Ok, I've searched quite a bit on this subject, still haven't found what I'm looking for. So here goes.

I will be looking into getting a power programmer when I get some extra cash. But my question here, is, what do I need to know about them? I don't want to hear what your favorite brand is, or which one your brother's uncles cousins sister put in her truck. I'm looking for like, ease of use, which ones come with preloaded tunes, and which ones can I get a custom tune added to the preloaded ones? I don't know a whole lot about them, but I'd like one that has a display that I can mount and select which tunes I want and it can show how its affecting the motor. which ones can be used on my 5.4 or are they kinda a universal thing, also, good places to buy them from. What if I find a great deal on a used one, what should I expect, I know some, if not all, marry to the ecu and can only be used on that specific vehicle until unmarried. If its married, how would I go about unlocking it to use, etc.
Any help with understanding all this would be great.

 

I went with the SCT 3015 which comes with 3 preset tunes and 3 free spaces for custom tunes. I, like you knew nothing about programmers. I pm'd Franchi Motorsports and asked every question I had. He helped me out tremendously. As far as ease of use, they're all pretty much self explanatory. Just plug and play basically. As far as one that shows parameters of everything, the Edge brand is the only one I know of. I also think the only custom tune the edge can get is the gryphon tune. I'm sure someone else will chime in if I'm wrong. As far as buying a married programmer. My neighbor bought a Superchips Cortex off EBay for $200 for his '12 F150, that was married. He called and paid Superchips $100, they sent him by email to tune to unlock everything. Hope this helps a lil bit.

 

That helps a lot man. I'm still getting into trucks, I used to be midrange and tuners, but now I'm getting into the stuff where I don't get a new speeding ticket every week lol. I'm just trying to get the most out of my truck that I can, I am coming from a 93 f150 with a 302 auto to my 2000 5.4. Hoping it'll be an upgrade after I get my new (used) motor in.

 

I hear ya! I noticed a lil more pep, but the biggest thing I noticed was the shift points being better placed and quicker and throttle lag being almost gone. The main reason I bought mine was to correct the speedo for 33's and 4.10's. It'll def wake a truck up.

 

Got any specific questions on tuners, feel free to hit me up boss. Regardless of where you end up getting one, I like folks to know exactly what they are getting before dropping hard earned cash.

The SCT SF3 3015 is by far the most popular model as it comes with three preloaded tunes and can now also hold ten custom tunes as well if you decide to go that route later.

The Livewire TS #5015 does the same job tuning, but also has the real time guages and performance apps as well.

 

Yeah, I know pretty much nothing about them.

All I know is, I do a lot of in town driving, 35-45 mph 2-5 miles one way to work, some interstate/highway, learning not to have the heavy right foot, will haul but not much or very often, maybe a pontoon for Fishin, or a scrapping trailer few times a year. I want the best I can get for hopefully not a whole lot of money.

 

For the 5.4, be looking at gains of 22-25 horses to the wheels and 20-24 feet of torque. Biggest difference you will see aside from the power gains is how the tune will eliminate 95% of all throttle lag, and how the transmission will shift much smoother and quicker then prior.

 

That's how most everything in life is...

All programmers will have preconfigured tunes. They are fine and will allow you to adjust for tire size, rear end, scan for codes...etc. You can adjust the tunes they give you a little bit...like shift firmness and shift rpm. The rest is based on what the tune is for (Towing, 87 Octane, 91 octane, economy).

You can get cheap ones w/ canned tunes that work fine for $100-200. Or you can spend $400+ to get one that can support custom tunes which will be better suited to your location and driving needs.

In case you didn't know, you can't change tunes on the fly. You have to park and flash the tune which can take 2-10 minutes.