Super Chips/Turners - Montana Owners Club

glenbarb · 06-12-2005, 04:09 AM

Has anyone installed one of the superchips on the market. We are looking at buying Edge Juice/Attitude for our 3500 Chevy Dully.

Steve and Mozell · 06-12-2005, 09:28 AM

I have had a Superchips tuner installed in my truck for almost 3 years. I run it in the 80hp mode and really like the added horsepower. These tuners or chips do cause the trucks to run hotter than stock, so I would highly recommend a good set of aftermarket gauges prior to using one. I also added a Banks exhaust and AFE intake system that allow more airflow and cooler temperatures. I have considered getting one of the newer brands of chips or tuners, but am so happy with the performance currently that I am hesitant to change anything. Good luck with your decision.
Steve

Bill Hill · 06-12-2005, 11:46 AM

I've hesitated on installing a chip or tuner because I've heard that it may affect your warranty. Check that out well, it'd be shame to lose that 100K mile warranty.

Steve and Mozell · 06-12-2005, 12:46 PM

Bill,
Good point on the warranty. I just planned on not using the warranty once I purchased the tuner. Personally, I waited until I had almost 36k miles on my truck so I knew the transmission would hold up through the 36k warranty. So far I have not had a warranty issue with the motor, but figure I am on my own if I encounter problems. That being said, I still am completely satisfied with my tuner and would buy one again in a heartbeat.

rlwhit · 06-14-2005, 01:49 PM

I was not able to use the extra hp from the edge until I installed the intake and exhust. The EGT just goes too high without them. I have meet folks that have the edge without the attitude control EGT readout. They just go for it. Scarey.

lightningjack11 · 06-15-2005, 04:09 AM

I have the 1705 Superchips Tuner. When I upload a program to the vehicle it stores the orginal Ford program. I use the towsafe program which gives me about 40hp more.

Ford MAY void the warranty so Superchips recomends you upload the original program to the vehicle each time you take it in for servicing at the Ford Garage. Only takes a few minutes.

Montana_1988 · 06-15-2005, 06:05 PM

GlenBarb,
I just did a test of the Juice and the Quadzilla over a 2500 mile trip, all Interstate driving with just the truck. I have the results in a spreadsheet but it's at work. I'll post it later.

My focus on adding a tuner to the truck was to gain MPG. Juice claims a 10-15 percent gain. Quadzilla claims 2-4 MPG gain. In my tests, my MPG was lower with the tuners then without them. As a result I have returned both of them and am back to stock.

Another very important note is that the tuners inpact the Digital Information Center (DIC). The reported MPG and gallons used is not correct. I knew this when I purchased them. What I was not expecting was they also impact your fuel gauge. I had always thought the fuel gauge was analog, working off the float in the tank, and the information on the DIC was metered fuel used. I almost got in trouble with this. On my first fill up my guage was showing between 1/8 and 1/4 but I put over 24 gallons in my 26 gallon tank.

The lower setting on the tuners reflects more correctly on the DIC. The higher the tune setting, the more skewed the reading between what the DIC says and what is actual.

The tuners work great for raw power. I did get a chance to tow our Montana once and towed it with the Juice in the 30 HP setting. The truck pulled really strong but I got less MPG than I got without it.

When I'm pulling my Montana I'm never in a really big hurry. I typically pull between 60-65 MPH or just around 1900 RPM. The fuel consumption seems to drop once you break 1900 RPM. When I'm hooked up to the Montana, the truck/trailer is between 21-22K pounds. Unless a head wind holds be back, I average just over 10 MPG.

Dale

Bill Hill · 06-16-2005, 04:02 AM

Notsdale,
That's an interesting comment about the DIC, I would have figured it the way you did. Concerning what Tom said about re-loading the original program, I had a long conversation with a member of one of our clubs about this. He's a retired Daimler-Chrysler guy in charge of working with dealers on warranty work. He says that even if you put the program back to original before having it serviced, the box remembers everything and they know what you've done. This is true on C-D products and he's quite sure the other mfgs can do the same. Big Brother is always watching!

lightningjack11 · 06-16-2005, 04:24 AM

Thats news to me about leaving tell-tale signs.

I know Ford will void the warranty if you go in with an edge box attached. I think is called OASIS. At least that is what thedieselstop.com forum members have stated.

But with 112000 on the old truck I am not going to worry about it. Besides the shifting is better. I avrage 11.8 to 14 while towing. For some reason I get better mileage up north. Trailer wt is just under 11k loaded.

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