Just wanted to throw my hat into the ring with story. I have been running a Superchips Flashpaq since it has debuted and have tuned very mildly over this period of time. My friend who has a F-550 dually, lifted, alcoa 22" wheels, larait package the whoole nine!! Has also been running a tuner just lost the motor on the truck. His tuner of choice was the SCT with custom tuning. Long story short It dawned on me that I spend all my time and money making this truck an extension of my personality, and then pump it full of juice to comprimise the longevity and integrity of the motor. It is like these body builders taking steroids.. They look good on the outside, but on the inside thier a mess. Now everyone will speculate on what is good and bad but 1 clear thing stands out to me. Why do we spend all this time to look good and have the best truck, then mess with the most important part to keep it looking good and on the road? I would bet this is going to start a landslide of who ha but I just wanted to share my insight. I plan to remove my tuner, get a fresh synthetic oil change and start my new tunerless life. I am thankful I have not had any problems!!

 

It is the American way.

 

Reave1,
You make an excellent point. The 6.0 is the foundation of these great trucks. They will and do fail, both stock and tuned, although the tuned ones do tend to fail more often. It all boils down to the old addage about "pay-to-play". If you are happy w/ the performance of the 6.0 stock then leave it be. If not, or if you have problems, then try to modify or improve what failed and be happy w/ your investment. Many people are content w/ a stock vehicle and then there are those of us who can't seem to leave well enough alone! Good luck w/ your truck and glad you've had a trouble-free ownership experience as have many others.

 

Good for you Pal. I've said it over and over again, why invest all of this money to make your toy suseptable to a heart attack?

I've got an 03 with the 6.0 and I'm more than happy with the performance I get from the truck. Of course, I'm not running the truck at the track on weekends nor am I lighting up the tires to impress somebody....but it does sound like fun.

When I need power, I jump on the long skinny pedal and it still pushes me back in the seat. I still have friends who are impressed when I jump on it...."this is a diesel?" is what I always hear.

Just one guys opinion!

Joe

 

"making this truck an extension of my personality" well doesn't this include making your truck the badest a** truck on the road? I want my truck looking good on the outside as well as having a torque/HP monster.

 

Reave1,

Alot of the potential damage done is caused by the methods your friend's custom tuner may have used to extract the additional power from the truck. While there are plenty of dangerous tunes out there, there are plenty of perfectly safe ones likewise and to throw all tuners and downloaders into the same boat is not only unfair but, IMO, a bit ill-informed.

While I'm not advocating that my 185-horsepower Ultra Competition HOS (head studs only) calibration is safe on a stock engine or should be used on a daily basis, myself and plenty of other custom tuners on the market have a large selection of files that are as safe, and sometimes safer, than the stock calibration when it comes to the health and integrity of the engine and transmission.

What many people do not realize is the fact that the stock calibration is NOT designed with power deliver OR powertrain longetivity in mind as first priority- EPA emissions are first priority. Simply remapping certain parts of the calibration and removing some of the "smogged down" parameters will extract extra power and economy from the vehicle while reducing overall physical load from the engine and its internals. Despite what some people try to argue, yes it IS possible to add power output to an engine while reducing overall physical load- anyone who insists that it is impossible needs to brush up on basic engine dynamics.

I suppose the point of my ranting is this- just because your engine is making more power with your tuner does not mean more harm is being done to your engine. Your friend's truck failed from one of three things- poor tuning, an underlying mechanical issue, or simple driver abuse.

If you are concerned with the health of your truck, I would advise you drop your Flashpaq down to the Tow Economy (or whatever the lowest setting is) and continue to use it. While I have no vested interest in Superchips or anything else MSD products owns and sells (hell, I dont even have a dealers license for them) I do know for a fact that the tuning inside that Flashpaq of yours is not dangerous, but well-written and well-thought tuning. You can find both of the people responsible for writing the files in your box right here at FTE (Vic_Ferrari and Superchips Mike) if you don't choose to take my word for it. There are alot more benefits to what is contained in that little red box than there are detriments.

 

Thank you Matt, I value your expertise very much along with everyone on this website. I have enough knowledge to be dangerous. My greatest concern is the ability to enjoy my truck for a long time and be able to sleep at night knowing it will start for me in the morning. At the same time I suffer from the same affliction most of us do. I want to turn heads and blow minds!! No one has ever put it that way for me when it comes to the tuning approach. It always seems that who I talk to has an agenda. Thank you for a well thought, unbiased, and professional reaponse. Your a valued member of this forum keep up the good work!!!

 

Finally, someone that can take an opinion, opposite to their own, and not loose their marbles. These kind of unbias and professional responses and reply's is what makes this website so great. You just got rep points from me!

Tuners are like fat chicks, some guys turn their heads and some guys can't get enough. Sometimes we just have to remember the old saying "Bros before Hoes". No offence ladies.

 

Oh Boy. There goes the neighborhood.

 

The neighborhood went a long time ago!! I just drove through it with a straight piped 6.0!!


I am really happy to know there is a place on the web where a bunch of guys who love trucks can come together, talk about anything, learn somthing, and have a good time doing it!!!! Call me a sap, a suck up, what have you. This site rocks and so do the people that use it.

 

I have to agree with you, Trevor. Its refreshing to agree to disagree He gets some positive rep from me also.

Reave, I think in the long term you will honestly not regret your decision of a tuner. If you are responsible enough to have second thoughts about it and be concerned about the truck, I'm sure you are responsible enough to drive the truck in a sensible manner. Aside from a fluke, no damage will be done with a tuner by a responsible driver

 

Ditto. Rep points to both Reave and PSD for great, professional dialogue.

 

Time for some unprofesional talk............Your truck is going to boring to drive now.

j/k its your truck do as you please.

 

Maybe we should make this section of thread a "Sticky" as an example of how to have a tuner conversation without losing your dignity. Very well said on all parts with level headed opinions and no one getting trashed.

 

I agree with the comments on being a responsible driver along with using a tuner.

BZ (Well done) for all folks here for an enjoyable post.