Truck 'performance' chips

[Night Raider]

A little while ago there was a discussion about the bad fuel economy on a truck and someone mentioned adding a chip.  Occasionally I hear about these but have never actually talked to anyone with one.  I don't understand why the manufactures wouldn't be using these if they're so great.  I'd be mostly interested in the fuel savings, Just wondering if anyone has experience with these?

Thanks

[stumpy]

I don't have a chip, instead I have a programmer.  It has 3 different settings.  Light towing, heavy towing and performance.  I can't say i notice a huge difference, but I bought it for heavy towing thinking that it will help protect my transmission.

[Dave Shepard]

If the manufacturers used every trick in the book now, what would they sell us next year? :D

[ErikC]

 I use the programmer too. It also can read the diagnostic codes. I notice a lot quicker takeoffs and no worse fuel economy. I wouldn't say it saves fuel though. I think emission standards are part of the manufacturers holding back on this.

[scsmith42]

I don't understand why the manufactures wouldn't be using these if they're so great. 

Thanks

Manufacturers have to strike a balance between engine power and warranty repairs.  All engines leave the factory with some type of "safety margin" built in - ie excess power that is not harnessed so that the liklihood of engine damage is reduced.

Most programmers / chips push the power of the engine up into the "safety margin" area.  If you tend to drive your vehicle very easy, this is not a problem.  However, if you have a heavy foot or tow heavy loads extensively, you could have some problems.  A great example is towing a heavy load up a long hill - with a programmer pushing more fuel/air into the engine, you can easily exceed maximum recommended exhaust temps and damage the engine.  The factory settings - with less power - don't tend to allow the engine to become excessively loaded in extreme situations.

Ford learned this lesson a few years back when they released the 6.0 diesel.  It had more power and efficiency than the 7.3 that it replaced, but they reduced the amount of safety margin built into the engine.  As a result, when people started adding programmers to the engines, they started failing right and left and Ford was stuck with a lot of warranty repairs that they probably should not have been legitimately owed.

This is why the manufacturers are more conservative when it comes to engine power.

(Not to say that the 6.0 did not have some legitimate problems - it did and some of our FF members probably got burned.)

[pappy19]

When I was driving a diesel (mostly Fords), I ran a DP Tuner with a 6-way switch. Like was said, you don't need a programmer until you get guages; exhaust temp, tranny temp, and turbo boost; otherwise you'll burn up your engine when under a tough load or long hills. You learn to drive your truck by the guages, mostly the EGT guage. Now that I have a gas rig, A 2008 Ford F-250 with the 6.8 V-10, I am using the DiabloSport Predator programmer and I generally keep it on the "middle" 91 octane setting. Mileage didn't change much but the power increase is noticable. I also added an Airaid intake system.