Well I have just put on 800+ kms on my truck since the bully dog GT tuner was installed I love the power it has "set on tow not anyhigher" I did try the other two just to see how she went but on tow since anyway my concern is that the transmission shifts alot harder when I don't have the trailer on the truck it is a smother shift but still harder then stock. When I have the trailer on and I step into to it from a stop it really hammers into the next gear I am concerened that this will damage the tranny. In the manual it says you can can select tranny shifting and you can chose soft or firm shifting but I was unable to find this feature mabey it is for gas or something since the manual is the same for both.

Any thoughts if my tranny is shifting harder is that goin to hurt it I don't belive that if it shifts hard to the next gear it can't be good for it? But I am not a tranny guy and I am just learning about diesels

 

Bullydogs have a history of not doing the torqueshift tranny any favors. Do your homework and save for a tranny rebuild. JMHO.

 

How old is your Bully Dog? I'd return it if you still can and get SCT tunes, they work great with the transmission!

 

Welcome to FTE, and please take our comments as trying to help !
+1 on the sct....
if the tuner does NOT reprogram your tranny control module to account for the changes in HP curves, etc.... than it will be 'fighting' your engine... and as stated not do your tranny any good....

 

As a former BullyDog Triple Dog owner I can tell you that my tranny didn't like any of the tunes higher then "Tow". So that's where I kept it most of the time.

Shift on the fly is mutually exclusive from properly tuning your vehicle's computers. Think of it this way. You know when you go to install programs on your PC and the installation program tells you to shut down in order for all the changes to take effect? That's what these modules on our vehicles need to do. You don't get that with shift on the fly modules/"tuners"(I do believe BullyDog is the only one that has the Shift on the Fly device that works through the OBDII port as of now, that might change later).

I would do what others have suggested and get a device that allows for custom tuning. SCT is a good one to go, but the paramount thing to take away from this is to get something that allows for custom tuning and get custom tunes.

 

in your bullydog manuel there is a section on relearning tranny try that worked for me.

 

In your bullydog manuel there is a section on relearning your trany.try that it worked for me.

 

It's still not programming the tranny. Think of it this way.

You go down the road in Tow setting and then you "flip" it to extreme because of some annoying racer next to you. All that it really has done as far as your tranny goes is maybe, maybe changed the firmness of the shifting. The rest of it is essentially the same as it was from the Tow setting due to the fact that the computer needs to be "restarted" in order for changes to take affect. Not exactly something that is going to be for the longevity and health of pretty damn good auto tranny.

I mean you can do the relearn procedure til you blue in the face, it still doesn't mitigate the biggest flaw of shift on the fly tuning and that is it doesn't properly tune the vehicle's modules.

 

typical hate

Ive got a few co-workers running the GT tunes and their trucks run just fine, even running in extreme 24/7

now im not gonna deny that SCT does a fantastic job of tuning the tranny. but not everybody is wanting, or needing that kind of tuning.

 

Not hate, based on my own experiences using your products. In fact, if you look in my gallery on here, I think I still have some pictures of the old outlook monitor, so that should show that I atleast had that in my truck. Just because my and others experience with your products doesn't work in your benefit and I tell people about it, doesn't mean that it's just classified as "typical hate". I have supplied what I believe to be reasons for why it doesn't perform up to snuff, if I just said that it's crap get rid of it or don't get it(depending on which case it might be) then you would be able to classify it as typical hate. However, when things are supplied as to why I(or anyone else) thought it doesn't work like it should, that's a different matter.

Some will run great, some won't. This is due to the fact that I have yet to see anything that shows that your products deal with individual truck strategies. One of the primary reasons why it works in some and it doesn't in others. Plus, you also have to factor in do the drivers really know what to look for in terms of the tranny acting up or if something small is starting to act up? Not everyone can.

I noticed that you just mentioned that two co-workers run it in their trucks, even extreme 24/7, however, you didn't clarify as to what trucks they are running it in. They could be 6.0s, they could even be 5.9s don't know, so it also may not be a fair comparision on that front either.

One final thing, some problems also take time to develop, it's not like as soon as a person puts tuning on their truck it "blows up", it takes time. Time enough that people may or may not make the connection as to the true culprit that caused the problem in the first place. Just because something is working today, doesn't mean that it'll be working a couple of months from now and just because it was a couple of months down the road from when they put a programmer on doesn't mean that it is any less likely the culprit. Now it doesn't mean that tuning is always the culprit either. There are a lot of grey areas here to where it falls under the "it just depends". Depending on how someone drives or how often the drive it may even take a year or so. I know one guy that barely puts on 2k each year on his truck.

On a 6.0 if a person is wanting to tune the truck then unless they want to take a chance on a very good auto tranny, I strongly believe that they are going to want that type of tuning. Rather or not it's thru SCT's platform or another platform that handles custom tuning(I use the Phalanx).

If "you" are going to want to tune the 6.0 in particular, I would like really long and hard into custom tuning. The 6.0 is a tricky animal and different from the 7.3 and the 6.4 and especially different from the other diesel makes. What works on the others doesn't mean that it'll work on the 6.0.

 

Well the place that I bought the BD GT tunner said I have 30 days to decide if I like it and can return it anytime till then I can tell you one thing I did not like off the hop is the HDMI cable that goes from the EBOII port to the display unit was melted together in a couple of spots so as you tried to pull it apart it ripped the out plastic jacket not a huge deal but had to put tape on it. Form another post I had about diving sputtering / Bucking in overdrive it was thought that the try before you buy that I had done may have left a footprint and when I installed the full GT unit it went away but this morning I didn't let the truck warm up and it was back for a couple of mins untill the truck got to operating temps not a big deal now but in the winter when it is -20degC out it may do it alot more/longer so I guess I will have to try Hot Shots product since I am not sure what else to try there seems to be alot of people with this problem and no apparent fix. I am not sure where I was going with that, lol it was just a thought in my head.

I dont ever plan on using the tunner for anything other than tow setting I only got he BD GT because it had the guages built in and it was on sale for $579 CDN No Pryo though! I had wondered if I even need a tunner I just wanted abit more PWR towing my fifth wheel.

I guess I will have to do some serious reading and why the pro's and con's. I don't care what tunner it is as long as it works and dose not hurt anything. Mabey I should get rid of the tunner alltogether My buddie told me not to run a tunner unless the HG and studs have been dune or I will be doing them fore sure a the tune of $4500 at the dealer. I don't really know if mine have been done the dealership I brought the truck to said the HG were done at 60,000kms now it has 220,000kms he also said they would have put the upgraded studs in, so I am not positive what has been done.

Thanks for the great info sofar guys I look forward to anyother views.

 

Sorry, i didnt mention that they were 6.0s.

You make good points. and here is the thing. does our tuning work? yes. Is it perfect? no. for the average consumer its great. but for guys looking for more power it is better to go else where. now with that being said i have been trying to get with the people around here and trying to get them to fix the problems that you guys have with our tuners. mainly it seems that tuning refinement is #1 on the lists of wants/needs. But trust me, im on your side and want to see things fixed.

 

I think studs and head gaskets might be a little overkill if your just planning on leaving it in the tow settings.

 

There are no upgraded studs or bolts supplied by Ford. There are after market stud kits available but they would not be covered under a Ford warranty.

 

It is possible that your tri before you buy could have left a footprint. Bucking until it gets warmed up could be a sign of other mechanical issues going on as well. To early to tell though just based on what I'm seeing here.


There are OBD-II monitors that do not have the tuner built in to them if you were really just looking for gauges. I think even BullyDog has a unit that is just gauges as well. Edge Insight is a popular one and the DashDAQ is another one as well.

Doing something because you can get a good deal at the time doesn't in fact mean that it is a good thing to get. Research, research, research. The best preventative thing that people can do to help with the longevity of a 6.0 is knowing about it. Not just what other people say, but look into it for yourself.


For one, the stock gaskets aren't the issue, it's the headbolts and even then it's the torquing of the bolts more to the point. I have stock gaskets and I'm pushing over 500HP and that's something you can't get with tuning alone on a 6.0.

Second, the need to put in headstuds is directly related to how good the tuning is that you've run on the truck and how you have handled that new found power as well. The 6.0 was pretty well pushed from the factory as it is, give me about a month and I could cause the bolts to lift, but I also know exactly what to do as well, so it might take a little longer for someone that is doing wrong, but only occasionally.

If they put ford parts back in, then they aren't studs, they are Torque to Yield bolts(aka TTY bolts). I'm unaware of any meaningful upgrade to the bolts and/or the gaskets from the factory.