I own a 2003 F150 Supercrew and have done the catback dual exhaust.

Next is getting bigger tires-285/75/16's and want to get either the airforce or FIPK air system. Also want a truck bed cap.

I know I will need to reprogram my computer for the tire change size and have been debating on which way to go. I also want to adjust my shift points etc. and try to get better MPG and performance on regular gas (87oct) gas prices are killing me..

Is there ever going to be a system that you can buy a cable that hooks up to your laptop and you plug into you truck to upload the performance program? I think this would be an excellent cheaper alternative to purchasing a $3-400 tuner? A company could sell the cable and software for alot less, and use your existing laptop as the mode of uploading. Atleast the cost of a cable and software for a company is cheaper than building the OBD?

Any thoughts??

 

Hi 2003,

You can't just buy "a cable" to connect a laptop to your PCM to flash the PCM - and where would you get the new performance program to load into the PCM even if you could? That programming/tuning isn't free, or available for the price of a cheap cable, either - to say nothing of the cost of a laptop computer.

In the case of the Superchips Micro Tuner (or any similar type of device), it's not the cost of the hardware used to deliver the tuning to the PCM (and the costs to develop that Micro Tuner hardware aren't chicken feed) - it's the tremendous R&D costs that go into developing the *software* - the actual tuning, the program the PCM runs on and uses to control the powertrain.

The costs to reverse-engineer an automotive PCM application and develop a replacement powertrain program are enormous. At a few hundred dollars, there is no better performance bargain than a properly optimized powertrain program, as nothing else for the same or less cost will improve the performance of the vehicle as much.

Whether it's a candy bar or an MRI machine, what any product costs is generally going to be commensurate with the expenses associated with developing that product - economics 101. (Oil prices being an obvious exception )

How is any company ever going to buy the chassis dynos & all the other many pieces of specialized equipment required to reverse-engineer these applications (and in the case of Superchips, actually invent some of the hardware required to do certain aspects of this work)? Or to develop the hardware to flash the PCM? Or the actual tuning itself, the most important part? You can't just buy "a cable" and be a tuner - how are you going to know what is controlled where, at what address, how, the size of all the various tables, etc., etc - and what changes would not cause damage, but instead would actually be beneficial?

Having that kind of reverse-engineering & developmental capability costs money to make happen - a lot of money. The fact that you can have the fruits of all that cost & work for less than the cost of those new tires is the best performance bargain available for these vehicles. The ability to knock anywhere from a half-second to more than a full second off the 1/4 mile times of a 2.5-3 ton truck for a few hundred dollars is the best performance bargain available, as nothing else will do as much for the performance of the vehicle **for the same or less cost** - which is why so many people here do it.

On the subject of mpg, there are plenty of things you can do to improve mpg - since you need to have your speedo recalibrated for your new tires anyway, if you like, we can do a custom tune setup for you to not only correct the speedometer for the tires, shift points optimized, etc., but we can also do a specific "fuel economy" type of custom program for you. Now that isn't going to magically make a multi-ton truck get 25 mpg, but all else being equal it will get better mpg - usually on the order of about 1.0-1.7 more mpg on 87 octane, and it doesn't take long for that to actually pay for itself. Now that would *not* be in the standard #1715 Micro Tuner, but instead would be in the new custom-tune capable version of the Micro Tuner, our Part# 9100. Like the 1715, the 9100 has room for 3 different programs, and with our in-depth custom tuning we can do just about any combination of 3 different tunes - for example, we could do one of those 3 tunes specifically for the best possible mpg on 87 octane (as opposed to the best possible full-throttle acceleration, for example).

And of course, there are always things like converting to electric cooling fans and underdrive pulleys, both of which will not only add significant power gains but will also improve your truck's fuel economy, too.

At any rate, this is just some quick brief info on why you can't just buy "a cable" to give you the ability to actually change the code inside your vehicle's PCM - I hope that helps your understanding on this a little bit.

Thanks for your post, & best of luck with your truck!

 

Superchips_Distributor,

Thanks for the info, and the bashing-I guess I deserved it a little. The cost associated with putting the dual exhaust, new tires, FIPK, and Tuner not to mention I want a fiberglass cap for the bed gets spendy. And not to mention my wife and I are paying $8000 bucks (a second time) trying to have a kid so finances on my Military pay doesn't go quite as far...

I guess I will have to save up, but the 9100 tuner sounds awsome. Everyone Raves about what it does and can do. I was hoping for something simular but not so costly but your explaination makes sense, I didnt realize how much went into making it.

Do you have a package deal for the 9100 tuner and Airforce One for my 2003 F150 5.4 ltr?

Thanks,
Mike

 

Hi 2003,

Gosh, I sure hope that didn't come off like a "bashing," as that certainly wasn't my intention! Just trying to explain a bit, and trying to convey some perspective on some of the costs & efforts involved, etc. Sometimes cold words on a screen may not be received with the same inflection, tone, etc. as was intended - please don't feel like there was any "bashing" or "offense" meant at all, OK? It was really intended to just be some quick factual FYI stuff.....................

We *all* have budgets we have to live within, & expenses in life (and other mods, etc.) that come first. I don't know any of us that can do all we'd like to - myself included!

Yes, we can do a package deal for you, no problem - we do that kind of thing all the time. I can't discuss pricing here, as it's against the rules of F-150 Online - but if you can just give us a quick call whenever you get a chance, we'll be happy to give you that special combo pricing.

You've got a lot of things going on there all at the same time from the sound of it - sounds kinda like us here, very hectic & a lot to keep up with. Good luck with everything, & talk with you soon!