Reputable Tune

Good morning everyone.

I have an old farm Tundra on my property that had the cats stolen. The old owner had some exhaust installed to run the truck with no cats. I don’t have to get emissions where I’m at but want to get a tune to help correct the truck from running Rich etc.

I spoke with a shop in California that mentioned they have done this a lot and the most common action is, send my ECU to them. They will tune my ECU to not scan for O2 sensors as well the secondary air pump. In this tune it will correct the loss of power and correct the air / fuel so its not running rich. He is very familiar with these trucks and said the secondary air pump will eventually fail and be a headache so might as well eliminate it and correct with a tune. Keep in mind I’m leaving this all super high level for ease of less reading.

The shop stated that I wouldn’t need to put cats on it as the truck tune would correct the power with missing cats but if I wanted to put cats on it I could, and the low-end power would feel slightly better with cats off the line but on their dyno with or without cats it pushes the same numbers.

I’m reaching out to the group because with 450 I can send my ECU to them and get this problem of no cats solved, or I have to try and get some decent cats, O2 sensors and weld them on which would be more cost and sourcing than I’d like to deal with. I know OEM cats are recommended but being a farm truck, I can't justify the cost. I would only put the cats on to try and get rid of the check engine light. Right now, I have to have a scanner live in the truck so every time I run the truck, I can check to assure it's only the O2 sensor sending the light on and make sure nothing else is failing or failed. I'm not a great welder and the cost to weld on new cats is coming in around 400-500. Plus, the cost of the cats plus O2 Sensors. All in going the cat route I'll be 2K in minimum. With 450 and a tune, problem is solved, and I never have to worry about cats going bad or O2 sensors failing over time.

I spoke with Dirty Heads Exhaust in California who is amazing to talk and work with and the owner put me in touch with his Tuner friend Brandon Elzner who seems amazing to talk to and knowledgeable with these motors and tunes. I actually saw both their names on these forums so I wanted to see if anyone has done this tune and elimination of cats etc.

If anyone has done this same type of work or has worked with Brandon, how do you like your tune and did I retain all this information correctly.

thanks

 

I hear the turn around times for tuned ECUs can run a bit long.....

 

I spoke with them and he mentioned 3-5 days. I’ll confirm before sending my ECU if I feel this is the route I’ll go. I do appreciate the heads up.

 

@455h0le_dachshund , who did you send that ECU to for the tune?

 

I didn't send one, I bought one from Quantum Auto Tuning. Yeah Brandon, the dude mentioned above. Mine was a special case though, because of my Cal ID being one that hadn't been cracked yet. He eventually figured out a different Cal ID that matched all my trucks features (should've been simple enough, 2wd sr5 non vvti) and used it instead. Can't say for sure if he actually tuned it or just sent me the junkyard ECU.

 

Color me mistaken. I swear you had an ECU out there that was taking forever to get "cracked" and tuned.

 

Thank you for this response. Thats who I spoke with regarding getting my tune. Very curious what you had them tune for or eliminate scanning for. The owner there seems very familiar with these trucks and motors.

 

Oh it did take forever. And I'm not satisfied with the tune, if it even is tuned. He said he could tune the trans too and I asked him to, yet I can't tell any difference. Whereas when I got my 06 tuned I could tell and the redline moved up about 500rpm

 

I asked him to turn off the rear O2 sensors, but I don't know if he did. Because I still passed inspection without swapping my OEM ECU back in. But I'm also running the URD O2 simulator. So thats possibly why. I haven't gotten around to removing it since the "tuned" ECU install. Once I do remove it, I'll be able to say for sure if he bothered to disable the rear O2 sensors. But I'm eventually going to have @texoma plug into it and check everything out. Might have him do his own tune on it, because I'm pretty sure there's still room for improvement.

 

If you're in Texas, I do however, highly recommend @texoma's PowerThirst tune via VF Tuner.

 

Thank you for this. I’m located in Colorado, would love to have someone local do it, but if there was a shop worthy of buying one or shipping mine there I wouldn’t be opposed to that either.

 

Which year is your truck? I’m trying to find a tuner but the earliest model is 2003 and can’t seem to find anyone for a 2001.

 

2003

 

If I were you, I'd start looking into Colorado Toyota people that use VF Tuner to tune various Toyotas. Since you have an 05, one of those tuners should have no problem tuning your truck. The PowerThirst tune I got for my 06 via VF Tuner is pretty awesome.

 

Can recommend VF Tune. Got mine directly from VF with the cable and software to customize the tunes. Came with 4 "canned" tunes: low octane with trans map, low octain standard trans map, high octane with trans map, and high octane standard trans map.

If you just want a set it and forget it approach, find a local tuner that will just flash their version of the modified VF map. Plenty of companies offer this service.

 

Welp, looks like there is a VF Tune in Colorado Springs.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sou...8QFnoECEsQAQ&usg=AOvVaw1JM6zxmNBpnrFj8btgrnm1

 

Thank you very much for the recommendations. Also thank you for the VF Tuner in Coloardo Springs. Not super far from me so that could be easy.

Sorry for the stupid questions as this whole tuning topic is new to me. Can VF Tuner tune and adjust for exactly what I need or is their software pre programmed and then if I need more to be done then they add to or take away in the tune?

 

They can custom tune

 

@MYOTA67 the VF Tuner can also turn off the two rear O2 sensors, or the secondary air injector system (SAIS). I'm sure there's other stuff I'm forgetting.

 

Anyone with VF tune available to tune my truck? I'm located in Pennsylvania

 

Thank you, I sent them an email since there is no number to call them. Curious if when working with someone to do a custom tune, would they know how to run the truck eliminating my request to keep the motor running properly and safe? I would imagine someone has requested what I’m after in the past from them.

I ask because when I talked to a Tune. Shop in California, he mentioned he could eliminate the O2 sensor and the secondary air pump. I didn’t know that could be done till he mentioned that’s what should be done. I’m just curious if you think VF would know this information or will they be looking for me to guide them though what I need. I just want to make sure if they do what I need, will they know how to achieve this while keeping the motor running properly. I’m not sure what needs to happen with the motor when eliminating the sensors and secondary mass air pump. Meaning what do they need to tune aside those to assure the motor is no longer running rich etc.

Again sorry for the dumb questions, I’m very new to the tuning as this is my first truck ever getting a tune for something like this.

 

I can remotely tune your truck.

 

VF Tuner will sell you the software and hardware to tune your vehicle. They also have basic tunes that you can purchase for your specific Cal ID. If you go that route, hit me up and I can help guide you.

 

Triple C Chop Shop Performance Tuning

 

what’s a good time to call you this morning?

 

Shoot me a text first and make sure I’m available.