Tuner and Exhaust modifications

I have a 2000 F250 crewcab 7.3, stock with 120K miles, tow a featherlite camper or ~5,000 lb boat. Not used for racing. I have spent a lot of time reading through the other posts about Tuners and I see a lot of praise for the DP tuner, is this only if you have the custom tunes or are the preset tunes great as well? Looking for gas mileage (additional power doesn't hurt, but not required).

DP tuner with presets or another tuner best?

Also considering taking out muffler and going straight pipe - does this effect noise levels inside the truck or does it not make enough difference to matter?

Thank you in advance - appears to be some great knowledge in this forum.

unless you have different injectors, bigger heui pump, other more serious mods like that the custom tunes are not needed. for a stock engine the off the shelf chip from DP will work wonders for you.

as for the straight pipe, if you cruise through my youtube videos (link in my sig.) there is a few on there for audio with the straight pipe. i recommend it

with both of those mods, expect to see some significant improvement in your fuel economy, as well as driving fun factor

Thank you very much for the information.

Followup - I see that DP Tuner has a PCM and a 16 position chip, Do I need to buy both or only the PCM and it has some kind of program options or is the 16 position chip come with a couple of standard programs?

you do not need both. one will do, i recommend the chip.

the 16 position chip has options, and you can get as many files burnt onto it as you like from 1 to 16. you have a very wide assortment of settings to choose from. keep in mind it costs more money for every setting you add. also you can get the chip with a single tune and not bother with a switch, but whatever setting you choose it will be permanent until you physically remove the chip.

the PCM is basically the same as choosing a single file chip and installing it, without the ability to ever remove it. you pick a performance setting, and thats what it will be when you get it in the mail. someone can correct me if i am wrong, but if you were to get a programmed PCM, and wanted to give it more power at a later date you could stack a chip into it. a lot of people dont recommend that.

im sure many people will chime in and say that you should put a pyrometer on, as well as transmission temp guage. adding more fuel will make the egt's higher at times and its a nice to be able to see if they are going to get too hot so you can adjust the skinny pedal accordingly. the added power will work the transmission a little more, so naturally heat will come up a bit. also, a transmission cooler is a very good idea, preferably a stacked plate design. the tranny stuff is only needed if yours is auto, wich i assume because most are. if its a standard then the clutch is the weak point, but nothing to worry about until it starts to slip, and with mildly modified trucks it probably wont have any issues.

if you are unsure about what settings to get, THIS WILL HELP YOU. also many people here could give you some testimonials for just about all settings from mild to wild. also, feel free to CONTACT DP because i know they have helped out many people on this forum.

I have an '02. I have run a 4" exhaust from the turbo back. It has a muffler, but it is straight through. Not much to it, so I doubt it does much "muffling". I installed and EGT gauge at the same time. I do recomend doing this. The truck really is not that much louder in the cab. Outside though it is definitely louder.

As far as a tune goes. I bought a used, but functional, Hypertech Programmer off Ebay for less than $200. I went with the Hypertech because there max tune is designed to tow 12,500lbs. This way I would not have to keep changing the tune. It also made less black smoke than the Superchips programmer that I tried. Some people like the black smoke, but I think it is annoying. It also causes the back part of my white truck to get dirty faster.

The only other mod I did was a AFE 2 intake.

I love the way my truck sounds and tows. The way I have it set up, it has more power than my stock '08 powerstroke.

I have a 2000 F350 dually and use an AFE intake and also their 4 inch SS exhaust that came with a Magnaflow muffler. The truck did not have a cat from the factory, maybe cause it was sold in Arkansas? I also have an Edge with Attitude programer and in "economy" mode I can get 17 to 18 MPG commuting to work. In tow or full power mode it drops off but sure goes over hills nice towing a 34 foot toy hauler with my race car inside!

I ordered my buddy an sct for his 02. I told him a choice in between dp-tuner or sct and he wanted the programmer style. Supposed to see it Tuesday hopefully!! been over a month since I ordered it. Ill keep ya up to date on how it works for him

Follow up after mods

Thank you all for the great information. I have have taken the muffler out and straight piped the exhaust. I also ordered and installed the DP-Tuner. You all were right, these tuner guys are great to deal with and a very simple to install product and VERY EFFECTIVE!!!!


Have the stock setting, tow, econo, and 120hp race. there is so much more power even with the econo, better yet, in town I was getting 15.5mpg (granny driving to get that of course) and now after 200 miles in town, I am averaging 18 mpg. it does pour out a little more black smoke in econo at the low end only than I would like only when i get on it, but it does move!

The race setting is tons of smoke and power to match, this is the first time ever that the truck can break loose the tires when shifting into second (of course taking off does smoke the tires if you get on it!!!)

Thank you to everyone for the excellent information.

Im glad to hear that you like it!! The sct came in for my friend about a month ago. He ran the performance tune, and I don't think he's ever felt power like that!! I did tell him he needs gauges now so he can keep an eye on everything.