I have used Hypertech power programers in the past and have had good luck with them. No high EGT's etc. What programer out there will give me more power for towing but will keep this stock engine safe? At the moment I will not be adding any gauges to the truck.

Thanks!!

 

I too would be interested in learning about this.

 

safest is hard to say but i can tell you a good rule to go by is the more power it adds usually the more damage it is going to do. basically what a programmer does is rewrites the code in the computer to make it pump more fuel and air into your cylinders causing a more violant explosion. so the more power your trying to get the more violent of a explosion your getting causing more damage to your engine. i do know that sct would not be a good idea havnt heard very many good things about them exept they offer the most power increase wich if you want to keep from ruinging your engine not a good idea

 

best bet is to get a adjustable tuner like a edge evolution that way when you need the power you can turn it on and adjust how much then when you dont need it turn it to stock setting to reduce the ammount of damage

 

Where are you getting this info from ...I mean really,...please elaborate...from personal experience or from a reliable source? If either clarify what actually happened in your case that corroborates your story..or at least direst us all to a link that dexcribes what you're saying. Not to say that you don't know what you're talking about...but with so few posts...I'm finding it hard to believe you. Many 6.0L owners use various tuning devices, some better than others. But many don't allow for custom tuning that a tune writer can adjust the transmission concerns (shift points) other than SCT. SCT is the only one I'm aware of that will save your tranny....so why are you bashing it. Unless you have personally used the SCT custom tuning, I would be careful what info you put out.

 

i get my info from diesel mechanics i work with and experience. i have alot of diesel engine experience but not on 6.0 this is my first. im not a expert and not trying to say that i am in the field of tuners even have some questions about them of my own, just wanted to put that info that i do know out there. also im not bashing sct, all im saying is that sct puts out more power than most other programmers and the more power you put out the more its going to wear your engine. its not going to happen in a week usually will take a long time but it will happen. sct's are good programmers but the question was what is the saffest and correct me if im wrong but im assuming when he said saffest he wants a programmer that isnt going to damage his engine. if the question was whats the best programmer for adding power i would have said sct is. but all programmers are going to cause more then normal wear on your engine the SAFEST way to go is one that is adjustable and does not add some kind of ridiculous amount of power. but if you want alot of power sct in my opinion is the way to go, but safest it is not the way to go. again just my opinion. im just saying what i would put on my own vehicle i also do tons of towing i am a truck driver and do alot of hauling with my 6.0 also. if i wanted to add as much power as possible i would use a sct but if i just wanted a little more towing power i would go with something that is not as drastic, you dont need over a 100 more horses and torque for towing unless your hauling loads that are twice what your vehicle is even rated to haul. 50 more horses would do the job just fine and keep the engine wear down a little more than adding 100 horses.

 

Well, then sounds like you just repeated yourself. The info you do know about the SCT (and its ability to tune trannys) is wrong. SCT is probably (someone who knows better) one of only 2 programmers that I know that will satisfy the OP's question. SCT tunes the transmission as well as the HP. As a metter of fact you can load a TransOnly tune (zero HP gain)...no switch on the fly tuner will do that. Edge has also been know to ruin the Torqshift tranny. OP...trust me...if you want a great programmer that will give little or no HP gains and will at the same time save your tranny...stick with SCT. I agree Towing is not a HP thing, its a Torque and shifting thing. Many tune writers make very safe tunes for towing for rigs that have had no engine mods or headstud upgrades. SCT even has canned tunes of Tow65hp and Tow50hp in there pre-programed file line-up. Best and first add-on before any tuning is Gauges to ensure your temps are within limits.

 

By adjustable do you mean shift on the fly?

If you mean shift on the fly tuners, then that's crap as far as it's being the safest. One shift on the fly is mutually exclusive from properly tuning your vehicle. Rather you are talking about the BullyDog tuners which use variable fueling tables or you talking about he inline fuel modules(like the Edge Juice) which intercept, modify, and then send the signal to create the desired response(HP/TQ output).

Think of our truck's computers as a PC/MAC type computer. You know when you load some programs on it tells you to restart the computer in order for all functions to be working correctly? Well same concept for our trucks computers.

How could you also advocate a tuner that has one size fits all "tuning" insead of something that offers custom tuning to an individual's needs and based on the mods that are on the truck?

You cannot logically conclude that works well on one diesel engine will work on the next. 7.3s do very well with a/m intakes and shift on the fly "tuners", 6.0s do not. Shift on the fly tuners(particularly Edge) have been known to eat through the Torqshift tranny behind the 6.0. I have going on 5 yrs experience with this engine/tranny combo and my first tuner was a shift on the fly tuner before I went with the SCT and the Spartan tuner. Don't go this route of one size fits all tuning. You'll have much better chance of having a more efficient truck for whatever application you use it for if you have tunes written for how you drive your truck and how your truck is equipped.

SCT has one of the safest track records on the 6.0 trucks compared to Edge products(particularly the shift on the fly ones) and they can get better increase in power other then just increasing cylinder pressure(which is a common method of your more "one size fits all tuning" tuners then your custom ones.

We already know that your experience isn't great with 6.0s as you have admitted that, but what 6.0 experience do the people have that you work with or are they just going by what they hear and read? Because what has been said so far is really completely off base with the 6.0 and what many many people have found out the hard way(myself included).

I won't go into the intake portion yet unless you want me to as this is about tuners, but that also doesn't go over well with the 6.0(or really serve any use with the 6.0 unless you have a truck like mine, and there are even people with more HP/TQ output then myself that still use stock intakes).

 

SCT is the safest tuner in my opinion. You can buy custom tunes specifically for towing. Please don't use a 100HP street tune to tow!

 

Moyock,

As I've noticed by your posts you know alot about the 6.0 engine. I have a 2004 which now has ARP studs and I have wondered about getting a tuner. From reading on this site it seems most like the SCT best. I tow a 14,800 lb fifth-wheel. Reliability is my primary concern. Would a SCT 3 give my transmission added reliability with a small hp gain, say 50-60 hp? I tow long distances with my family and the last thing I need is a breakdown on the road. Thanks for any advice you can give.

 

Thanks, I'm not a Tech by any means (some day after I retire from my day job...lol)...actually I'm going back to school for Automotive Enginnering degree and will eventually get a Certification in Diesel's...primarily since thats where I see the automitive industry heading in a major way with the micro-diesels.

There are so many members on here that are far more qualified on the 6.0L than I, and they will hopefully chime in to cover anything I miss or mistake.

I do believe if you are going to tow safely...go with SCT since it allows a tune writer to tailor a tow tune for your specific setup. Believe it or not...the tunes these guys write keep your EGTs lower than stock tuning...and they can make tuning adjustments for your Torqshift that realizes the best of both the 6.0L and Torqshift marriage. I went with Matt @ Gearhead many others have as well and another popular tune writer is Eric @ Innovative Diesel.

I would start off by installing the basic gauges (EGT, Tranny, ECT, Boost) . I don't believe your 04MY has the boost gauge in your instrument cluster? The factory boost gauge is pretty accurate, so if you don't have one , then Boost would be something to keep an eye on. You may consider the Edge Insight...which isn't a programmer...its Edge's Multi- PID display gauge setup...you will get all the parameters in one display (with exception of Fuel pressure and Oil pressure). This device makes for easy installation (simply plugs into your OBDII port) and reduces costs of multiple traditional analog pillar mounted gauges.

 

He is going to have to drill and tap for the EGT gauge as well as there is no PID support for EGTs in our trucks. 6.4s(and later I'm willing to bet) do have that support, ours do not.

Moyock already covered this, but I thought I would take a slight bent to it. Fuel PSI there is no PID support for that, so no matter what OBDII display you go with, they won't be able to get that from the OBDII port. Now the DashDAQ you can get Fuel PSI to show up on the display, you just have to use what is known as a widget(external probe) that's connected to DashDAQ to get the readings, if you want more then one(Fuel PSI and Oil PSI) then you plug the probes into a hub(think USB hub for an idea) and then from the hub with one plug go into the back of the DashDAQ.

I have both analog gauges for those two, so I've never done that with my DashDAQ, although I see the Oil PSI signal listed in my Analog gauge list(I don't have the firmware that supports the Fuel PSI(or the EGT) on my unit, which doesn't bother me as I already have gauges for those).

 

The one thing that needs to be pointed out is gauges are a must if towing. Even stock! As tex stated the egts are not monitored by the 6.0 computer. What this means to you is even stock pulling hard up a hill your egts could easily hit 1500*. the original tuning would only back off power with elevated oil temps. The latest flash will back off power if the oil and coolant get out of wack but still not based on egts. As far as tuning goes a 40-60hp tow tune and a good driver will pull just about any load. drive your turbo! Don't get half way up a hill then try to spool up the turbo. On a hill slowly roll the throttle or tap the break to unlock the torque converter to build your boost. If you are not driving the turbo the tuning won't make a big difference. Also the most you will want hp wise to tow heavy is about 60hp. For 10k I'd use 80hp or less. I'd avoid towing over 6k with a street or race tune. Let me point something out about diesel tech while I'm on this post. Just because they work on these truck does not make them a expert. The powerstroke brand is a different animal than a cummins or a dmax. That said the 7.3 is a lot different tham the 6.0 There are very few diesel techs that know a lot of specifics about the 6.0 and the majority are trained to fix stock problems. they also have pressure to sell what the dealer sells which in a lot of cases is either a edge tuner or banks parts. It is not totally their fault they push those products. As far as the 6.0 goes the sct is hands down the best tuner. The spartan tuner is more expensive with the same current tuning capibilities but a better code scanning and gauge package. These two tuners have the ability to tune the truck for panty dropping power. Frankly that is what most of us talk about. It is more interesting to talk about a 13sec 8000lb truck then a truck with a improved towing capacity. Yet both of these tuning platforms offer better towing thru engine calibration coupled with trans tuning. They also offer tunes from trans only to 100+hp that greatly improve drivability. The custom tuning market has been able to keep the torqueshift tranny alive at power levels over 600hp with factory stock trannys. The non custom tuning market has been well documented to kill trannys with 40-60 hp "safe tuning". They key to a transmission like the torqueshift is tuning since it is a full electronic transmission that does not have a mechanical valve body.

 

Tex and Lubbockguy... very well put.

 

I would recommend the SCT to anyone. I would just advise you not to tune your truck too hot when towing heavy. I tow about 7000 pounds 60,000 miles a year. I use Innovative's 70 horse towbrake tune and I've been really happy with it. When I'm not towing I run Spartan's ASE tune or Innovative's Extreme street. My transmission still shifts like new at 210,000 miles and the last 100,000 have been tuned with the SCT. So I'm with these guys SCT is safest for your tranny and you have to be reasonable with your tuning to make your truck last. Good luck.