I have drove ford trucks for well over 20 years, but this is my first diesel. I bought an 03 F-350 Superduty Lariat 4x4. I test drove about 10 trucks with the 6.0 in them and the one I bought seems to have some lag when you gas it hard from a stop or a slight hesitation when going down the road when you stand on the gas. The motor spools up quick and develops tons of power when it gets to around 2000 rpms. I am assuming that this is in the stock programming to protect the motor. I am looking at programmers and reading posts on this site to try and determine what I want compared to what I need. I am a grandpa driver, no hot rod starts and always under the speed limit. I tow a fifth wheel camper, tool trailer, and equipment trailers on a regular basis since I am in the construction buisness. My fuel mileage is running around 17-18 in normal driving and around 19-20 on the highway. I would like to get rid of the dead spot in the pedal and improve my MPG. I have pulled loads of up to 18,000 with the truck already and can't see a need to have more power at all. I see all of these tuners that boost HP and tourqe and am assuming this is just to improve how the motor runs and pulls. I would also like to be able to change from an economy tune to a pulling tune without having to do alot. I just don't see a need for me to have all the bells and whistles that most of these programmers list, like big HP gains, monitors for EGT etc.., and customizable tunes. I just want a tuner that I can plug in and use without alot of problems and don't have to do alot to change between towing and economy. One last question, if I use a tuner set in tow tune, would I still use the tow/haul button in the truck?

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

 

I'd get a SCT Xcal 3 custom tuned for economy & a second tune for heavy towing. & a street tune for fun. I've used SCT tuning on several Ford trucks & it beat every other brand I tried. Several sponsors on this site can tune this unit for your needs. I have a 04 F250 with a Hypertech unit on it. I plan to sell it & get the Xcal 3.

 

I would also go with custom tuning especially since you(seems to me anyway) indicated that you really weren't interested in boosting hp and/or tq numbers of the truck. With custom tuning you can have a program that is for economy set to shift and act like you would like it to and also have a tow tune that shifts differently for when you towing loads, if your hauling significantly different loads, then you can get multiple tow tunes to suit whatever towing needs you have at that particular time. I have one tune that is specific for when I haul the horses and one that is just a general tow tune for all the other crap that I haul. On your tow tunes, you can also have your vgt turbo act like an exhaust brake for your heavier loads(and trust me that does come in handy), that alone for a tow'er is worth it to go to custom programming. The majority of these I believe can be setup for little to no increases in hp/tq numbers with custom tuning.

 

If it's an 03, you have the whistley turbo, just like mine. My truck has some serious power from 1000 rpm, no hesitation, no lag, so I'm pretty sure that's not some Ford trick to save your engine, and make you run it over 2000 rpm to get what you want. If I'm you , i would go for that first / than the goodies.