2014+ Engine & Transmission Tuning

[Mutau95]

Well don't be a dick about it. If you didn't want someones opinion then maybe you should of kept this to a private message. Black Bear is still a relatively small business operation and they likely do not have the man power to man a phone line. Controlling all communication through email is probably easier for the to handle. I've personally sent several pm's to Jennabear and always get a response. If you insists on having instant communication with your tuner go out and find a brick and mortar performance shop that will tune your truck for you. Just be ready to bay $200 every time you want to get strapped into the dyno to adjust your tune.

If you would have taken the time and read my earlier post before commenting you would have realized I didn't ask a question to begin with. I simply was commenting/agreeing on the post by Chad2815 about the lack of a phone at BlackBear. Then Isriam chimes in quoting my post telling me what I should do and you have done the same. Jumping to a conclusion without reading all the previous comments to understand the conversation....classic.

[Isriam]

Well don't be a dick about it. If you didn't want someones opinion then maybe you should of kept this to a private message. Black Bear is still a relatively small business operation and they likely do not have the man power to man a phone line. Controlling all communication through email is probably easier for the to handle. I've personally sent several pm's to Jennabear and always get a response. If you insists on having instant communication with your tuner go out and find a brick and mortar performance shop that will tune your truck for you. Just be ready to bay $200 every time you want to get strapped into the dyno to adjust your tune.

 

its best to not reply to people who think their opinion is gospel. BBT is a great shop, has very quick replies via email, and i never used their tune, just asked questions.

[Mutau95]

It is absolutely best to reply to someone's comment you agree with in the open forum. We are talking about a simple phone here. It may be something Blackbear is considering who knows. Businesses make adjustments all the time based on customer need and demand. If only one person makes a suggestion and no one chimes in then its not given a 2nd thought. If it becomes something that customers want and it drives business you can believe it will happen. That's basic business so don't chide me or others that may have a question about the product they purchased and can't wait 24 hours or in Chad2815 case a week for a reply.

[Chad2815]

Yeah that was my intent....when I switched over to a truck blackbear and Nelson performance were at the top of my list, Sorry Mutua didn't know it would cause such a slugfest.

Edited February 9, 2015 by Chad2815

[Jennabear]

I wosh Blackbear had a contact method other than email......that's slot of money to have to correspond via email.....sent one weeks ago with no response.

 

Send me a PM with your email address. The guys are not that far behind on emails, even after the weekend.

I agree great tune results but unfortunately the Autocal doesn't come with instruction on how to load the stock tune back if you need to go in for major service and FAQ's is no substitute for a live person. Email only communication is definitely a drawback.

The AutoCal has online instructions on how to load all tunes, including stock. We do not offer phone service, as it is much easier to remote into someone's computer to see what is going on. Many hours can be spent on the phone, which takes away from the hundreds of emails received every day, in person tunes, and tunes that need to be mailed out. With only two full time employees, it would be difficult to manage the phone as well.

[Jennabear]

Just did a quick search in the Inbox for a "chad" and can not find any emails that have not been responded to, with that name.

[Chad2815]

The lack of response was the reason for the initial post.

[Jennabear]

If you could shoot me your email, I can check further into this. I am now intrigued.

[RyanbabZ71]

I agree great tune results but unfortunately the Autocal doesn't come with instruction on how to load the stock tune back if you need to go in for major service and FAQ's is no substitute for a live person. Email only communication is definitely a drawback.

Instructions are available on their page when you log in (top left in the photo)

 

 

Also enough of the name calling people are allowed to post their thoughts (within the site rules)

 

 

Ryan

[gone_fishing]

Question for those who have had custom tunes done. I'm curious to what all you had the tuner do (what you requested). I'm wondering what can/can't be done and maybe parameters you adjusted that I didn't know existed. Here are some of the areas i would like addressed:

 

Torque management?

From what I have read, TM isn't simply turned off/on but can be somewhere in the middle. What % did you end up at?

 

Transmission?

- Ship point RPM's raised (how much?)

- Shift firmness/line pressure (how much?). I wouldn't mind a firmer shift but not looking to "snap necks".

- One of my complaints is how eager the transmission seems to be to shift to the next gear. When at light/mid throttle, it seems the next gear comes so quick and before you know it your in overdrive. I would like to see it hold gears a little longer when accelerating. Basically kind of how Tow/Haul mode works but not quite as aggressive. Can this be done?

 

Idle RPM's?

When fully warm, in my opinion the idle RPM's seem just a bit low (seem to be at about 500 RPM). I occasionally notice a "flutter" feeling that I think is from the engine idling so low. Maybe another 50-75 RPM's would help this? I would also like to see it idle higher when the engine is cold. Any adjustments possible there (aka idle higher/longer)?

 

Minimum speed for V4 mode?

I don't plan to completely disable V4 mode but I would like to see the speed raised (MPH) in which it is allowed to engage. I just find it annoying when it turns on when you are driving in town at 25 MPH. If this is possible to change what speed have you raised it too?

 

Thanks!

 

[WendysOrBust]

Just got my Blackbear tune in, ecm and tcm update. So far, super, super impressed. Did not imagine that the modified tcm would give me such a drastic improvement in drivability. What used to be a truck that was lazy on the throttle, now feels like it drank an entire pot of coffee. I can tell right away there is more torque available in partial throttle and the shifting is so much better throughout. I'm gonna go drive some more but I'll give a better update tomorrow.

[B33tl3]

Did you ask for anything specific or jsut let Justin tune it like he wanted?

[WendysOrBust]

Did you ask for anything specific or jsut let Justin tune it like he wanted?

I told him I wanted better throttle performance and wanter better over drivability.

[07Softail]

Just got my Blackbear tune in, ecm and tcm update. So far, super, super impressed. Did not imagine that the modified tcm would give me such a drastic improvement in drivability. What used to be a truck that was lazy on the throttle, now feels like it drank an entire pot of coffee. I can tell right away there is more torque available in partial throttle and the shifting is so much better throughout. I'm gonna go drive some more but I'll give a better update tomorrow.

What octane tune did you go with...and whats the verdict on your truck? Like it, need adjustments, more-less aggressive? Mileage change same, less, better?

 

RT

[WendysOrBust]

I'm on the 91+ tune right now. And I really like it, I feel like this is the way the truck should of been from the dealer. I still havn't sent back the log after the tune since I'm still trying to test it and to see if I want anything different.

 

And I wish I could give you a fair estimation on milage, but its been so cold here that I've been remote starting the truck every chance I get. As it sits I'm at 14.5mpg three quarters of the way through this tank. But here are my overall impressions of the tune;

 

• Tip in torque and response has greatly increased. Before I felt like I really needed to get into the throttle to get it moving. You can de definitely feel the added torque as soon as you touch the pedal, probably from a reduction in torque management.
• Before the tune, the trucks transmission did this annoying thing, kinda hard to explain. But for example, if I gave it 50-70% throttle from low speed it would hold the gear I was in, but over extend the shift point, past its power band to the point that I had to wait till it shifted or blip the throttle to initiate a shift. Now when I do the same it'll do a real nice quick upshift but maintains the engine in the power band. Feels allot better.
• Shift firmness feels better at WOT. Not drastic enough for me to ask for a reduction though, doesn't feel too firm or aggressive.
• I can tell he added 300-400 rpms for the WOT shift points. At first I was a little weary, but I really like it now. Off the top of my head, with my 3.42 rear end, 1st will go up to almost 45mph, 2nd to 70, and I let off at 3rd when I was at 100. It was still pulling really well though. I guess I can hit higher in 3rd.
• Daily driving is much improved with the modified TCM. The truck just picks up speed allot easier and downshifts come sooner and smoother. I wish I could be more accurate here, but the truck never displays what gear I'm in, but I'm assuming that at any point I am a gear lower than what I used to be pre-tune. However I don't feel like I'm overworking the truck, at most on stop and go city traffic I'll see 2500-3000rpm shift points.

 

Driving a truck on a tune, especially giving a review is so hard because all the factors are so subjective. My overall complaint about my 5.3 is that it had overall poor throttle response, and lazy shifting. I can honestly say none of those are issues now. I do plan on getting an air raid jr. kit in a week or so, after that I will probably stop with the truck. I don't plan to race it or heavily modify it. I just wanted a more responsive truck.

Edited February 25, 2015 by WendysOrBust