Just bought my loaded 6.4L - 600rwhp

[bft blue oval boys]

Thanks for the help. I have been doing some research, looking at KEM, Gearhead and IDP tunes those 3 stood out to me. I like the minimaxx tuner and am leaning towards that. Here is what I'm accumulated after hours of research:

I've read H&S 300 are the slowest of these, KEM 310 and Spartan 310 are neck and neck, Gearhead and IDP also very close. I've read I think it was Spartan themselves saying some of their trucks are running 12.6-12.7 all day with just tune, exhaust and delete. Now I need to find out which of these tunes work with which programmers.

* KEM 345:

* Appears to be a 13.2-13.4 1/4 mile, 540-550 rwhp
* Video above shows quick 60-100mph!
* shifts nice, respected

* Gearhead:

* 13.0 tune only! (1)
* 540-560rwhp(?)
* GH Race = 558rwhp / 13.0
* Supposed to be cheap (talk to Matt)


* Respected for driving superbly
* Tow tune looks fast
* Very smooth shifting
* Requires SCT device, and H&S MMC

* IDP “Xrace 3.01” or “Xtreme X” vs “Race” vs “Looney":

* “pulls so f’in hard in OD”
* 12.9 (ported rails) - 13.0

* Rough shifting
* As seen above, beat GH race tune by a tenth, but GH tune has +12-14 hp oddly
* Xrace = 546rwhp / 12.9
* known to be fast
* Lope idle option (!) COULD BE WRONG, may be for 6.0 only
* Torque converter locked may be for 6.0 only

Did you skip my post? Lol. I have Gearhead on H&S MCC and have run 12.83 @ 103. Puts me at 581hp to the wheels with perfect transmission shifting, low smoke, and great drivability. Just do Gearhead and be happy

 

[bigrpowr]

every truck is different. my 6.4 in stock form was always fastest with innovative or gearhead tunes, pretty dang close on either.

I preferred the shifting of the gearhead . at the track both ran 12.80's with the egr deleted and a downpipe , in my cc/sb . what track times don't conclude when you refer to "power or shifting" is 60ft . there could be a 1/10th difference but if the 60ft is .05 different there's your difference. here at psa, we use the TRAP Speed calculator , it tells the tale. these tunes , are all pretty refined, they've been out for over 5 years , with some changes but nothing substantial . focus on the tunes that will drive the best , and get the best reviews in that sense. ive seen different trucks, run faster on different tunes, there is no science to what tune will net what time on the track, but they should all be close to 13.0 give or take a couple tenths. I'd be happy to explain more detail via pm . the reference you quoted doesn't have a ton of basis other than 1 person's experience , but its a decent start .

 

[getstuk]

bft_blue_oval_boys, sorry I didn't add that to my notes, thanks for correcting me! I am leaning towards Gearhead tunes and am getting ready to pull the trigger, I was worried he was a vendor here and people were pushing it with bias because I hadn't heard of him from prior researching but the more I read now, the more respect I have for Gearhead tunes.

Bigrpower, 12.8 is perfect and I'm going to be pulling the trigger very shortly. I will probably post my reactions to the tune so I'll post that here later. A question for both of you, how is the top end pull with these tunes, is it smile-inducing or does it feel like that is where power begins to bottleneck with the stock compounds?

I have only been able to collect opinions mixed with dyno and track times, that is how I accumulated those notes. I just emailed Gearhead for information, I'm still confused on which tunes are compatible with which tuners.

 

[bft blue oval boys]

They could definitely use more air because egt's will climb but mine pulls like crazy. It will pull til the rev limiter and you won't want to go faster then that in one of these trucks lol.

 

[Mike@MPD]

12.64 with idp xrace. Love my innovative tuning. Wouldn't run anything else. That was on a truck with a tune and trans

 

[B585Ford]

If you are just worried about dyno number, they are all very similar. A while back there was a thread comparing 4 of them and they were within 5 HP of each other. Driveability is a different story. Since I am a gear jammed, I will leave it to the other guys to comment on that. I love my GH tunes FWIW.

 

[Stroked777]

Gearhead is the way to go. The trans tuning is worth the money alone. To me I'm more impressed to see a truck that is just barely hazing passing a truck in a race that is smoking like a frieght train

 

[getstuk]

12.64 with idp xrace. Love my innovative tuning. Wouldn't run anything else. That was on a truck with a tune and trans

Mike! Thanks for your input, I equally respect IDP but I've read several people who preferred the Gearhead over their IDP tunes (these guys had both), and a 12.64 is pretty close to the 12.7-8 Gearhead is at. I hope I don't regret this...I'll be calling Gearhead tunes tomorrow for a purchase, or pick up a used one that someone here just offered me with their Gearhead custom tunes. I was talking to a vendor here who hasn't responded in a few days so might go through him if he can get me a deal on the delete + exhaust + intake + tune.

Thanks to the rest of you for your input.

bft_blue_oval_boys I am excited to get my truck and tunes. I should have the truck by Friday according to the shipper. I went through this tuner hunt when I had my F150, I was really underwhelmed by tuning improvements on the 5.4L but I don't think I can balk at a 300hp mod! I feel like a kid waiting for it, can't wait to see what that feels like...

 

[Stroked777]

It feels like a whole different animal. This weekend I'm gunna be deleting and tuning my friends dad's truck and that will be the first time I drove a stock 6.4 in over two years, then get to feel the change if what a tune can do to one

 

[Charles]

These guys will guide you in the right direction for a 6.4, so with that covered I can't help but comment on something I find hilarious...

You seemed distraught about the fact that it had a whole 66k miles on it, lol, but then seeing pictures of your other truck you clearly plan to destroy it on purpose.... so who cares how many miles it has, lol.

After you douche it in a few holes and beat it up against some stumps, rocks and ruts it'll drive, break and require parts just like one with 400k highway miles on it.

You wasted money finding a low mile truck just to F it up yourself the quick way by treating it like a trail vehicle. Should have bought the biggest ragged out, rusted up, beat to sh*t pos you could find for a few thousand and skipped to the punch with money to spare.

:fustrate:

 

[getstuk]

Stroked777 I may have some questions for you if I get hung up on something when I install mine in a week or so. How do you like being cammed, what stage?

Charles, I totally hear you man, I have plans to resell this truck eventually and I feel it would be impossible to sell a truck with 150k miles for any decent amount. That being said, I learned some things from the last truck and I plan to "go easy" on this one in comparison to my last, but stay tuned! I don't think rocks and too much mud are in it's future, one day of mud is a lifetime of dirt in your eye when you're on your back if you know what I mean.

 

[Stroked777]

I only got a stage one cam. Flow a lot of air. Enough to drop my boost from 53psi to 47psi. Egts are cooler and spool up benefited lot. For the money and deal I got on the cam I am happy with it. Figured the cab was up and heads were if so **** it. I plan on doing a single in a few months so we will see how a cam helps on spool up of a single

66k is nothing. I bought mine at 53k and have had no issues that left me stranded. Most repairs have been preventative maintaince. I'm at 112,xxx miles now and was studded at 75k because the gaskets were stating to go. And it's been deleted since 53k

 

[getstuk]

Good to know. I just found out today that I cannot buy a tuner/tunes here in California because they will not sell the tuner to me, both Spartan and IDP told me this. Can't believe this ****. Now I've gotta do some more research on how I can get a tuner here in CA, this is enraging...

 

[Mike@MPD]

Thank the epa

 

[B585Ford]

Thank the epa

I was thinking CARB but same difference.

 

[RedRice589]

I would get in touch with Mike (BigRPower) he's in Cali.

 

[getstuk]

Thanks for the heads up RedRice. I actually just purchased everything I need from an unmentioned source:

IDP Tunes (after some discussions with Innovative)
SCT 9625 Offroad, will buy Gearhead tunes if I'm unhappy with shifting, etc.
Edge Insight monitor
EGR delete
No Limit intake.

This is just the beginning, but feels good to finally start this build...

 

[bigrpowr]

I would get in touch with Mike (BigRPower) he's in Cali.

he knows whats up !!

Thanks for the heads up RedRice. I actually just purchased everything I need from an unmentioned source:

IDP Tunes (after some discussions with Innovative)
SCT 9625 Offroad, will buy Gearhead tunes if I'm unhappy with shifting, etc.
Edge Insight monitor
EGR delete
No Limit intake.

This is just the beginning, but feels good to finally start this build...

thanks buddy, hope to work with you in the future as well, gonna be fun.

 

[getstuk]

:thumbup:

You're the man!

 

[getstuk]

Hey guys, what are the differences in function between these two trailer brake controllers? Apparently I don't have the electronic trailer brake controller, is there much of a difference in operation? If so, has anyone swapped one in?