Hello everyone, I’ve had my 7.3 for around 2 years now and it currently has 193k on it and has a fresh trans with under 1k miles. It also has a 4 inch full turbo back straight pipe. Now I love this truck, but man she does not have much juice. I am very gentle on this machine and I can’t remember the last time I hit 3k rpm’s at all. But I somewhat often tow sometimes multiple times a week, and the other day towing 1.5 tons of lumber in a dump trailer I was really holding up traffic. That was like my tipping point and I then called up my mechanic and asked him about maybe getting a tune on a hydra model, and he referred me to gearhead tunes and I told him that all I was seeking was the ability to tow better get better mileage and be able to pass cars with confidence or merge on to the highway in less than 1.5 business days or wait for a Grand Canyon sized gap. We ended up getting 4 of their tunes, the heavy tow, the high idle, the 40 hp tow economy and against my first thoughts but from his suggestion a “street tune”. Now I go online and I am now tweaking like hell from people on forums saying that tunes are horrible for 7.3’s. The tunes were ordered a few days ago and they are paid for so idk but I have one question: Will these tunes hurt my truck’s longevity under very civilized driving conditions, No racing but maybe a little throttle now and again, towing somewhat often but almost never over 6 - 7k pounds and driving gentle as I normally would. (Again, I only want more passing and merging power and easier towing) And the truck does not have gauges, but I can’t imagine I would need them for the type of driving I do. Thank you all, and if you have any experience with feather tunes or similar tunes to those aforementioned please let me know. Have a great day all.
97powerstrokeseventree
First off, the one thing you're doing wrong is keeping it under 3k rpm. Let that motor rev up and build some boost. Babying these things is probably one of the worst "maintenance" things you can do. Mine ran like a top up until the moment it was totalled. Mine saw over 3k rpm quite often while driving around.
If you have an aftermarket intake and 3" downpipe to 4" exhaust then you are good there. Get gauges ASAP especially for EGT, boost and trans temp. Water temp is recommended too but the cooling system on these is way overkill if maintained properly so it should never overheat.
Your next upgrade besides injectors should be turbo. I did the 1.0 exhaust housing with Wicked Wheel II and deleted pedestal and gutted outlet after a rebuild with 360 thrust washer. It towed like nothing and greatly improved empty driveability and MPG plus sounded way better. That was with stock injectors too.
Another thing is replace the factory CAC boots. Riff Raff has a fairly inexpensive set.
For solid advice give @Corey@CNCFAB and @eric@cncfab a call. They're site vendors and still fully support these trucks.
As for tunes I think it depends on what they are set up for and your driving habits.
If you have an aftermarket intake and 3" downpipe to 4" exhaust then you are good there. Get gauges ASAP especially for EGT, boost and trans temp. Water temp is recommended too but the cooling system on these is way overkill if maintained properly so it should never overheat.
Your next upgrade besides injectors should be turbo. I did the 1.0 exhaust housing with Wicked Wheel II and deleted pedestal and gutted outlet after a rebuild with 360 thrust washer. It towed like nothing and greatly improved empty driveability and MPG plus sounded way better. That was with stock injectors too.
Another thing is replace the factory CAC boots. Riff Raff has a fairly inexpensive set.
For solid advice give @Corey@CNCFAB and @eric@cncfab a call. They're site vendors and still fully support these trucks.
As for tunes I think it depends on what they are set up for and your driving habits.
One thing - you will hear a lot of complaints on the internet so you don't hear too much about the good stuff.
Will tunes damage your truck? Maybe if you abuse them a LOT!!! If you drive like you do, you will get the power you want with out damaging the truck. Be aware, though, you might be tempted to "test" your new power.
Will tunes damage your truck? Maybe if you abuse them a LOT!!! If you drive like you do, you will get the power you want with out damaging the truck. Be aware, though, you might be tempted to "test" your new power.
I've been on various PSD forums for over 20 years. I don't recall a lot of "doom and gloom" about tunes (especially from reputable tuners), at least on OBS trucks. Most of the negativity comes from members stating that just because the chip says it will add 140 hp doesn't mean it will, or more often than not, it will be to warn about additional supporting mods may be needed or you could run into trouble (EGT issues, auto trans issues, clutch issues, HP oil and fuel sufficiency, turbo thrust bearing issues, etc. Just my thoughts. Cheers!
These trucks can handle tunes just fine and reliability can remain intact. I would have no concern to run the tuning you have purchased.
Disclaimer....they are old trucks, lots of time with who know what type of previous life and owners, so adding more power can add that little extra stress on a worn part and "cause" issue.
That said, responsible driving, along with responsible use of good tuning, is in most cases perfectly fine. I do not believe I could ever run a stock/non tuned truck very long, the extra umph is just toooo nice.
With extra power, and an over 25 year old truck, that may have signs of age and wear like boost leaks, drive pressure leaks, worm injectors/hpop etc. It is a good idea to run some type of gauge/monitor. If nothing else, for EGT and ideally fuel pressure. Doing so will help you keep on eye on it and have the ability to act quickly should it run too hot with your foot on the pedal hard or under heavy load, or should fuel pressure not be as desired and avoid damage to injectors and poor performance.
Disclaimer....they are old trucks, lots of time with who know what type of previous life and owners, so adding more power can add that little extra stress on a worn part and "cause" issue.
That said, responsible driving, along with responsible use of good tuning, is in most cases perfectly fine. I do not believe I could ever run a stock/non tuned truck very long, the extra umph is just toooo nice.
With extra power, and an over 25 year old truck, that may have signs of age and wear like boost leaks, drive pressure leaks, worm injectors/hpop etc. It is a good idea to run some type of gauge/monitor. If nothing else, for EGT and ideally fuel pressure. Doing so will help you keep on eye on it and have the ability to act quickly should it run too hot with your foot on the pedal hard or under heavy load, or should fuel pressure not be as desired and avoid damage to injectors and poor performance.
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