I am hoping you folks can elnighten me. first a little back ground: I'm not a diesel guy, I actually own a late model SD with a.........(gasp)........V10, please forgive me, lol. I'm very mechanical I need some help with a Friends Truck. He called me because he owns a 97' 7.3L and was wondering about a chip, he heard through the grape vine about better economy and performance and wanted the low down. I gave him the little info I know and have heard but I told him I would dig deeper into it.

He's happy with the power but is primarly wondering about economy. Through the little I've learned it looks like DP-tuner or a TW is the way to go. First and formost the truck is 100% stock with about 110k on the clock but in good condition. The truck is a 97' Ex. Cab Long box 4x4 F250 with 3.55 gears. he currently gets unloaded hwy mileage of 16-18 mpg. What can he expect with nothing more than an economy tune from one of the listed tuners as far as mileage? Is it safe to run a custom tune without a bunch of other stuff (gauges, exhaust, intake ect ect ect...) on a stock truck with over a 100k miles on the clock?? Can he tow with the same tune or should he have a multiple position chip that has a safe tow mode and an economy mode? We live up north and cold weather is a reality, can he run these tunes on winter blended fuel and what are the effects?

In the end the guy that would be driving this truck wants somthing he can basically set and forget and somthing that is realiable and not hard on the truck. I don't think he'd be apposed to turning a **** between an economy and towing setting but he's not a person thats gonna want to install and watch gauages and such.

lastly I've also heard about a "down-pipe" on these engines and am wondering what the benifits are and if it should be done in conjonction with a programer/chip. If so, how much are they and how hard are they to install. Mind you, I'll be doing the install, lol!

I did post this on another site so if you see it twice you only need to respond to one or the other, I just thought I could cover two somewhat different audiences.

Thanks

 

yea he should atleast get a downpipe before he puts a chip in it... and if you need help finding the downpipe he needs i will post a link... that has very fast shipping and everything... if need be... and as far as a chip i would not know how much he would gain i have a edge evolution... but i can not keep my foot outta the floor..

 

Only one reply!! Come on guys, Someone has to have some information that can help me out.

Thanks psd for the advice. I was told that an aluminized 2 peice is the easiest to install and probably the cheapest avalible. Are there any problems with these?

 

Ok, here is the low down. To start, for a bone stock truck, seeing 16-18MPG isn't that bad on the highway. Do you know what speed he was running at? My truck at 75-80 will see about 17, and if i drop it down to 65 i can squeeze 21ish.

FIRST and foremost, Dump you stock intake and buy a NAPA part number 6637 filter. The stock one is known to leak and sand etc can get by and get into to turbo/engine. Not good

ALSO the downpipe and Cat are the two most restrictive parts on the OBS trucks. Dump the cat and get a new Downpipe that you can bold up. Cat's arn'e needed on diesels to "maintain back pressure" or anything like that on a gasser, just restrict exhaust flow.

Then he should really consider gauges, if nothing else at least a pyrometer. This gauge really should come STOCK from the factory. it's not a gauge he will need to baby-sit, but just keep an eye on during long pulls, Aluminum has a melting point of 1220ºF, and you don't want to exceed a pre-turbo BURST temp of 1250ºF. By burst that just a few seconds to pass that dodge while towing up the hill or the like.

Finally, you can look into a chip. Your on the right track, DP and Tony Wildman are the only 2 to consider in chips. Personally, I haven't had the opportunity to deal with Jody at DP, but I hear he is excellent. I just had my chip Re-Burned by tony and I'm excited to get it installed. You can have him put as much or as little burns as you'd like. I'd say your friend would want economy, Daily, and tow settings at the least, if he'd not looking for huge HP gains. There are other settings available to really dial up the HP

Intake: FleetFilter.com: $50ish
Downpipe: Call Dale at Tymar Performance. around $120 i think?
Dump the cat and weld in a pipe, and dump muffler too while your down there.
Single gauge... Dieselmanor.com around 150 ish?? tripple pillar is around 350 shipped
Chip: Totaldieselperformance.com (or just call tony) 300 for chip and $25 a tune

That help??

-Robb

 

Yep, Thats what I'm looking for! Thanks

 

No Problem Let us know how things go! Come back for more questions!!

-Robb