I've had my 9100 program in for a little over a week (The enhanced stock program) and had to go to a reginal Managers conferance out by Breckingridge ( North west of FT.Worth). I filled up on Tuesday morning and drove out there ,******* it a little to see how it did on the Highway. Then it sat for 2 days and I drove back Wednesday afternoon, hauling *** down 114. Went to work this morning and then over to Garland with lots of street driving there. I stopped to get gas and it took 12 Gallons to fill it up. Hit the trip Odo gauge and it said 180 miles. Let's see that works out to 15 MPG!!! I reset the odo and now I'm gonna Granny it for a couple of days. Of course thats like not rolling the windows down after you get tint,very hard to do. But I'm interested to see how much I can push up that MPG....Thanks Mike, I'm very happy with the product.

 

Hi TexfordD,

We're doing well with mpg gains in our custom performance tuning - even though that's really not a primary goal, mpg gains are something that we've been working on more & more lately (go figure).

We can usually get the mpg to come up enough to where there is minimal (if any) additional cost to operate on our premium gas tuning. We've also been working on some other ways to improve mpg even on 87 octane gasoline, and that too, is showing some nice results.

We'll always be about *performance* first, mpg second - the bottom line is, go multi-program and get the best of both worlds, just like you did.

Glad to hear it seems to be working well for you,

 

Thanks Mike...I'm very happy with the 9100...the only issue so far is that the Alternator wanted to overspin on the serpentine belt when it shifted through the gears at WOT. I resolved that by buying a Gatorback belt. Otherwise it shifts perfectly and the exhause tone has changed for the better. I had a guy up on the highway in a older Camaro think he wanted to play and after I hit WOT and it shifted down through 2 gears and the Flows erupted out back he backed off real quick. Put me on your list of satisfied customers. I will be E-Mailing you about info for a fanned tranny cooler here soon. See you soon.

 

Hi TD,

Yep, the Gatorback belt should be standard equipment in these trucks with as much as we pay for them, IMHO.

Many of them will do that belt squeal even in bone stock trim on the full-throttle 1-2 upshift, but *all* of them do it with a decent performance tune on board - the factory belt is just too low quality in terms of it's actual adhesion on the various pulleys. The Gatorback cures that instantly - no more "shift squeal." It's the only type of belt we'll use in these vehicles.

Taking on GM F-bodies (Camaros & Firebirds) with these F-150's is a bit of a stretch in many cases, but it sounds like you came across one that didn't want to take on that big pickup truck - that's gotta be a nice feeling, good for you!

Have fun,

 

OK guys, you got me wonderin'. This "shift squeal" thing - I have this going from 1st to 2nd and WOT (and sometimes from 2nd to 3rd) whenever I have the 1715 programming installed. However, I always thought it was the air being sucked through the WMS Velocity Tube/ modified open airbox/ K&N setup I have. Now I am wondering if I have this same belt slippage, because after taking the programming out, the sound went away (I think). If I ever get my truck back from the deealer for the stuttering problem I am having right now, I will have to check into this.

Where can I get this Gatorback belt? Price? Part #?

 

Mike has them or you can get them from autozone...806099 is one that may work ..look at your pullys and they should be either 6 spline or 8 spline....know this before you get it...the squeel is caused by the alternator continuing to spin when the engine RPM decreases at shift and the belt follows suit thus causing a squeel as the alternator slips on the belt

 

Thanks Tex - is replacing the belt something easy to do or will I need to get a shop to do it??

 

Hi LC,

You can easily replace your own serpentine belt on non-Lightning F-150's - all you need is a ratchet (or breaker bar, etc.) to move the belt tensioner enough to release the original belt. Then thread on the new one, once again moving the belt tensioner just enough to slip the belt over the last pulley or idler (depending on where you start) and it's done.

The diagram for the path of the belt is on a decal right on your radiator cover, so you see it every time you lift the hood - can't miss it.

On the factory-supercharged Lightning & Harley trucks, there is a "cage" holding the crankshaft pulley that drives the supercharger (which has it's own separate drive belt), and that has to be dealt with before you can replace the serpentine belt in those models. Many Lightning & '02-'03 Harley owners just replace their factory lower pulley with an aftermarket non-caged unit that delivers more supercharger boost, so then they too can easily swap out the serpentine belt like other F-150 owners can.

 

I have a hard day...come home and eat...sit down to watch the tube..pass out in the recliner...and Mikes cutting in on my post count!!!! ..J/K

 

Mike - thanks for the response. You have a new order!!!

 

TIP...the alternator is first to come off and last to go on

 

Thanks Tex - I'll remember that!!

 

TexforD is right on the money - that's how we install the belts too, slipping it over the alternator pulley first coming off, and last going back on - good tip (and another post count for you, TexfordD! )

Speaking of post counters, long ago I gave up giving any thought to my post counter - it's stopped so many times that I probably have more like 30K+ posts here instead of the 9000-some odd it's been showing for who-knows-how-many months or years now. It stops counting and registers the same post count for months on end, and has done that many times throughout the 6+ years I've been here. So it probably happens to everyone else at some point, too - thus we all may have quite a few more posts than the counters actually show!

 

I'm not worried either...just a poke a ribs there Mike

 

Gotcha!