, what is the difference?

 

The inherent problem with any of the fuel boxes (other than the Instigator) has been transmission issues. The Edge module won't harm your engine if you use your common sense and the backdown feature on the Attitude monitor, however the problem lies in this...the Edge box has no way to raise the line pressure (ie shift tables) within the Torqshift's parameters, so it has to rely on a "defueled" shift in order to prevent the clutches from burning.

The Torqshift, being like the Allison, is required to shift *twice* in order to go from 3rd to 4th gear- the intermediate gear has to be released at the same time the primary drive gear is engaged, and if released at a stock rate under heavy torque, the clutch will get the ever living crap burned out of it- eventually, the clutch will wear out, or worse yet (like mine) end up disintegrating into the fluid and destroying the internals.

If you let the tranmission learn properly, it will probably never harm anything- however, this is my advice to you-

If you want performance, leave it on stage 5. Changing back and forth messes with the transmission's brain, generally accentuating the shift slippage problem. If you have to tow, set it back down to 2 or 3, leave it there until you are finished, and go back to 5- allowing the tranny to relearn before you pound on it again. At the expense of gas mileage, the more lead footed you are about your driving, the longer it will last- if you dont believe me, drive it easily for a while then romp it on- you will FEEL it slip. Try to keep your driving style constant, and keep the setting still

 

The Edge is not a programmer, it is a fuel box. A programmer recalibrates the same settings as a fuel box by loading a new program into the computer rather than modifying the signal en route from the PCM to FICM. The benefit of the programmer is that it has control over the TCM, and will modify the shift settings in order to reduce wear on the transmission. There is only presently one "fuel box" on the market capable of that.

The main performance problem with the programmers is that they are limited to the stock electric current levels provided by the factory PCM, thereby limiting thier ability to increase pulsewidth to a certain level.

 

If you do get the Edge let it learn properly like Matt said. I didn't do the best job of letting mine learn and every now and then I get poopy shifts.

 

I had the edge in for 7,000 miles (put in at 3,000). Everything was fine until the tranny started shifting poorly under "easy" conditions and once in a while it would refuse to engage at all after I pulled off the highway after a long continuous run. I would turn the key off and restart and everything was OK again. Took it to the dealer and they found a defective solenoid and replaced it. I have yet to put the edge back in.

I kept in in stage 1 (lowest) almost all the time. Occasionally I would flip it to 3 (highest) to make a pass or something and then drop it back down to 1. After reading the factory instructions this seemed appropiate but in retrospect, maybe that hastened the solenoid's demise.

On a related note, Is there a beefier aftermarket version of the torqueshift available yet? is it necessary? Is it possible to "raise the line pressure to compensate?

 

Oh Yeah, thanks

Also looks like I need the monitor to use this correctly.

 

I don't have the fancy edge that you can change settings on the fly. I have the EZ Edge. I set it at the max level and I am leaving it there. Cause when I do a charter trip for the second job I stick it in there.(t444e) So I have the extra power I want when I hook up the plow and push it against the wind. But one thing I don't do is pound on the accelerator. I have always heard and I do believe that with any auto transmission what kills them is abusing them and trying to speed up too fast from a stop like drag racing on a drag strip. I don't drag race. So isn't that why those that really supe up their trucks get gadges like a transmission temp gadge?
Now for the record I just got my EZ Edge a few weeks ago.