[hatchetman337]

Hi guys. I just bought a 99 F-250 with a 7.3L and auto. I want to do some upgrades for it to give it a little more power and maybe some better mileage.

So, from reading a bit on here, Im thinking about an Edge EZ chip, Magnaflow exhaust, and a Turbomaster wastegate actuator.

Can you guys give me some feedback on these ideas? Any better ideas? I'm trying to go with a cost-efficient approach, so I don't want to buy a super expensive exhaust and tuner.

Thanks.

 

[icanski2]

Hi guys. I just bought a 99 F-250 with a 7.3L and auto. I want to do some upgrades for it to give it a little more power and maybe some better mileage.

So, from reading a bit on here, Im thinking about an Edge EZ chip, Magnaflow exhaust, and a Turbomaster wastegate actuator.

Can you guys give me some feedback on these ideas? Any better ideas? I'm trying to go with a cost-efficient approach, so I don't want to buy a super expensive exhaust and tuner.

Thanks.

Welcome aboard!!!
You may want to do some (a lot) more research before you buy the Edge or Turbomaster. A custom chip and gauges from one our fine site sponsors would be a better route. Use the search function, which is a lost art on a lot of boards, and you will find a wealth of info on your questions.

 

[li'l tugger]

:whs:

 

[Arisley]

Spend the money on a good chip with a good tuner, save money by just straight piping your 3.5" stock exhaust. And doing a DIY 6637 air filter.

 

[Ron's power stroke]

whats the build date on that 99 ?? if its built before 12/7/98 its a early 99..it has a smaller high PSI pump,injectors,IDM and turbo..the build date can be found on the driver side door post..

 

[dirtboy25]

Welcome aboard!!!
You may want to do some (a lot) more research before you buy the Edge or Turbomaster.

:whs:

If you want the "cost effective route" and best mileage/bang for the buck, any one of the site sponsors can get you a chip that will put any "tuner" to shame.

Don't forget guages. You must keep an eye on things when adding more power.

A good TC and VB will help with controlling the tunes, better shifting, less slippage, and better mpg.

For intake, like Andy mentioned, 6637 is the (imo) only way to go.

4" DP back will be plenty if your not wanting to do more in the future. If you plan to keep bumping up power i would suggest a 4" turbo back exhaust.

I'd do a CCV mod, it can be done very cheap.

 

[HD Rider]

With an auto tranny, I would definately stay away from Edge products.

 

[hatchetman337]

Thanks everyone for the info so far. Very helpful. I'll do a little searching on some of the suggestions, like the DIY 6637 and crank case vent mod.

I did plan on getting at least a boost gauge in probably an a-pillar mount.

I assume that a custom tune from one of the vendors would be me sending them mine and them tuning it OR buying one and sending mine in for a core?

Oh yeah, BTW, build date of June 99, so 99 1/2.
Thanks.

 

[tbolt]

No, it will be a custom tuned chip that will plug into the rear of your pcm. Look at my sig. It's an early 99 with the small turbo and will pull a 13L# trailer up 9 miles of 6% @ 55+ mph and I get 11 mpg towing in the mountains here in Az. Not a lot of money spent just figure out what your needs are for your truck and just add what you need. First and foremost is guages, intake, 4" turbo back exh. Then go from there. Thats what I did and I'm very pleased with the performance and economy. Good luck.

 

[TARM]

Start out by reading some or all of the quoted below.

Before the chip :

* Gauges!!!! Do Not add that chip without first getting at min: Pyrometer and trans temp.
Ideally add to that: Turbo Boost, Oil pressure/Temp Coolant temp when you can afford to.

* a open air filter (search 6637 DIY or tymar air intake)

To that chip,gauges, intake add:

* 4" turbo back exhaust
* If you are planning on keeping your stock turbo for sure then get that actuator. (Set it at 27 psi)
* again if you keep the stock turbo add a ATS ported compressor housing and a 1.0 or 1.15 exhaust housing.
* a BTS Valve Body when you add the chip if its an auto.
* Coolant bypass filter( save you about $200 replacing your water pump)
* Trans External Filter
* Regulated Return Fuel Sys (take care of air and dead head system)
* Fuel tank pick and Vent Mods ( prevent air and allow you to fill up without foaming well before full)

That should keep ya busy for a few months if not longer.

I would give this word of advice if you just got this truck. No matter who you got if from unless it was family and you know for sure the maintenance.

Change/flush all the fluids in the truck. Engine Oil, Trans, Coolant ( switch to ELC coolant),Transfer case, Power Steering, Brakes ( bleed it all), Both Difs, locking hubs.

Do all of that before you start spending on any perf part. I do this type thing on every used vehicle any family member buys. It will save you grief down the road. Many people want to spend money and time on the cool stuff and bypass the basics or go super cheap on them. Not wanting to spend money for good fluids costing hundreds all together but spent thousands on tires and lifts or chips and turbos.

Posted by TARM:
Some quiet reading for you to research chips and what will work best FOR YOU and YOUR GOALS.

As for tuners versus chips Tunes you can not switch tunes on the fly you also will be limited to generic tunes or only one maybe two custom tuners and then you will be very limited in your choice again. In just about every way the chip is better choice. One thing that can be of confusion on here if you are somewhat new is the use of the term "tuner". On here we are almost never referring to the device called a "tuner" but the person that actually is writing the tunes themselves for the chips.

I would say, easily, 99%+ of members on here and most other dedicated 7.3 sites use a chip not a tuner.

One other thing to keep in mind: the maker of the popular chip used by many tuners to installed there tunes on is the "TS chip" )6 position chip). But that same manf also sell that chip with generic tunes directly to the public as well. So you will see comments about "TS style chips" from one of the custom tuners you are about to learn about with some reading. You want the ones from the custom tuners not the generic TS chip and tunes directly from TS or others. You will quickly understnad the differnce with some reading.

Of the various custom tuners out there these are the poplar ones with the best reps. Read the thread links below to learn more about them to help you make your choice:

Custom Tuners:

Swamps (Jonathan)

Gearhead Automotive (Matt)

Beans (Jonathan)

BTS (Cale)

Power Hungry Performance (Bill)

Diesel Innovations (David)

Total Diesel Performance(Tony TW)

Truck Source Diesel

DP Tuner(Jody)

Most every question you can have about chips the tuners who's tunes are run on them should be answered in the threads linked below. Including which is best, this tuner versus that, this chip versus that, etc... If not ask and I am sure you will get answers.


Superchips 1805 vs Custom Chip ? - Powerstroke Nation

Chip vs Programmer - Powerstroke Nation

programmer for an early 99 - Powerstroke Nation

Dp Tuner vs. TS performance - Powerstroke Nation

Custom tuning choices???? - Powerstroke Nation

Diffrent chips - Powerstroke Nation

New Beans Tunes! - Powerstroke Nation

ts 6 pos chip? - Powerstroke Nation

Adrenaline w/Dp tuner - Powerstroke Nation

After all this... A Cracked Block. - Powerstroke Nation

Chips anyone? - Powerstroke Nation

best tuner/chip for 02 7.3? - Powerstroke Nation

chip AND programmer??? - Powerstroke Nation

Adrenaline w/ Dp tuner - Powerstroke Nation

Need some opinions - Powerstroke Nation

Another chip question... - Powerstroke Nation

Chips??????? - Powerstroke Nation

looking into getting a TS chip - Powerstroke Nation

What are your thoughts on Powerhungryperformance chips - Powerstroke Nation

Looking for a new chip - Powerstroke Nation

New Beans Tunes! - Powerstroke Nation

Ts, Dp, or Tw - Powerstroke Nation

Diffrent chips - Powerstroke Nation

Piston Star Patterns - continued - Discuss - Powerstroke Nation

Safest Tuner ?? - Powerstroke Nation

ts 6 pos chip? - Powerstroke Nation

looking for another progammer - Powerstroke Nation

STACKING TUNERS CAN YOU GUYS EXPLAIN - Powerstroke Nation

Recommendations on Tuners - Powerstroke Nation

Are flip-chips harmful to PCM's? - Powerstroke Nation

99.5 wanting to get a chip - Powerstroke Nation

PHP tuner and the fun times you can have with it! - Powerstroke Nation

Chips anyone? - Powerstroke Nation

High miles and new chip? - Powerstroke Nation

DpTuner - Powerstroke Nation

chip questions - Powerstroke Nation

TW tuning ? - Powerstroke Nation

more power? - Powerstroke Nation

Need more Powa! - Powerstroke Nation

TS CHIP TUNES - Powerstroke Nation

Empire tunes? - Powerstroke Nation

just got my new tuner have a question??? - Powerstroke Nation

bdp custom 7.3 tuning - Powerstroke Nation

chip installation - Powerstroke Nation

Tony Wildman Tunes - Powerstroke Nation

Best Tuner - Powerstroke Nation

TUNING - Powerstroke Nation

so its time for tunes - Powerstroke Nation

Ts, Dp, or Tw - Powerstroke Nation

Gearhead Automotive Performance Customers! - Powerstroke Nation

pricing out a chip and have some ?'s - Powerstroke Nation

Custom tuning choices???? - Powerstroke Nation

Safest Tuner ?? - Powerstroke Nation

 

[hatchetman337]

OK, so I've done a little more research and, at this point, I've found a few things I like. For intake, I found a killer deal on a spectre CAI from Summitracing.com. I get a racer discount, so this will cost me $92, Spectre Performance 9922 - Spectre Performance Cold Air Intake Systems - Overview - SummitRacing.com


For exhaust, I found the MBRP S6200409. Again, I get a Jegs racer discount, so it's only $429 from them, MBRP S6200409 MBRP XP Series T409 Stainless Exhaust Systems
The other exhaust I like is the Diamond Eye single stainless from TDP, but I'm sorta leaning toward the MBRP. Any opinions on that comparison?

Being that I'm looking at getting bang for the buck, I like the looks of the Swamp's 6-position chip, also. It's a little less custom than some of the others, but the tunes that come on it sound fine to me. I could get the Bully Dog selectable chip cheaper from Jegs (about $50 cheaper), but I'm thinking that It'll probably be worth the extra 50 for the Swamp's.

So far I have seen a lot of people saying good things about the Turbomaster, so it's sounding like that's a good option, too.

I found some nice gauge pods and whatnot from ITP, so I'm thinking about that, too.

Let me know any comments and thanks a lot for all the great info!

 

[Al Mighty]

For exhaust, I run mbrp, it's a little noisier than magnaflow and some others I have heard, but it has a pretty wicked sound to it, real big block-ish, so I like it. I got my 4" turbo back from Nate at ptp for less than $300, bought my own 6" rolled edge tip, and had it welded on. I have the 6637 filter, which I've got roughly $40 tied up in, and I've got matt at gearheads tunes. I did live tuning through him, and I think I was right around $500 including the diesel to drive there IIRC, don't hold me to that one lol. My truck is a different animal after all of that, fuel mileage is way up, truck runs great, and tows whatever I put behind it with authority. I do tow on the heavy side ( sometimes close to 30k lbs gross) and I am amazed how well it does. So, I have less than $1k in performance parts, and very happy. I'm not a cheapass with my truck, nor do I buy used parts, but I'm selective on what I buy so I only have to do it once. I'm honestly thinking about throwing my guages out, none of my settings (except no. 6) get over 1200 degrees, even towing I sit right around 1150 on a hard pull....something to consider.


Word of caution though, these things are addicting, and will get very expensive! This truck is eating into my '93 cobra funds lol.

Later,
Jason