You misunderstood me, I was referring to the people that buy the cheap "tuner in a can" and then complain when the motor grenades on them. My opinion has always been to spend good money where it counts and save the headache down the road. My tuner has more than paid for itself and I plan on keeping my truck for at least a few more years so the benefits far out weigh the costs.

 

Thanks for the clarification. I agree totally on spending the bucks wisely and have no interest in the "tuner in a can" route.

 

I am still confused how some of you guys don't see how a change in a few MPG's is a huge huge savings!

My Dashdaq, all my Spartan tunes and DPF delete cost me roughly $2500. I installed everything in under 2 hours.

I went from averaging 12mpg to averaging 16 mpg overall. Now sometimes I get more or less... but on average these are the conservative numbers I am using. This does not include the 20mpg highway trips I make, nor the 8mpg plowing jobs I do.

I traveled 30,000 miles in my first year of ownership.
@ 12mpg I used 2,500 gallons of diesel x $3.25 a gallon = $8,125 in fuel
@ 16mpg I used 1,875 gallons of diesel x $3.25 a gallon = $6,094 in fuel

$8,125 - $6,094 = $2,031 savings in 1 year of ownership!

Now as diesel increases in price... which it will, the savings will increase. Now this does not take into account warranty issues. However, I have not had a single issue running these tunes and can't be more happy with this truck. And if there were warranty issues that weren't related to the tune, then I would remove the tune and put everything to stock and bring it back to the dealership. However, if there were an issue directly caused by the tune I would own up to the choices I made. For some people, that risk is not feasible, and I totally respect and understand that. However, for me this is a risk I take based on PROVEN reliability from Spartan tuning.
Even if there would be no savings at all I would still run these tunes. They transform the truck, making it so much more enjoyable for me to drive. So the bottom line is the tuner, dpf/cat delete, and dashdaq will pay for itself in about 1 year. There is no arguing this... its FACT!

 

Good math about your fuel savings. But your post about fuel savings is the higher end I believe. Some of posts I've read say they haven't got that big a gain. Probably driving style,useage,etc. One or two even said they didn't notice any gain.
You haven't had any trouble but that doesn't mean down the line in a few years what this high tune will affect. Mark Kolowski said it when he spoke that a tuner makes the truck work harder and it will affect the engine. It's just facts.
I may still get one in a few years after warranty and more info is out there.

 

I agree EXCEPT you did 30k in a year. I have done 16k in 2 years. So to say it will pay for itslef in one year is misleading. You can, however, say it'll pay for itself in 30k miles.

 

To many this will sound like a really stupid question but what is the difference between a Spartan tuner and a dashdaq? Do you need both or is a dashdaq the Spartan tuner? At one point I thought the dashdaq and the tuner were the same thing because when I go to Spartan's website they have a display of the dashdaq but then I also notice there is a dashdaq website so they must be two different and separate units. Can anyone break it down into something easy to understand?

 

Spartan Diesel Technologies uses the Dashdaq for the tuning. The Dashdaq is manufactured by Drew Tech. Spartan calls the tuner the Phalanx. I hope that helps....

 

gear box z makes dpf-r 4.0 delete system only with no traceable programs doesnt flash your system for warrantee purpose truck will run better and u will see a little economy and better sound from turbo even with stock pipe all programers are traceable at ford for warrantee dont care what they say unless u want a race truck w no warrantee

 

I was looking a the DPF R 4.0 or the Flo-Pro delete electronics. Im another one who is looking to delete my DPF, without any power gains. I have searched everywhere, to see if anybody has used this set up, with no luck. I can get an S&B CAI, Flo-Pro DPF delete pipe and Flo-Pro delete electronics for $850.00 bucks. Im not looking for any MPG gains, just want the truck to sound better. Think it worth it?

CJ

 

Have you done the research to back up your claim that all tuners are traceable?

It seems to me that Spartan's method of emulating a Ford programmer, backing up the full computer and then reflashing the computer is untraceable because you can simply flash it back to where it was before the tune. Because it emulates Ford programmers, nothing is logged as non stock according to Spartan. Have you found information to refute this? If so, I would like to know as I would be worried.

 

yah it will sound better on utube look for dpf delete their is a 2008 6.4 with delete pipe spartan with ford stock exuast i think it sounds great like a real deisel with a turbo reminds me of a hair dryer when he turns it off. dpf-r is 678.00 but one of their distributers alligator performance sells for 650.00 free ship so i told them and they will price match! gearbox z .com under dpf delete its quick and easy and mine should be here mon tomorro by wed il b blow n soot ye ha funny huh just want a healthy horse

 

As far as getting good sound out of the exhaust... I just did a DPF and Cat delete and noticed a big increase in sound. You can just hear the volume of the air moving through the motor at idle. At 1/4 throttle you get some whistle, and when you mash on the throttle you get that aggressive big block sound. When I added the 4" downpipe and the AFE state II intake there was even more whistle at 1/4 throttle. I personally like the look of the stock tips, so it didn't make any sense for me to change out the exhaust. Especially since the stock exhaust is a 4" pipe and I never planned on anything larger like the 5".

 

I saw the exhust pipe at gear box z is aluminized. What's that stock exhust? I always thought it was stainless.

 

no not ford its steel and 3.5 inch with chrome tips 4 inch is max for stock u do need back pressure for turbo and so on

 

Yes, we have quite a few customers running this setup with great results. Give me a holler if youd like a quote on that setup.