First time diesel owner- need advice

[lmcjbp]

Let me preface this all by saying I'm pretty much a dumb arse when it comes to diesel trucks. I have a 2005 bone stock King Ranch with 55,000 miles on it. The truck doesn't get driven a whole lot. (I have a cheap rice burner as my daily driver). I have a 9000 lb. travel trailer I pull 8-10 times a year, usually less than 100 miles a trip. I would like to get a tuner or programmer to help with towing power and to increase overall fuel mileage. What are your recommendations????

[Banshee34]

[cyclonestroker]

I would recomend the SCT, which I think is a general consensus for the 6.0. I use Innovative Diesel tunes, but there are others out there that are good also. Before doing any tuner though I would get a edge insight or another type of gauges so that you can monitor everything.

[amdriven2liv]

Most use the SCT with custom tunes from a couple different people. I do not have one, but have heard great things with a custom tow tune.

If I were to have one, I wouldn't run one with out gauges.

As for MPG increase? You might get better, but don't count on it. Not for towing anyway.

here is a good place:

SCT Diesel Part # SCTX3IDP - SCT X3 Programmer- IDP Custom Tuned - Diesel Performance Parts

I have heard about matt at gearhead, sounds like He is one of the best.

[Lilpooh]

Read these links to get you started.
Things to consider about owning a 6.0L

What to look for when buying a used 6.0L


Click this link, then the link provided to get info on part location and sensor location.
some info on the 6.0 found by 099f350

[lmcjbp]

If I do a mild tune, how much of the "bulletproofing" stuff should I do?

[jeeplj8]

wow - really low miles for an 05. One thing I think most people who spend time with diesel trucks will agree on, they do not like to sit for long periods of time. One more thing, they need to be driven relatively hard (commons sense should be friend here) from time to time.

After reading the above links, your order of items you want should probably include gauges first, everything else second. You really want to know what your truck is doing before you start adding power, or throwing money at problems that may not exist (yet.) Mechanical or electronic gauges is your choice, but for both bang-for-your-buck performance and simplicity, many people really like the Edge Insight CS or CTS.

Then, after you see what all is going on, decide how much more power do I want and how much am I willing to pay? From there you work backward. Figure out what you will need to upgrade/fix.

This is all assuming you have addressed the most glaring maintenance issues (for gold coolant for example).