picked 09 F250

[COWBOY24]

Hello after a long year and a half of wanting a diesel last week i just picked up a new f250 and cant wait to hook it up, i am getting up to speed on mods and it looks like banks or spartan is the way to go?????

The service tech at my local ford diesel said exhaust can overheat and burn up the turbo and that tuners actually lessen MPG's, Not too sure if he reallt new what he was talking about cause guys are doing these mods all the time, i just want to keep it reliable and maybe try and stay in warranty

any help or tips or info or experience form anyone i would greatly appreciate and i keep studying and learning as i go.

[timid1]

Originally Posted by COWBOY24

The service tech at my local ford diesel said exhaust can overheat and burn up the turbo and that tuners actually lessen MPG's, Not too sure if he reallt new what he was talking about cause guys are doing these mods all the time, i just want to keep it reliable and maybe try and stay in warranty

If you want to "try and stay in warranty" then don't modify anything. Otherwise, there's plenty of threads about Spartan and Banks tuners as well as how well they work. There's a pretty large consensus that there's little if any fuel economy increase, and that any gains are offset by the insane initial cost in addition to the loss of warranty.

BTW - overheating is possible... that's why Banks strongly recommends gauges. This should be a strong indication to you that the Ford tech is being somewhat honest with you.

The guys that mod all the time don't care about warranty or take their chance.

[COWBOY24]

thx for the input to me i want to get into tunning and as long as i know what i am doing and can keep the truck from blowing up and have safe parameters,

banks seems safe but not as tunable ?

and the spartan has a lot more tunning capability and woul create more smoke and power!! but can u keep the engine and exhaust cool enough and not burn up a tranny or turbo or motor lol is what i need to learn i guess the last thing i want to do is have to pay to replace one of those just trying to go fast and have a good sounding truck that blows smoke lol

i am sure the guys with experience have it down to a science and have a daily driver putting out some good power

the truck is fast but feels restricted

[blizzardwarrior7]

Where are you located? Removing the DPF is against the law no matter what state you live in. Why not just get yourself a DPF safe tune from Spartan?

[COWBOY24]

thx for the input

[jcason]

Originally Posted by blizzardwarrior7

Where are you located? Removing the DPF is against the law no matter what state you live in. Why not just get yourself a DPF safe tune from Spartan?

I would not buy anything from Spartan. They do not have enough courtesy to return a simple phone call. Their testing consist of turn up the fuel then go see if it blows up. I'm sure their tunes produce the horsepower but at what cost? If all you want is the power and blow smoke then go for it. I think Banks is the only one who has done any real testing with dpf tunes. They are a pleasure to work with. I have not received mine yet but I had some concerns that I had to talk to them about. I was able to talk to the big guys and had no problem getting through to them. Jeff Walker is the sales manager and was very agreeable helping me. This is just my opinion so take it for what it is worth.

[Hydro]

yeah, just throwing fuel at it...

[COWBOY24]

Originally Posted by jcason

I would not buy anything from Spartan. They do not have enough courtesy to return a simple phone call. Their testing consist of turn up the fuel then go see if it blows up. I'm sure their tunes produce the horsepower but at what cost? If all you want is the power and blow smoke then go for it. I think Banks is the only one who has done any real testing with dpf tunes. They are a pleasure to work with. I have not received mine yet but I had some concerns that I had to talk to them about. I was able to talk to the big guys and had no problem getting through to them. Jeff Walker is the sales manager and was very agreeable helping me. This is just my opinion so take it for what it is worth.

i just talked on the phone with spartan for 20 min on my first phone call ????????
and they were pretty informative

[COWBOY24]

Originally Posted by jcason

I would not buy anything from Spartan. They do not have enough courtesy to return a simple phone call. Their testing consist of turn up the fuel then go see if it blows up. I'm sure their tunes produce the horsepower but at what cost? If all you want is the power and blow smoke then go for it. I think Banks is the only one who has done any real testing with dpf tunes. They are a pleasure to work with. I have not received mine yet but I had some concerns that I had to talk to them about. I was able to talk to the big guys and had no problem getting through to them. Jeff Walker is the sales manager and was very agreeable helping me. This is just my opinion so take it for what it is worth.

of course i want more power and maybe some mpg's why else would you want to tune your truck! lol


but yah i do not want to damage a new $55000 truck at the same time i will call and talk to banks next

[MT765]

You've also got Innovative Diesel doing custom 6.4 tuning now too. Just another option.

[smotrs]

Just remember, any vehicle that retains the DPF will only see very marginal MPG increase. Doesn't matter who's system you install, unless you plan on converting your truck to off-road use which allows a complete exhaust mod, you'll only see a minor increase in MPG.

When I say minor, I mean 2-3 max, maybe/probably less.

[MDub707]

Innovative and Spartan are the two leading tuners for the 6.4 as far as I'm concerned. If you couldn't get through on the phone to anyone at spartan, its probably because they have TONS of customers on waiting lists to get their tunes.

There was a 6.4 at TS that laid 701hp and 1337tq on nothing more than an exhaust (with a DPF delete, so offroad use only...), intake, a spartan tune and a small amount of nitrous. He was hitting 640ish hp at the wheels without the spray.

This is STOCK everything else, including stock transmission.

Dont worry you wont break anything with the banks stuff.

smotrs is right, you wont gain anything with the regen/dpf in place still, but what's a guy to do...

Some of the larger spartan tunes such as the 275 tune and the newer 310 tune, do get hot quick, but if you got gauges, you shouldn't have anything to worry about, just be smart.

[COWBOY24]

awesome info
what exhaust do u think is best a 4 inch or 5 inch i like the RBP or MBRP

i plan on the full SPARTAN tune and set up they have to offer!

if i ad exhaust like a month later after the full spartan kit install will u have to get them to reprogram the tune???? or will it just self learn it self to adpat to the new exhaust????

[MDub707]

Originally Posted by COWBOY24

awesome info
what exhaust do u think is best a 4 inch or 5 inch i like the RBP or MBRP

i plan on the full SPARTAN tune and set up they have to offer!

if i ad exhaust like a month later after the full spartan kit install will u have to get them to reprogram the tune???? or will it just self learn it self to adpat to the new exhaust????

5" is cool and all, but in most real world cases completely useless VS. a 4". A 4" will serve the purpose of keeping it cool. The full spartan setup is killer! Adding an exhaust later on wont hurt anything, it will only help keep EGT's cooler. IMO RBP has some nice looking stuff, but WAY overpriced. MBRP is probably one of the best exhaust systems you can buy at a fair price. Not a steal, but you get what you pay for with MBRP. RBP seems to slap their name on other products and charge 2x the amount... not a fan. I looked at buying a black 5" tip for my truck from RBP cause it was really cool looking, but it was $150!!! Just for the tip! I can get 5" turbo backs in aluminized steel for less than $400!

[COWBOY24]

so as far as performance 4'' vs 5'' no big difference?? just stick with the 4'' and u will have the same perfomance ? do u think the 5" keeps it cooler

and they both perform the same about ?