Will a tuner kill my tranny?

[lone_star_dsl]

I pulled four snowmobiles on my gooseneck trailer from Denver to Grand Lake and was wondering if my truck was going to make it. I-70 was the toughest portion of the drive with an almost sustained 6-8% grade for roughly 30 miles.

I'm guessing the total gross weight to be about 15,000 lbs and my truck has never struggled so hard to keep a load moving. The engine stayed at 2500-2700 rpm's, boost was 15-18 psi, EGT's were at 1200 but at least the trans temp stayed lower than 170 the entire way. Speeds ranged from 50-65 mph.

I-70 is a fairly hard pull but when I hear guys talking about their trucks walking up mountains with a fifth wheel, I wonder what I am doing wrong.

About half way up the mountain, I was wanting a tuner REALLY bad. An additional 40-60 hp would have made things much easier, I think. The only thing that concerns me about getting a tuner is the reliability of my transmission.

My truck is worked hard. I am typically at it's GVWR and when I am towing, I am usually 2,000 lbs over weight.

I have heard so much about DP Tuner and they would most likely be the company that I use. I am not interested in race tunes but would like to have a tow and economy tune with a few others thrown in like the drive thru tune.

Would I be giving my transmission a death sentence by installing a tow tune and leaving it on all of the time?

I dont have the money to be rebuilding or buying a new transmission right now. Should I hold off on a tuner until I have the funds to replace the tranny?

My trans has 134k on it and seems to be perfect. Temps have NEVER been above 190 and I dont notice any slipping or shifting irregularities.

 

[rammertide07]

I pulled a 10,000lb camper 75mph down the interstate with the chip set on 50hp on hills and 75 on flat ground. After I unhooked I noticed a whining noise when in the throttle. 2 months later the torque converter went out. The transmission wasn't that bad of shape. The tc will usually go before the transmission. If you're just running with no load and hp setting no higher than 100hp the tc should be fine. A shift kit wouldn't hurt. But considering you do pull loads I suggest getting a billet tc or getting a chip with a stock mode.

 

[JRJ04]

In short...no, it will not kill your transmission.

Jody will get you set up with something around 20-40 hp and will firm up your transmission shift points. If anything, I think it will help your transmission. Pulling a 10k lb load with 50 extra hp is too much.

Give Jody at DPTuner a call and explain to him what you're pulling. He will get you set up right.

 

[majek5]

Check out PHP too. They have 3 different tow tunes to pick from. Great people to deal with, cheaper than dp too.

 

[brevelerib]

I have been speaking with the folks from DP and they are the best... I am new to this... and there tech person is the best they set me up with everything and detailed it out to the smallest detail...

I pull a horse trailer among other things, and he has set me up well.... cant wait till the new toys come in...good luck

 

[majek5]

Be careful. Dp is known for engine failures, more so than other tuners. PHP has a survey on engine failures, it is on their forum. It is all based on actual FACT, not opinion. My .02

 

[JRJ04]

Be careful. Dp is known for engine failures, more so than other tuners.

Where are you getting that info from?

DP is one of the top tuners out there. I have not heard of any engine failure from the tuner at all. Negligence and not paying attention to what your truck is doing will cause failure. Your engine failure often results from the "off the shelf" tuners that dont properly tune the motor and transmission.

Thats a pretty bold claim to make about a product that you hear very little bad about. Do you have personal experience with it?

 

[majek5]

Survey Results
Raw Data.

 

[JRJ04]

Where did you find this? Maybe you could provide some background on the survey?

You produced hard data. I'll give you that. However, I've got to question it. Where did it come from? How many people were surveyed? What was their knowledge of diesels prior to installing this chip? Did they have gauges? Did the motors give out while daily driving or were they being hot rodded? Was the motor properly maintained? Regular oil and filter changes?

Yes, DP tuner showed the highest failure rate but it also makes some of the most power.

Nowhere on there did I see anything at all that mentioned gauges...All of those motor failures looked to me like people pushed the truck too hard and it reached it breaking point. Obviously, adding more power will make it easier to break, but that doesnt mean the added power blew it up.

My point is this...To simply make a blanket claim that DP Tuner will blow your motor up is simply not true. The 7.3L motor has been tried and true with WAY more power added on to them than just a chip.

Anyone else care to weigh in on this? I'm not at all I'm the expert here, but I think theres a lot more that goes into modding and understanding these trucks than just plug and play.

 

[rammertide07]

Survey Results
Raw Data.

Wow, never heard that before. Great info...thanks.