Diesel Tuner's Blog

7 Things You Have to Know When Tuning Your 2010-2015 Cummins!

Written by Paul Wilson | Apr 4, 2016 8:43:02 PM

Tuning your 2010-2015 Cummins can dramatically improve your driving experience!

The Dodge/Ram/Cummins manufacturers have improved many factors that impact your driving experience throughout the years. From cup holders and radios and interior cab lights to heated seats, larger mirrors and automated turbine braking; Cummins trucks are getting better every year. Horsepower and Torque have not been missed in these constantly ongoing improvements. Back in in 1989 the first 12v had just a 160 RWHP rating from the factory, now the 6.7L as off 2010 is 350 - 370 Horsepower depending on transmission and trim package. With that being stated, there is still a lot of room for aftermarket tuning to improve your truck. 

Below are 7 things you shoud know, before you decide which tuning is right for you . .  . . 


The Top 7 things you should know about tuning your 2010-2015 Cummins:

  1. Use all the power the factory provides!
    1. Tuning is the best bang for your buck when it comes to adding power. 
    2. You can safely make up to 450 RWHP on a stock transmission with just the proper engine tuning.
    3. Over 500 RWHP is achievable with a small transmission parts package upgrade paired with Engine and Trans tuning with a 68RFE. 
  2.  Yes! You can maintain reliability with the proper tuning.
    1. Many 2010 - 2017 Cummins trucks have been tuned and already have clocked 10's of thousands of miles. 
    2. Calibrated Power has over 20,000 on an Emissions Equipped 2015 Black edition that is daily driven. 
  3. Fuel mileage gains come from Stock-to-Tuned, NOT Stock-to-Deleted.
    1. Get the benefits of tuning with the Emissions Equipment intact.
    2. Factory emissions equipment is good past 500 RWHP.
    3. There are plenty of people out there who will tell you to delete. This is not required. 
    4. Tire size is going to impact your MPG more than doing deletes.
  4. Drive-ability matters!  
    1. Ask about how the truck will feel at WOT and mid throttle.
    2. Find out how the torque curve is changed with tuning. Where is the most significant gains in usable horsepower.
    3. How is it going to change when driving around town?
  5. 68RFE's need tuning! 
    1. The factory cals do not utilize the wide torque curve of a tuned 6.7L Cummins. 
    2. Proper 68RFE tuning will also dramatically improve torque converter lock-up strategy.
    3. Adding line pressure throughout the shift provides a good firm, positive feeling, this can only be done with 68RFE Tuning. 
  6. Not all tunes are equal 
    1. Stay away from resistor chips/inline modules, any tuner that does not flash through he OBD port. These are old and outdated ways of tuning a diesel. 
    2. MM3 is the most popular tuning for these trucks. MM3 is a software/hardware company, they do not build tunes.
      1. 10,000 parameters used by Cummins to build your cal, MM3 gives access to a fraction of those.
      2. Calibrated Power has gone above and beyond, providing calibration support beyond what MM3 offers to its general users.
  7. Warranty, what happens?
    1. The dealers hold the power of discretion. Be friends with the guys who make the call. 
    2. A deleted truck is generally the most obvious way to throw your warranty away. If the dealer does not have a reason to dig deep, a stock appearing truck generally does not throw any flags. 


Now that you know the most important things to know about tuning your 2010-2018 Cummins you probably have some questions. 

Let one of our experienced staff members help you.