Just got my Gearhead tunes! Questions/suggestions on settings, etc.

[Ronin]

My mods are listed in my sig. I'm looking at having Street Diesel Performance do a full EGR delete and studs (and maybe a BatMoWheel upgrade(s) and wastegate [if needed]) eventually, but for now, that's all I have...

I've been running IDP's Xtreme Street for about 14K miles. I had a fuel rail pressure fluctuation/surging at around 50 MPH at 4-5 PSI (level ground/no load) that would NOT go away and forced me to either speed up or slow down to make it stop. The truck would shudder and shake like a fat hooker on a cold bed. It was embarrassing and annoying. Eric told me that's just the way some of the trucks run and there was no way around it, but I've never heard of anyone else having a similar problem...?

There's no denying that Eric/IDP's Xtreme tuning package is popular, successful and powerful. That's without question, I just believe that it's nice to have options.

ANYWAY, after reading about Matt/Gearhead's tuning I figured I'd give them a shot. I did tell Matt about my fueling issue and he thought it shouldn't be a problem any longer. I have to admit that previously I enjoyed on-demand solar eclipses of the occasional hybrid or ricer, but it's not worth the negative attention which is likely in no small way related to the backlash in the diesel tuning industry, so running a clean(-er) tune was also attractive. Additional fuel mileage is always a plus too.

IIRC, Matt doesn't recommend the Hot Street without studs, so I chose to run the Street tune. Outside of changing the axle ratio, I left all of the user adjustable options regarding shifting, alone.

I'm curious what Gearhead tunes other people are running (and their shifting/transmission user adjustable options too) and in particular how they compare to IDP's Xtreme tunes if that's what they were running previously. I should be able to get the track shortly when it opens for the season but there's more to a tune than just ET/MPH...

Thanks in advance for your replies! :thumbup:

 

[MINK]

Glad to hear you're happy so far!

I left everything alone shift wise when loading my Geardhead Race tune although I plan to play with it some in the future. I also had the surging and I'm sure you will agree Matts tunes are some of the smoothest out right now which cured all my issues.

I like haveing the options and look forward to more of Matts higher hp tunes.

 

[TripleE44]

What all tunes are there being offered and what are the estimated HP levels? I've got the same weird issue with my Innovative tune as you did. I'm too paranoid to run to big of a tune for fear of breaking something. I'm just curious if they've got something lower comparable to Innovative Xtreme Mild.

 

[6.4psd916]

I run the hot street with out studs and haven't had any puking. Its a great tune. Running idp tunes I had some surging issues, but with my pmfs, it seems to be gone. I switch it up often, but always go back to hot street. With xrace I saw 20 to 60 rpms of tc slip. But I see none with hot street. Ill try to get out and get some times with both.

 

[Ronin]

UPDATE: the "fat hooker on a cold bed" FRP fluctuation/surging is GONE. That by itself is worth the price of the tunes to me...

As far as HP ratings go, there's some dyno graphs in the Gearhead vendor section that will give you some idea.

I'd like to give the Hot Street a whirl, but if Matt recommends against it without studs I'm inclined to heed that warning. Never had a problem (with the exception of the surging) running IDP Xtreme Street without studs.

The smoke is practically non-existent and is dramatically lower than the IDP Xtreme Street, which could smoke like a freight train given the "right" conditions. I'm still letting the tranny relearn as I just installed the tune but I've seen nothing more than a slight haze at near WOT.

Like to hear from other "Gearheads" about their tuning experience, settings, etc. Keep it comin'!

 

[dstryr]

when i get my truck back from getting studs and the atmosphere I'm giving matt a call...**** this fuel pressure surging issue and IDP's solution is to "live with it" or run extreme mild

 

[Ronin]

when i get my truck back from getting studs and the atmosphere I'm giving matt a call...**** this fuel pressure surging issue and IDP's solution is to "live with it" or run extreme mild

To be honest I thought I was the only one "suffering", but I haven't been on the Army for long, and I am just a Private after all...

No disrespect to either Eric or IDP intended either. He wrote some awesome tunes for my built 6.0 Excursion back in the day and when I bought a 6.4 I didn't give it a second thought to hit him up again. My buddy with an '08 went with Spartan and I didn't wanna do the same thing he did so it made that particular decision even easier. But MAN the look on the wife's face when my $50K+ truck was shuddering was NOT cool, and she's the one that's been very supportive of my diesel "habit".

I made sure to run the truck under the IDENTICAL conditions that caused the surging before, and like I said, it's gone, period. Not a hint.

Admittedly I'm still in the "honeymoon" phase with Matt/Gearhead's tunes, but getting rid of the surging is like finding out the bride's a 3-input on the big night...friggin' sweet!

 

[Zmann]

on my 6.0 I messed with all the settings ,, try to keep a journal and play around with them IMHO
I have mine set way different than his SLR came and the shifting is even more improved

just remember to let everything settle for a few days before trying to adjust the parameters

 

[Ronin]

...just remember to let everything settle for a few days before trying to adjust the parameters

'Zactly! With the whole TCM/tranny relearn process you can end up reinventing the wheel (no pun intended) before it has a chance to get the adaptives squared away. I'm familiar with the Ford TCM relearn process (which is what Spartan refers to also IIRC)...and so is my local police department, so I'd rather give it some extra time to learn than inconvenience the officer from attending to more pressing matters...

 

[Worstenemy453]

IF any of you guys need Gearhead tunes i can take care of that for you.

Glad to hear some great feedback on his 6.4 stuff. I hadn't heard much about it so its nice to see some positive results.

 

[strokin20]

I would get the surging on mine when running idp's race tune. Especially with cruise on going down a hill. I've put about 350 miles so far on Matt's race tune and it's been the smoothest thing ever. Usually on my other tunes when I would tap the brake to turn my cruise off the truck would jerk. With Matt's it's so smooth it feels stock. I left all the shift settings alone and only adjusted for my tire size and revolutions per mile. The shifting on this tune is awesome. I honestly have never had a tune this powerful be so smooth and not jolt the truck when shifting. Im also amazed at the lack of smoke. Now if I could just get Matt's tune on my dashdaq so I could get rid of my livewire lol.

 

[Breaking Habits]

I would get the surging on mine when running idp's race tune. Especially with cruise on going down a hill. I've put about 350 miles so far on Matt's race tune and it's been the smoothest thing ever. Usually on my other tunes when I would tap the brake to turn my cruise off the truck would jerk. With Matt's it's so smooth it feels stock. I left all the shift settings alone and only adjusted for my tire size and revolutions per mile. The shifting on this tune is awesome. I honestly have never had a tune this powerful be so smooth and not jolt the truck when shifting. Im also amazed at the lack of smoke. Now if I could just get Matt's tune on my dashdaq so I could get rid of my livewire lol.

Unfortunately, I doubt that'll happen.. At least not in the near future.

 

[strokin20]

Yea I'm not expecting any "miracles" lol. But it never hurts to dream.

 

[3brorce]

Yea I'm not expecting any "miracles" lol. But it never hurts to dream.

Which race tune feels faster power wise? IDP or Gearheads?

 

[strokin20]

I can't honestly say. I haven't ran my idp tunes in a while. Ive been running spartan since the beginning of this year and I've only run the spartan 300, 310 and 350, and Matt's race tune since I had my build done. Matts is def my favorite. The spartan 300 is a close second though, a bit more smoke and shifts aren't quite as smooth. Everything feels really fast now. I would just have to take it to a track to know for sure.

 

[powerstrokin15]

i love matts race. just loaded it up. smokeless, great shifting, pulls wicked hard. im impressed to say the least. gonna load xrace tomorrow and compare.

 

[Ronin]

Which race tune feels faster power wise? IDP or Gearheads?

That is a COMPLETELY subjective observation without any empirical evidence to back it up. What I'd like to do is run my truck when the track opens in a few weeks and be able to get some direct comparisons. I said it previously, it's not just about HP or ET/MPH, it's the whole package. I could really care about one tune being faster than the other if it's driveability is compromised and the FRP fluctuates and causes nausea inducing surging.

The smoothness of the shifting, elimination of surging and almost non-existent smoke that I've experienced in the short amount of time I've been running Gearhead's tuning have really only raised one big problem for me...why didn't I try them sooner!

And I'm not sure if it's just me, but the Gearhead tunes seem to be tighter wound against the converter (?), and I mean that in a very good way...not that the IDP's were laggy or loose, but the GH tune just seems to be more responsive, and I have a VERY sensitive butt dyno having run IDP Xtreme Street almost exclusively for the past 14K miles...

FWIW, YMMV...

 

[3brorce]

So are you implying that your GH feels faster? I know that it may be hard to say but You said that your butt dyno is sensitive so which do you think has more power?

 

[Zmann]

I have a CTS with the 1/4 mile logger and the A/E so on my 6.0 Matts is faster according to that .. but in seat of the pants my Edge juice with attitude tweaked was the fastest

I didn't have the CTS then and it would have probably not worked with the old edge

just smokey and dangerous ;-(

 

[Ronin]

So are you implying that your GH feels faster? I know that it may be hard to say but You said that your butt dyno is sensitive so which do you think has more power?

Much like everyone else's butt dyno, I'm guessing mine is fairly INaccurate! No matter, the improvement in smoothness and driveability is what I'm digging the most. Since I "broke" the dyno the last time I was there (LONG story), I figure track times will tell a better story, so when Epping/NED opens in a few weeks I can make back to back runs with different tunes (although that may cause an issue with the adaptives not having time to, well, adapt...) and if that's the case I'll run Gearhead one week and IDP the next. Like I said previously though, it's more (to me) than peak HP/torque or ET/MPH. It's shifting smooth (-er?!) as/than stock and once I get my most recent oil analysis back from Blackstone I may bump the tune up a notch if everything's Kool and The Gang...