I am looking for some more towing power for my 02 5.4L Supercrew. Needs to pull the race trailer.

Superchips makes a chip for it I think.

What kinds of real gains can I expect at the rear wheels?

What will it do to my transmission firmness? quicker? firmer?

What will it do to my shift points? downshift easier? (actually I want it to STAY in overdrive more when towing)

Fuel mileage gain?

Octane requirement? Can I run 87 or 89?

IS IT WORTH IT?

Thanx alot.
Vince

 

Hi Vince,

Yes, we do make a chip for your vehicle!

One thing to point out right away is that you can't pick up significant power gains via tuning on 87 octane in these vehicles.
You need to use premium gas with any performance chip that actually increases power significantly, and by "significantly," I mean you'll see about a 10%-12% horsepower gain and roughly about 13%-15% more torque from the Superchip. The maximum potential gains on the 260 hp 1999 & up version of the 5.4 motor in the F-150 are 28 HP & 46 lbs./ft. of torque, that's SAE @ flywheel. Rear wheel gains in these 5.4's vehicles at stock or close to stock power levels will be about 25% less than the gains at the flywheel, as they typically lose about 65 hp to driveline losses with the 4R70W automatic, and about 70 HP driveline losses with the 4R100 tranny. How much power you will actually gain in your vehicle depends primarily upon your altitude & local fuel quality, but in round numbers, think of the Superchip as roughly about a 10% power gainer overall, making it a great bang for the buck performance modification.

If you want to be able to run on 87 or 89 octane gas, we can make a single program Superchip for that on a special order basis (just call us at our number below) , but the power gains will be small, typically on the order of 5 to 8 HP at best on 87 octane.

What a lot of people in your situation do is to go with our 2-program Superchip Flip Chip which we offer with 2 different performance programs, one for use on 87 or 89 octane, and the other being our normal full performance program for premium gas. You can change programs literally at the flip of it's toggle switch, so you can get the best of both worlds, so to speak. Both programs will have all our normal features to improve shift characteristics in these automatics, as well as removing delays & retards, pull the top speed limiter, etc. The difference between the 2 programs is the octane level the engine is tuned for, so you get all the other benefits no matter what octane is in the tank, the only thing that changes is the power output.

There is one thing that you should know and that is, just what it actually costs to run that vehicle on premium gas all the time with the Superchips tuning, as compared to what it costs to run it on 87 octane on the factory program, and many people have done fuel cost analysis on this over the years. The maximum increase in gasoline cost is not more than $100 per 10,000 miles driven, a tiny amount, and for many people it's even less. On average, people generally spend about $2-$3 more a week for gas driving 15,000 to 20,000 miles per year. This assumes a 20 cent per gallon cost delta between 87 & premium, and a 50-50 mix of city & highway driving. So the actual increase in operating costs are very small, to the point that over 95% of our customers run their vehicle on our full performance program for premium gas all the time.

It's not reasonable to expect these heavy 2-3 ton trucks to stay in Overdrive in stock trim under a big load, especially when going up hills, etc., but the Superchips tuning will help that. What's happeneing here is that you're turning very few rpms in Overdrive, and you're at part-throttle, so at 65-70 mph for example, you're usually not even turning 2000 rpm in Overdrive, so the engine can't make even as little as 100 horsepower or 150 lbs./ft. of torque at that point, it's just not turning enough rpms or given enough throttle opening to really be able to work hard & make it's rated power, so there simply isn't enough power to stay in Overdrive. Overdrive is just that, *Overdrive*, which is intended to be used for flat terrain driving under less than heavy loads.

With all that having been said, you *will* see an improvement in this with the Superchip, as you will have more torque and more horsepower all the time, at any rpm, and at any throttle position. In general, you'll have about 10% more power on tap all the time, so that will help it to stay in Overdrive longer.

The changes to shift *points* are on full-throttle, where they are set so that the vehicle will accelerate the quickest. The shifts are also firmed up in direct relation to how much throttle is applied, so that when driving conservatively the transmission will still shift smoothly (although quicker & with less slippage), and then as you give it more and more throttle and under more and more load, the upshifts will get progressively firmer, just as they should. By the time you are at heavy throttle, the upshirts are fast & firm, snappy but still not neck-snapping.

Is it worth it? Yes, it sure is, the Superchip is literally the single best bang-for-the-buck modification you can make to that vehicle, as nothing else will increase power or improve preformance more for it's cost. In general, it's always worthwhile to have your powertrain programming optimized in computer controlled vehicles, you bet!

There are several ways to go with the Superchips products for your vehicle, there's the single program Superchip, then there's the 2-program Superchip Flip Chip if you wanted to have dual octane capability as I mentioned above, and then there's the newer Superchips Micro Tuner, which is what most people are using these days. The Micro Tuner not only gets you the Superchips engine tuning uploaded easily & quickly via the OBD-II port, but it also gives you the ability to set your own 1-2, 2-3 & 3-4 full-throttle upshift points *individually,* as well as set your own shift firmness level for each of those shifts individually. It will also allow you to correct the speedometer for changes to tire size and gear ratio, and it has a built-in OBD-II code scanner as well. The Micro Tuner does require the use of premium gas all the time of course, and you can also return to stock at any time, so if you only wanted to use it when towing the race car for example, you could easily use it to return to stock for normal driving. Once you've driven the vehicle with the Superchips tuning, it's doubtful you'll ever want to go back to stock for anything other than dealership service work, that's how most people feel after using the Superchip, but you will have that ability should you want to make use ot it.

We have the Superchips products available right here in our online ordering system, which you can access by clicking on the link just below in our signature line. However, you might want to give us a call & have us go over all of the various options & results with you in more detail, to make your choice easier & make sure you get the best setup for you particular needs and desires. We have been specializing in improving the performance of these vehicles for many years, so we can literally take any F-150 as far as it's owner wants to go, whether it's a daily driver/tow vehicle all the way up to being raced or anything in between.

Hang in there, we can easily help you get the power you need so please don't hesitate to call us for help on this, & good luck with your truck!

 

Mike, Im very new to this board, but I have already seen numerous times when you've taken time to answer questions about your product in detail. I just wanted to say thanks for this and let you know your time and effort is not wasted; Im calling you as soon as I log off to order a chip

I just wish I could get HALF the customer support you give from other companies

 

Hi Bikenut,

That's very kind of you to say, I hope we can live up to those accolades.

I notice you're out there in California, so just in case you may not be aware, we're out here on the East Coast thus our normal hours of operation are 10am to 7pm, Eastern time, Monday thru Friday. Which means we close about 4 pm *your* time.

If you happen to call us after hours, leave us a voicemail with your name & number and we'll call you back over the weekend, we return a lot of calls on weekends to meet people's schedules. You can also place your order with us via our online ordering system, the link to which is just below in our signature line. If you prefer to speak with us (and a lot of people do), by all means please do give us a call at your convenience, we'll be more than happy to hear from you.

Glad to see you're enjoying F-150 Online, & hope to see more of you here on the boards (in all your spare time, of course!).

Have fun,

 

Yep, it was 4:30ish when I tried to call

I do want to talk for a minute about my specific needs so I'll call on Monday

 

my sig speaks for itself...

do a search on my username in the computer chips forum to see my search/testing of the superchip and other goodies

ps mike and his company is good to work with

 

Hi bikenut,

Ahh, so you missed us by about a half-hour or so, sorry 'bout that! Taking into consideration our West Coast customers has always been an issue, it's the primary reason why we have traditionally been open until 7 pm Eastern, but even at that, it's still only 4 pm your time when we close. Some of our western area customers will call us early, before they go to work, since we open at 7 am Pacafic, so sometimes that works best.

Give us a shout anytime you can & we'll be happy to go over your specifics, & enjoy the weekend!

 

Got my programmers Mike! Thanks a whole lot man

I was wondering, what kind of *real* gains the 7.3 TD will see? I mean, if you know what kind of HP and TQ at the wheel for a totally stock truck; I want to let my pops know when I give him his tuner tomorrow

also, do you make a programmer for Dodge trucks? My neighbor is pouting since I got mine HAA AHAAA HAAA (evil laugh)

 

Hi Bikenut,

Good, thanks for letting us know, as UPS had a funny delivery schedule this Thanksgiving, so we did our best to make sure they got there by Friday, so you'd have them in time for this weekend.

The "real" power gains on the Powerstroke Diesel are exactly as we advertise and as can be seen on the manufacturer's web site, and are rated on a stock vehicle, to answer your question. There's the +60 HP program and then the +80 HP program, so he'll have access to both of those programs. The gains are 60 hp & 115 lbs./ft. of torque on the lower-powered program (which has traditionally been called the "CARB" program since it used to be the only one that was emissions certified), and then 80 HP & 130+ lbs./ft. on the higher-powered program, which has been referred to as the "Off Road" program. Those are minimum gains SAE on stock vehicles, and we've seen a number of these trucks make more than those rated gains at the wheels.

The PSD's are easy to increase power by large amounts on as it's a turbocharged diesel motor, and was originally built to be capable of withstanding much higher power levels. But ading big pwoer gains *and* keeping the EGT's down is something else altogether. We get the largest power gains at the lowest EGT's, while still maintaining strict 50-state emissions approval, no mean feat. The bottom line is, that unit adds the power we say it does.

To make use of the power of the higher-powered +80HP program and be able to run hard, tow, etc., the vehicle owner needs to open up the restriction in the air intake tract, and ideally, the exhaust as well; an EGT gauge should be installed as well for operations on the +80 HP program, especially if the vehicle is going to be towing. On the +80 HP program you can't tow at full capacity, officially we say not more than 4000-6000 lbs., but it's just a matter of where the EGT's go (which is why you have to have an EGT gauge installed to tow on the +80HP program), as long as they are in line you can tow larger loads.

Most people use the +60 HP program virtually all the time, whether towing or not, as with that program you don't need any other modifications, not even an EGT gauge, & you can run at full rated capacity at full-throttle up the side of a mountain. You can also see nice mpg gains anytime the motor is under a load (not around town or lower speeds without a load). So with the +60 HP program, there is no need to do any other modifications, etc., just install it and use the vehicle as you normally would.

Then with the +80 HP program, which we refer to as the "Off Road" program (even though it too is 50-state emissions certified CARB & EPA approved), is generally used by those who want to do some hot-rodding without a load out back, for example, or who are towing lighter loads.

Since his vehicle is stock, just have him install the +60 HP program & he can do anything he wants without giving it another thought, other than returning it back to stock anytime he goes in for service.

Don't worry, he's going to notice the additional 60 horsepower & 115 lbs./ft. of torque anytime he puts that PSD motor under a load.

Have fun!

 

I can tell you that the difference between stock and chipped with a Superchip on my PSD was like night and day. It was a dually Crew cab and it would smoke the tires easily. Loved that power, and surprised quite a few of those wannabe sports cars. If I remember correctly, the increase in HP was about 65 and I can't remember the torque increase. Traded that vehicle in

 

Thats what I wanted to hear, thanks man

 

Hi Ed,

Thanks for your post, I'll bet you got some funny looks the first few times you lit up the rear tires in smoke in that big diesel rig!

The first time I saw an F-350 dually PSD using our Stage 1 kit (Micro Tuner, Intake kit & turbo-back exhaust system) smoke all 4 back tires halfway down the 1/4 mile, my jaw hit the ground. It was nice to see a 7000+ lb. truck turning 1/4 mile times in the high 14's!