Performance chip question

[rberg]

I just bought an 05 F250 with the 6.0 diesel.

For those of you in the know, should I look into a chip?
What are the advantages and disadvantages?
Is it worth the cost?
Any recommendation to the brand?
Is it a DIY project?

I know nothing about them, so any advice is helpful.

Thanks in advance,

[Javelin]

I think they are absolutly worth it. I am not a powerjoke guy, but I do know that footz67 on this site has an 05 with a banks six gun and I think TST stacked. It will flat out run and ruin a set of tires quick. He will prolly respond with a more accurate description though. I know on my 00 cummins I have a TST Powermax Competition and it will giddy up and go and blow black smoke for days. The best thing about them to me is that even with the newer diesels when driving at highway speeds you may not have alot go to pass a person, with a chip you hit the go pedal and it dont stop till you do.

[TKRanch]

My only knowledge of CHIPS is that they definitely shorten the life of the engine. Yes, they provide added horsepower and overall performance, but depending on what you are looking for you might be able to get some of that with some air induction and exhaust work instead of the chip. I have an 03 Dodge 2500 not turboed and it has 165K miles on it and runs great and gets over 20mph most of the time unless hauling stock or horse trailers.

You can talk to Take 3 in Brenham close to you to see what enhancements you can do and what to expect.

[Mudslinger]

One of the best places to go to ask this question is www.dieselstop.com and get on the 6.0 forum and pop the question. You should get more replies than you care to read.

[greenflag]

Qzilla is a member here & Owns Quadzilla performance. I'm sure he can give you any info you may need.

[TreeCrab]

I didn't know he was the owner of Quadzilla, I bought one for my truck at the hunting show this year in Houston. Works pretty good, mpg went down a hair but the extra punch in nice.

[qzilla]

My only knowledge of CHIPS is that they definitely shorten the life of the engine. Yes, they provide added horsepower and overall performance, but depending on what you are looking for you might be able to get some of that with some air induction and exhaust work instead of the chip. I have an 03 Dodge 2500 not turboed and it has 165K miles on it and runs great and gets over 20mph most of the time unless hauling stock or horse trailers.

You can talk to Take 3 in Brenham close to you to see what enhancements you can do and what to expect.

First off, tuning and engine does not mean shorter engine life... That is pretty retarded.

Second off, you do not have a 2003 Dodge 2500 that is NOT turbo'd. If you took the turbo off from the factory then I PROMISE you will melt that engine to the ground. The turbo is Cummins only source for air to the engine. Remove the turbo, remove the air.

Please don't talk about stuff if you have no idea what you are talking about. It makes it worse for others and could cost people money or other problems down the road.

[TreeCrab]

I smell burning rubber....

[Mike D]

I have an '06 F350 with the 6.0 and I have a Quadzilla ZXT module on it. It's a fixed (non adjustable) 65hp and it wakes the truck up very nicely. My fuel mileage went up on average 2mpg as well. I also added one of the Monster Intakes and picked up almost another mpg as well and buddy you can hear that turbo sing now.

Both are an easy 30 minutes or less DIY install if you're any bit mechanically inclined.

Plus the modules are undetectable as long as you remove them from your truck if you ever have to take it in for service. That's not the case with programmers.

[Mike D]

First off, tuning and engine does not mean shorter engine life... That is pretty retarded.

Second off, you do not have a 2003 Dodge 2500 that is NOT turbo'd. If you took the turbo off from the factory then I PROMISE you will melt that engine to the ground. The turbo is Cummins only source for air to the engine. Remove the turbo, remove the air.

Please don't talk about stuff if you have no idea what you are talking about. It makes it worse for others and could cost people money or other problems down the road.

Yup.

[Javelin]

Well I was about to ask about what was meant by not turboed, but I guess Quad handled it
I do know that without a turbo a cummins will have absolutly zero power and can only barely turn the wheels, while a old Chevy 6.5 will run for years with no turbo and you can hardly tell the difference.
I also disagree with a chip shortening engine life. Yes it will shorten transmission life if you get an agressive chip and it may finish off a VP 44 that is already injured on the 24valve cummins but engine no.

BTW Quad, how bout sending me one of those new chips yall are beta testing for the 24valves for the great TBH price of Free when yall have it finalized so I can see if it is better than my TST comp

[qzilla]

I just bought an 05 F250 with the 6.0 diesel.

For those of you in the know, should I look into a chip?
What are the advantages and disadvantages?
Is it worth the cost?
Any recommendation to the brand?
Is it a DIY project?

There are a lot of answers to your questions.

You should definitely look into a performance enhancement but, you should do so with some caution. Just plugging something in that makes 150hp is not necessarily the best thing for what you are trying to accomplish.

It is definitely worth the money in most cases. Make sure you buy what you need. There is a lot of stuff out there that has more fluff and you pay for it. Fluff is not needed unless you have an unlimited budget. Even I sell stuff that is fluffy and a lot of people want it but, there are those that don't need it as well.

Stick to a Brand that has been around and is a company that can and will answer your questions and support you when needed. Quadzilla, Edge and Banks have all been around and are the largest "module" manufacturers. Banks has an unlimited marketing budget and if you read their own white papers the bang for the buck is pretty bad. Superchips and Hypertech are the leaders in programmers. All above mentioned companies are reputable and make products for your specific truck. TST as mentioned above does not make any products for the 6.0L Fords.

Next you have to decide how much you need and how you want to get there.

Do you just want more power? More mileage? Just a little more pep? A lot of power? Adjustable on the fly while you drive?

Prices will range from about $250 Up to well over $1000.

If you keep things modest they are very easy DIY projects. If you start looking at adding more than about 70hp then it is a little more involved to do it right. If you are mechanically inclined at all then anything you do should be easy. If you cannot change your own oil then you need to find a shop to do some of the more compicated stuff.

Advantages to Plug and Play modules:
Easy to install and remove
Leaves no trace to the dealer once removed (in most cases depending on brand)
Can be adjustable while you drive
Ours is internet updatable

Downsides:

Limited to power increases of about 160hp
Lacks proper transmission control at the very highest power gains
Do not remove the top speed limiter
Cannot adjust for tire size changes


Programmer Advantages:
Removes top speed limiter
Can adjust for larger tires
Has transmission control abilities at the highest power ratings (in some cases)


Disadvantages:
To change programming you must stop and it can take from 10-15 minutes to change a program
Can be traced at the dealership, bad on warranty
Cannot adjust on the fly
Risks of locking up your factory ECM (most can be recovered but it can leave you stranded if things go wrong)


If you want pretty mild gains which I would recommend being new to this, then most of this does not apply to you. Start small and then work your way into it if needed.

Hope that helps. I will be happy to explain any of our specific products although I am not here to sell product. I tried to do my best at giving unbiased answers to your question.

If you need more help just let me know.

[qzilla]

Well I was about to ask about what was meant by not turboed, but I guess Quad handled it
I do know that without a turbo a cummins will have absolutly zero power and can only barely turn the wheels, while a old Chevy 6.5 will run for years with no turbo and you can hardly tell the difference.
I also disagree with a chip shortening engine life. Yes it will shorten transmission life if you get an agressive chip and it may finish off a VP 44 that is already injured on the 24valve cummins but engine no.

BTW Quad, how bout sending me one of those new chips yall are beta testing for the 24valves for the great TBH price of Free when yall have it finalized so I can see if it is better than my TST comp

I do give TBH guys a great deal, and I will sell it to you guys direct. We do not sell to anyone else direct.

The Adrenaline box will destroy that TST. The TST is nice but, OLD technology.

We can give you mileage or power with a touch of a button now plus we have WAY more features!!!!

When we are done in a couple of weeks shoot me an email and I will hook you up.

[Mike D]

Anything new in the works for the Ford 6.0?

[qzilla]

Maybe. We have some stuff on the board but, our 6L stuff is pretty good now and we still have a lot to work on. 6.4L, 6.7L and some more Dmax stuff.

We do have the new X2 coming for the Ford but, that just buys you the USB update stuff over our website.