7.3 hydra tuner opinions
 

moved to the 7.3 forum.

A mild economy tune should make driving it much more pleasant, while boosting MPGs and extending the life of the trans, without hurting anything but your wallet. If you're not looking to have a bunch of different tunes on tap or the ability to re-program it from your PC, a 6 position chip will save you some cash and accomplish the same thing.

I say go for it! You can drive around in the 80 Daily tune which is really go in my opinion, then if you want to get a rush, just tap the button to what position you loaded race, extreme, performance, whatever and then go. Switching tunes while rolling is literally as easy as tapping the up/down arrow on the selector.

Mine is a late 99 f250. 245000 miles on it. I've been running tunes from DP Tuner for the last 12 years. In that time I've beat the snot out of it drag raced it, towed a large heavy travel trailer with it and she's still just as solid as she was before. Stock transmission running a BTS valve body and had Jody firm the shifts a little. I think the firmer shifts has extended the life of the transmission due to no slippage. I'm currently doing some work.. Having it painted, new seats, new flooring.. And have turned it over to my 16 year old daughter 😁.

What he said ^. It comes down to your right foot and driving tendencies.

Cole, do some searching, reading and deciding. Only you can know what is good for your truck.

To answer your question as directly as possible though, no, a tuner will not destroy your truck as long as the truck is maintained, cared for and respected as it has been and should be.

I would not, and did not get a 6 position chip though, I have to disagree with '88 E-350 on that recommendation. If you decide to get something, spend a bit extra and get a Hydra. So many more advantages that come with a Hydra over a 6 position chip.

PS from my above post. I'm not saying to get a DP Tuner I'm just stating that through all the he** I've put my truck through it has in fact been tuned. But like Sous mentioned maintenance is the key. I for one have extreme ocd 😁. Ocd also means that I have esp,I fix things before it has a chance to break or wear out.

Ditto on the OCD...although...Shouldn't that be CDO? ;) At least my wife tells me this when it comes to our garage dwellers.

I have DP Tuner as well and have for maybe 10yrs now. The ol' F5 mail in to get re-programmed chip. :D Pulled horse trailers, goose-necks with 18K or hay on it...but for he past 4yrs or so, just hauling turck bed loads of hay home for the horses.
Factory - 80 tow - 80 Econo I usually run in econo mode...never had an issue and I am at 340K on the clock. Tranny rebuilt back at 180K miles.

If you get a Hydra you have access to the PHP library of tunes for your truck. This will give you a chance to try things out and see what tunes fit your style/needs.

You can branch out from there and try (buy) some other tunes if you like but you'll at least know what you're looking for rather than spending money on tunes/bundles that you won't use.

Is this it?