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What's the best Engine Tune

J

Junior Gammons

New Member
Joined
Jun 22, 2018
Messages
11
Reaction score
5
Truck Year
2016
Went today to look at a new Ford today, cause my 3.0 ECO just isn't what I want anymore. (AKA since the de-tune update) Bad thing is, I have a Ford F 250 Farm truck and the interior on the new ones hasn't changed much since 2000. So now I'm thinking maybe I should use the rebate money for a tune. Can I get some feed back from y'all on which tuner to use? I don't want to race it, just pull my travel trailer about 7000lb and or have the ability, to drive safely in heavy traffic (throttle response) . I heard one of the companies gets rid of or deactivates the EGR valve. I like that since I had to pay over $250.00 when the truck only had 50K on it to have it replaced. Let me know thanks
 
Junior Gammons said:
Went today to look at a new Ford today, cause my 3.0 ECO just isn't what I want anymore. (AKA since the de-tune update) Bad thing is, I have a Ford F 250 Farm truck and the interior on the new ones hasn't changed much since 2000. So now I'm thinking maybe I should use the rebate money for a tune. Can I get some feed back from y'all on which tuner to use? I don't want to race it, just pull my travel trailer about 7000lb and or have the ability, to drive safely in heavy traffic (throttle response) . I heard one of the companies gets rid of or deactivates the EGR valve. I like that since I had to pay over $250.00 when the truck only had 50K on it to have it replaced. Let me know thanks
Click to expand...
The best tuner depends on you and your needs and where your live. Three good tunes, Banks, GDE, SofaTune King. GDE and Sofa Tune King turns off the EGR, Banks does not, but does carry a CARB approval number, they all provide the same results. No turbo lag, 20Hp, 45 ft. lbs. of torque over stock. I am happy with my GDE, I have a hard time in town getting good mileage cause I'm having a hard time staying out of the throttle, too much fun. Highway 5mpg improvement. The truck runs great, no turbo lag, noticeable performance improvement, shift points still to active due to the AEM also reprogramming the shift points. Hate that I might need to buy Shift Programmer. I pull a Toy Hauler RV under 7K which the tune pulls like there is nothing there. The tunes that shut off the EGR allow for elimination kit to be installed as needed. Now where you live comes in if you have to perform and pass annual or semi annual emission testing. You may or may not pass emission testing, some say yes, some say no. Check all three out online and make your best decision.
 
Junior Gammons said:
Went today to look at a new Ford today, cause my 3.0 ECO just isn't what I want anymore. (AKA since the de-tune update) Bad thing is, I have a Ford F 250 Farm truck and the interior on the new ones hasn't changed much since 2000. So now I'm thinking maybe I should use the rebate money for a tune. Can I get some feed back from y'all on which tuner to use? I don't want to race it, just pull my travel trailer about 7000lb and or have the ability, to drive safely in heavy traffic (throttle response) . I heard one of the companies gets rid of or deactivates the EGR valve. I like that since I had to pay over $250.00 when the truck only had 50K on it to have it replaced. Let me know thanks
Click to expand...
I like GDE ( Green Diesel Engineering ) they had been around for a couple of years with very good results. A lot of people on this site have GDE tunes. That's my 2cents.
 
I also have GDE, like Ram For Life said, one of the reasons I went to GDE was reputation and years on the market. GDE has been around quite a long time, and when I did my homework on the different tunes, I have a difficult time finding any complaints about GDE. I got it for a few reasons.
i) REGENS was a concern to me, as my truck (stock) was going into regen every 150-250 km. This uses up more fuel lowering fuel economy, and unburned excess fuel from a regen could have the potential of contaminating the oil. I looked at is as every 10,000 km I changed my oil so the oil had about around 60-68 regens happen during it's life-span, which increases the possiblity of fuel dilution. With an already troubled motor prone to lower end bearing failure, I didn't need to give the truck any more reasons to blow a motor. NOW - with GDE, my regens occur every 1200 km give or take, so that's 9 regens / oil change which is a dramatic difference.

ii) I wanted to turn OFF the soot making EGR which was contaminating my intakes, plugging my MAP, and choking my swirl valves. At the time, my truck was still fairly young, 55,000 km, and the soot wasn't crazy like some have posted, but it was definitely accumulating and I didn't want the problem to get worse over time.

iii) I hated the stock lag when you jump on the highway and the truck didn't move!! GDE gets rid fo that.

iv) MPG has definitely improved, not only on highway, but city also! In the city, with stock, I was averaging around 10-10.5 L/100 km, with GDE I average between 8.5-9 L/100 km.

v) I like to buy things based on many many positive reviews and with GDE being around for so long, there were lots of happy customers. I also do google searches for GDE COMPLAINTS, GDE problems, etc to see what comes up. People will always complain when unhappy.

vi) In ontario, they just scrapped the emission testing so I"m good until the next government gets voted in (4 years...)

Do your homework, find out what works best for you, depends where you live, what the epa rules are, do you have emission testing, what do they look at, ask lots of questions, pm guys that have different tunes, some will tell you the good and the bad, etc?
 
GearHead said:
The best tuner depends on you and your needs and where your live. Three good tunes, Banks, GDE, SofaTune King. GDE and Sofa Tune King turns off the EGR, Banks does not, but does carry a CARB approval number, they all provide the same results. No turbo lag, 20Hp, 45 ft. lbs. of torque over stock. I am happy with my GDE, I have a hard time in town getting good mileage cause I'm having a hard time staying out of the throttle, too much fun. Highway 5mpg improvement. The truck runs great, no turbo lag, noticeable performance improvement, shift points still to active due to the AEM also reprogramming the shift points. Hate that I might need to buy Shift Programmer. I pull a Toy Hauler RV under 7K which the tune pulls like there is nothing there. The tunes that shut off the EGR allow for elimination kit to be installed as needed. Now where you live comes in if you have to perform and pass annual or semi annual emission testing. You may or may not pass emission testing, some say yes, some say no. Check all three out online and make your best decision.
Click to expand...
Thanks for taking the time to answer my question. I live in Texas and out of the large cities so I'm not tested. Looks like GDE is going to be my choice.
 
I have the GDE tune here in California and recently had to have an emissions (smog) test. It passed. Funny thing was the tech warning me while he was running the test not to get a tune because then in the future it wouldn't pass.
 
cds13ca said:
I also have GDE, like Ram For Life said, one of the reasons I went to GDE was reputation and years on the market. GDE has been around quite a long time, and when I did my homework on the different tunes, I have a difficult time finding any complaints about GDE. I got it for a few reasons.
i) REGENS was a concern to me, as my truck (stock) was going into regen every 150-250 km. This uses up more fuel lowering fuel economy, and unburned excess fuel from a regen could have the potential of contaminating the oil. I looked at is as every 10,000 km I changed my oil so the oil had about around 60-68 regens happen during it's life-span, which increases the possiblity of fuel dilution. With an already troubled motor prone to lower end bearing failure, I didn't need to give the truck any more reasons to blow a motor. NOW - with GDE, my regens occur every 1200 km give or take, so that's 9 regens / oil change which is a dramatic difference.

ii) I wanted to turn OFF the soot making EGR which was contaminating my intakes, plugging my MAP, and choking my swirl valves. At the time, my truck was still fairly young, 55,000 km, and the soot wasn't crazy like some have posted, but it was definitely accumulating and I didn't want the problem to get worse over time.

iii) I hated the stock lag when you jump on the highway and the truck didn't move!! GDE gets rid fo that.

iv) MPG has definitely improved, not only on highway, but city also! In the city, with stock, I was averaging around 10-10.5 L/100 km, with GDE I average between 8.5-9 L/100 km.

v) I like to buy things based on many many positive reviews and with GDE being around for so long, there were lots of happy customers. I also do google searches for GDE COMPLAINTS, GDE problems, etc to see what comes up. People will always complain when unhappy.

vi) In ontario, they just scrapped the emission testing so I"m good until the next government gets voted in (4 years...)

Do your homework, find out what works best for you, depends where you live, what the epa rules are, do you have emission testing, what do they look at, ask lots of questions, pm guys that have different tunes, some will tell you the good and the bad, etc?
Click to expand...
Thanks for the quick response. The regen actions bother me as well as the swirl valve plugging up. Looks like the GDR will be the way I go.
 
Promo714 said:
I have the GDE tune here in California and recently had to have an emissions (smog) test. It passed. Funny thing was the tech warning me while he was running the test not to get a tune because then in the future it wouldn't pass.
Click to expand...
That's funny that the tech couldn't tell the difference thanks for the responce
 
Thanks to all that responded to my questions. Now I just have to think if I need all the options of the tune. Looks like the GDE is the way to go.
 
Junior Gammons said:
Thanks for taking the time to answer my question. I live in Texas and out of the large cities so I'm not tested. Looks like GDE is going to be my choice.
Click to expand...
E-mail them or call them I think you will be very pleased with how they respond. I called them and talked to them they did not try to make me feel like I was stupid. They answered all of my questions. I also searched a lot of forums for negative comments about their tune. I found NONE. I am still saving up for my new tune but when I get ready to buy it will definitely be a GDE tune.
 
Promo714 said:
I have the GDE tune here in California and recently had to have an emissions (smog) test. It passed. Funny thing was the tech warning me while he was running the test not to get a tune because then in the future it wouldn't pass.
Click to expand...

So you had the GDE tune active during the test? I'd love to get the GDE but they are under the microscope with CARB and ask for a VIN # now which shows it's a CA vehicle. So you can't even get it delivered to an out of state address.
I have heard the same about the Sofa King tune (which you can still get in CA) that it does not show up on the smog test.
Everything I'm seeing about the Sofa King engine/trans tune seems positive.
I have tried to contact Banks RE: if there unit eliminates the soot in the EGR and have had no response. I'm looking more at eliminating all the issues with soot entering the engine and destroying things than getting more power. Added fuel mileage and no turbo lag would be a plus.
CA and EPA are SofaKing stupid!
 
Correct it was installed during the test. And yes, got the tune before proof of registration was required. I just purchased the Sofa King trans tune for that reason but have not had a chance to install it yet. There is some negative talk about Sofa King on another forum but it seemed to be from fans of GDE basically saying GDE was better--no actual negative feedback about the SK tunes themselves. On the other hand, this forum has had some favorable reviews. If I'd had the option I would have gone GDE on the trans but only because I already have other.
 
bob1340 said:
So you had the GDE tune active during the test? I'd love to get the GDE but they are under the microscope with CARB and ask for a VIN # now which shows it's a CA vehicle. So you can't even get it delivered to an out of state address.
I have heard the same about the Sofa King tune (which you can still get in CA) that it does not show up on the smog test.
Everything I'm seeing about the Sofa King engine/trans tune seems positive.
I have tried to contact Banks RE: if there unit eliminates the soot in the EGR and have had no response. I'm looking more at eliminating all the issues with soot entering the engine and destroying things than getting more power. Added fuel mileage and no turbo lag would be a plus.
CA and EPA are SofaKing stupid!
Click to expand...
A lot of the tuners may not admit in writing to shutting off egr as it's illegal in so many states, and they don't always know / trust who they're emailing... I know when I first approached GDE, I could never get a straight answer via email about if they shut off EGR or not. I don't think they wanted to admit it in writing. Everyone else on the forums confirmed that egr is shut off. I'm sure if you were there in person, they'd admit it.
 
cds13ca said:
A lot of the tuners may not admit in writing to shutting off egr as it's illegal in so many states, and they don't always know / trust who they're emailing... I know when I first approached GDE, I could never get a straight answer via email about if they shut off EGR or not. I don't think they wanted to admit it in writing. Everyone else on the forums confirmed that egr is shut off. I'm sure if you were there in person, they'd admit it.
Click to expand...
Turning off the EGR is one of the MAIN reasons for getting the GDE tune,
 
Has anybody used the HD Diesel tune kit. They are located in Winnipeg Manitoba Canada. They have a very strong wright up on the internet. Wondering if anybody has used this one.
 
darryl ball said:
Has anybody used the HD Diesel tune kit. They are located in Winnipeg Manitoba Canada. They have a very strong wright up on the internet. Wondering if anybody has used this one.
Click to expand...
This is my first time hearing of them.
 
They tune with efi I don't believe they tune eco diesels Cummins Duramax is what I know they tune
 
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