Towing With A Programmer

06_GMC · April 19, 2011

So I borrowed a superchips tuner from my brother and was wondering when I put in the tow tune should I also use the T/H button or will that cancel everything the tuner did? Im going to moab at the end of next week and would like to know. And hopefully this will help other that might have one of the other tuners.

Stevens03 · April 19, 2011

Don't expect a miracle, but it will help. And yes, use the tow/haul mode if the trucks shifting alot. Also make sure you are using the appropriate octane fuel after the program when towing

06_GMC · April 19, 2011

Cool I will do that. I know how it tows without it tuned so i'll be curious if there is any difference, but I am not expecting much difference.

Stevens03 · April 19, 2011

It will help.

brisk · April 21, 2011

Those Superchips tuners are awesome!!! Your truck will tow better than a Diesel with that plugged in. I saw your trailer in another thread....looks nice. I bet your truck will get 15-16mpg towing it with the tuner.

06_GMC · April 25, 2011

^ Yeah I am so sure it will. hahaha I'll be curious to see the difference in our mileage between your camper and ours this weekend. A few thousand pounds can sure kill it quick.

2000 Z71 · April 29, 2011

So I borrowed a superchips tuner from my brother and was wondering when I put in the tow tune should I also use the T/H button or will that cancel everything the tuner did? Im going to moab at the end of next week and would like to know. And hopefully this will help other that might have one of the other tuners.

I'm going to be pulling a PUP this June from IL to SD. I'm in the process of tuning with a Predator II using there 93 canned tune and tweaking a little. the Pop up's dry weight is only 1,800lbs. I don't foresee me using T/H to much with my bolt on's and tune, I'm making 30ft/lbs. more torque. I would think the Superchips program will have parameters for Tow Haul. I know Diablo does, and they are not so tow friendly and shock the drive train to much IMO.

KMGZ400 · April 30, 2011

i have a superchips handheld, but i have never tried the "heavy tow" or "light tow" tunes.

I usually am running the 93 tune and shift points and shifting from the tune make towing my atvs WAY better.

06_GMC · May 3, 2011

Well we are back from the weekend. I had the Tow tune on all the way there and had a gnarly headwind the whole time. The truck stayed in third and second most of the time and hated 4th. I got 8 MPG's the first tank and 6 MPG's the second. I uninstalled the tuner completely before we came home and gave it back to brisk and with the truck stock it felt like it towed better and could find the gear it needed a lot easier. Second gear was a rare occurrence this time and third was favored because of strong head winds coming home too, but the truck considered overdrive a lot more. My first tank home i got 6.5MPG's and the second I got 7.8 MPG's but the truck felt happier and sounded happier. And i really do love my magnaflow!!!

Stevens03 · May 3, 2011

Surprised you got those results. I'd think the wind played a big factor in your trip. Both my trucks I felt the tune gave it an advantage... Also what octane was the tune for? If you didn't have the right octane for the tune, that could have been the cause of your results?

What kind of weight are you towing?

music · May 3, 2011

You've basically got two sets of parameters to work with: torque delivery (timing, fuel, etc) and shift patterns. It's possible to eek out a few extra ponies on the motor side (maybe 10 to 20 ft/lbs, but you don't want to take out torque management when towing). You then have shift points, and maybe "closed" vs "open" loop fuel delivery. I think that a good tuner could help in these areas, but it's a (relatively) small difference for a heavy load.

Example:

Empty truck: 6k lbs

Truck + trailer: ~13k lbs

Difference: +120%

Stock tuning: 310 ft/lb @ 2500 rpm

Custom: 320 ft/lb @ 2500 rpm

Difference: +3%

No amount of "tuning" will ever touch the weight difference. Where I could see (and do see) a potential benefit, is if you need/want different auto-shift points in the TCM. A custom tuner could take account of your actual weight/terrain, and adjust to "hold gear longer", "shift earlier", "don't use 4th below 60 mph", etc. Is it worth the cost just for towing? I doubt it... but the daily driving tuning could be improved in a more noticeable way.

06_GMC · May 5, 2011

Thanks for the replies. The camper probably weighs 7K loaded give or take a few hundred pounds. The head wind definitely played the biggest part in the whole deal. But like i said the programmer didn't offer me any impressive results. When the truck was tuned and just driving on a daily basis it made a little bit of a difference but again nothing worth the 300+ dollars for one. Im sure a Blackbear would be the only way to go and maybe even a cam and then have the truck tuned for a new cam. I'm not expecting diesel results but would like a little better performance and maybe mileage before going to a supercharger.

brisk · May 11, 2011

Yeah the SuperChips Tuner is junk. I noticed no difference towing my pop-up (~2500-3000lbs loaded) with or without it. The truck feels a little more "peppy" when empty with the performance tune but I see no other benefits milage or otherwise. It came with the truck when I bought it. I never would spend the money on one.