This is an awesome place to start.
Myself, personally, on tuner choice, you gotta go with Tony.
J/K, in my opinion, if you have one in driving distance, go with that one. If not, talk to them all and go with the one you feel the best about. There is no wrong or bad choice with the custom tuners that are sponsors here.
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early 99, f250, 7.3, afe big boost, 4" turbo bak, autometer cobalt boost/pyro/trans, zoodad, pmt2, diy RR, cooling mist stg 3 mpg, gearhead tunes, 6.0 cooler, stupid long want to do list,
Although there are certain sponsors mentioned in this post, they are there for reference. And while they make outstanding products, so do other sponsors. Do some research and pick one or more that you like doing business with. Or, spread it around and do business with them all.you pimped out a stock turbo, and got nothing in return, those parts fix surge, not performance,
you cannot stack programming in a 7.3, last i knew.
k&n is known to dust engines, though if you gotta complete kit it might not be as bad, its the stock replacement filter thats bad.
the HPx and the FRx are debateable. the FRx will get eliminated if you do a rr, and the HPx its hit and miss on ppls trucks if it helps or not. some do, some dont.
edge programming doesnt attempt to tune the trans. the extra power the motor creates is not compensated in the trans, for instance increasing line pressure, changing shift points to make better use of the power, etc etc.
imo, the only things i would have done is the exhaust, MAYBE the ic, the bypass, and cuz your a ex, the dual alt.
here, read this, and go from there. some of the conversion stuff is geared towards a truck, i dont know if it will fit your ex.
when looking to upgrade your truck, its all done in steps. from the guy only wanting some basic things, to the guy just looking for a little more, to the guy wanting full blown power. this is how i personally would do it. this is not the order it needs to be done, as it can be mixed and matched in any order. this is just a general guide to get you started.
hutch and harpoon. always first, imo $50-150 the hutch and harpoon are optional. the hutch is recommended. even if you do nothing else to your truck, the hutch is recommended. this is it. Welcome to guzzle's In-tank Hutch Mod Web Page the reason being, is with the return coming into the tank right next to the fuel pickup, any air in the return line is then sucked right back up into the fuel line. air is bad for our heui injectors. the harpoon mod just lets you fill up the tank, 29 of 30 gallons of it, without having to stand there for 5 hours, pumping real slow to cram the last 4 gallons in. if your already in there doin the hutch mod, the harpoon will take about 2 mins.
intake and exhaust $200-1000 i say $1k cuz stacks are not a cheap option. intake, and exhaust pretty much need to be done before anything. the oem air box is known to not seal and dust a motor, and if you put a chip on it, a exhaust is almost a requirement to keep egts in check. 90% of ppl run a 4" turbo back. 5" if you want deeper sound. but 4" is more than enough.
guages/guage pod $300+ i say 300+ depending on how many and what kind he gets (think csipsd) autometer or isspro are stand outs here. 95% of ppl will get a egt, boost, and trans. those are the three main guages you will need. unless your like joe, he has, last i knew, like 15 guages in his cab.
chip $400-600 depending on where he gets it, read this. Chip comparison and discussion links. - PowerStrokeNation if you still have a question on chip, i will call bs on you read that thread
rr $250-500 can you DIY or have to buy one, do you delete the bowl now, or just the RR. your truck as what is called a dead head fuel system. fuel goes from the tank, through fuel pump, to fuel bowl, through filter, to heads. any air that makes it past the fuel bowl has no where to go, except through the injector. like i said earlier, this is bad. a regulated return allows any air that gets into the heads, to flow through the heads, back to the tank, where hopefully you have done the hutch mod already. this is one version of the RR. Driven Diesel 7.3L Regulated Return Kit if you are mechanically inclined, and a DIYer, i made my own for $250. there are many versions of this, many sponsers sell it. i know irate sells it, and its mostly hard line, as opposed to braided hose like the one i posted from strictly. he dont have pics up, but this is jakes site. Irate Diesel performance •Power Stroke Performance . i personally used a fuelab regulator, regular steel hydraulic fittings, and some parkerstore pushlok hose. there is some talk about whether or not fuel that is heated goin to the tank is bad, but can be fixed with a fuel cooler. thats more of a to each his own opinion thing at this point.
that sets the foundation and gets the required basics out of the way to then go farther.
studs/springs/pushrods $750-1200 these are things that are just cheap insurance for a guy with stage1 or 2 injectors, a requirement of some one goin for stage 3 injectors. studs will help keep from blowing a head gasket. ARP and H11 are the two main companies. springs most ppl just use comp 910's. push rods, pic a sponser, they can get them
hpop (high pressure oil pump). our motors use high pressure oil to push the fuel out of the injectors. here http://www.cat.com/cda/files/87775/7/pehp9526.pdf is a general overview of how our injection system works. another thread here, also with some good links is this one. How Does A HEUI injector REALLY work? - PowerStrokeNation it is very possible, depending on mileage, and how the truck was maintained before you got it, that just by putting on a new hpop(even a stock one) you could very well have what feels like a brand new truck. the two most common ones short of full on big oil, would be the srp1 Beans Diesel Performance - Stealth Stock Replacement HPOP (SRP1) (Powered by CubeCart) and the adrenaline PUMPS ORDERED TODAY WILL NOT BE SHIPPED UNTIL AT LEAST MAY 26th - 1994-2003 7.3L Dieselsite Adrenaline HPOP with the srp1 flowing a little more oil.
trans-depending on how far you want to go with your truck hp wise will determine this one. $750-4500 just a quality torque converter and valve body, or a BTS
the rest of the fuel system, upgraded fuel pump, anything you didnt do in the RR step. $250-?, what kidna pump did you choose, fuelab and aeromotive are stand outs, and what didnt you do in the RR step.
injectors $1000+ cores for reman stage 1's, to the skys the limit on some exotic high flowing competition only injectors
turbo $1400 on the 38r, a simple drop in replacement for stock, to the sky's the limit again on exotic twins and plumbing
to maintain durability and maybe gain some mpg, and your not looking for eye popping performance, just a little more git-up-n-go, just get you a set of stage 1's, maybe a set of 2's, (injectors). any sponser can get you injectors. some of the injector builders, or sponsers that sell them that stand out in my head are, beans diesel performance, swamps diesel, unlimited, and full force diesel, and rosewood. that is not in any particular order. any tuner can tune those injectors to be real happy with your stock turbo. if your just looking for a small increase, and dont want to have lots of power, dont let ppl talk you into spending $3k on a set of hybrids when a simple $1k stg1 will more than do what you want from your truck.
i said maintain durability, because anytime you turn up the hp, durability goes down. its just a simple fact. with the advances in tuning nowadays, the durability bar has been raised. these things are now living at higher power levels with out failures than even 1 year ago. if you talk to a tuner, thank him for that.
before you decide to make a purchase, call a sponser or three and ask his opinion. what he has, what he would do with your money, how he would spend it. there is not a bad sponser on here, and all are highly knowledegable. call, tap into that knowledge. there are not stupid questions. if you dont know, ask, they will help you. the only thing stupid is not asking that question you want to know the answer to.
you did not pick a cheap platform to build power on. you did however, pick a realiable as hell one. switch out to a full synthetic motor oil, such as shaeffers. change it often. these things dont last properly with dirty oil. clean oil is your friend. simple regular maintanence makes these things bullet-proof in stock form, and more durable in non-stock form. slack on maintenance and it will tell you.
there are also cosmetic things you can do to your truck. for instance, the mirrors that are standard on 02 and up trucks will bolt right up to our trucks. the tow mirrors. even the ones on a 08. you will have to change the plug on the truck, and if your goin to heat and power and turn from non heated/power/turn you will need to change some wiring in the door, and run some new wires to control the new functions on your mirrors.
the 05-07 front end will bolt up. grille, header panel, headlights, bumper and upper and lower covers. if you go complete like that, you will also need the bumper brackets.
if you just like the harley headlights, you can tub out your existing header panel to make the new headlights fit, or just buy a 05-07 header panel and it will bolt right up and the head lights will fit right in. it needs to be noted that if goin to the newer headlights, you will need the pigtail adapter, or cut and create your own to make the new light work.
there are mix and match options for front end conversions all over ebay
Myself, personally, on tuner choice, you gotta go with Tony.
J/K, in my opinion, if you have one in driving distance, go with that one. If not, talk to them all and go with the one you feel the best about. There is no wrong or bad choice with the custom tuners that are sponsors here.
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early 99, f250, 7.3, afe big boost, 4" turbo bak, autometer cobalt boost/pyro/trans, zoodad, pmt2, diy RR, cooling mist stg 3 mpg, gearhead tunes, 6.0 cooler, stupid long want to do list,