If you've ever been in search of emissions in tact tuning for your diesel truck you've probably come across the 49 state and or 50 state tuning label. While it may only seem like the difference between one state. How much of a difference can one state make? The answer may surprise you. This article will try to answer the top five most common questions regarding 50 state tuning.
Ben Lawson
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One of the biggest advancements in turbo design since we first started applying them to diesel engines over 70 years ago has been the invention of Variable Geometry Turbos. These turbos utilize a set of movable vanes on the inside of the exhaust housing that allows the actuator to vary the area in which exhaust gasses can pass through them. This allows the exhaust side of the turbo to increase or restrict the flow of exhaust hitting the turbine wheel. In some designs it also changes the flow direction of gasses hitting the exhaust turbine as you can see illustrated below.
When restricted, the velocity of the exhaust gasses increases which helps spin the turbine faster than a fixed geometry turbo would. This gives the turbo the ability to spool the turbine and compressor wheel up much better than it normally would even with a low volume of exhaust pressure traveling through the system. This helps to spool the turbo at lower RPMs to create boost where it would normally be lacking. This is why variable geometry turbos (VGTs) are such an advancement. They have the ability to significantly reduce turbo lag and provide much better response and turbo efficiency across a range of RPMs.
The EZ Lynk 2.0 has quickly become one of the post popular tuning devices on the market and its easy to see why with all of its features. Now with the introduction of the Auto Agent 3.0 combined with custom tuning from Calibrated Power you can turn your 2013 to 2021 6.7L Cummins into the ultimate daily driver!
Not only can the ECM be tuned withe the EZ Lynk devices but the TCM of the 68FE transmission can be tuned as well. This is huge because it means you'll be able to put down more of the power you're able to make to the wheels. This lets you go from a performance tune where you're only able to access 60-70 extra horsepower at the wheels. To a proper +100hp tune with transmission adjustments that improve the lock-up of the torque converter and shift scheduling to enhance power delivery though out the entire usable rev range. All with the stock emissions system fully intact. Calibrated Power actually offers a range of tuning options to go along with your EZ Lynk tuner and they can vary based on whether your truck has a built transmission or not. Here's how much power you can expect:
Stock Transmission Tunes:
1. Heavy Tow: +20HP
2. Light Tow: +40HP
3. Street: +80HP
4. Race. : +100HP
Built Transmission Tunes:
1. Heavy Tow : +40HP
2. Light Tow : +60HP
3. Street. : +110HP
4. Race : +160HP
New Product Release: L5P Stealth STR Turbo
Calibrated Power was the very first custom tuner to tune the L5P Duramax platform and have been building custom turbos and tuning for over 15 years. We know exactly what these trucks respond to and need to get the best performance out of them. Now with their newest addition to the L5P performance market, the L5P Stealth STR. We've used what they have learned about the L5P platform to provide a drop-in stock turbo replacement that offers improved performance and reliability at a similar price to a stock turbo replacement.
Here are the features:
- Airflow that Supports 625hp with stock emissions in-tact
- Brand New parts and electronics
- Custom 7-blade extended tip billet compressor wheel
- Designed and spec'd with the help of tuning experts at DuramaxTuner
As technology gets better, we see transmissions in trucks with more and more gears. Recently the Allison 6-speed was replaced with the 10-speed version. For older trucks, this can set them behind the competitors, both in terms of performance and fuel efficiency. A 6-speed conversion kit can take LB7 and LLY trucks to a whole new level of performance and drivability.
If you are already in need of a valve body replacement due to slipping gears because of a weak or bad solenoid this kit is exactly what you'll want to swap in its place. The kit comes with an upgraded valve body combined with a 6-speed TCM. This upgraded TCM comes with updated shift schedules customized to your truck for the new gearing . Calibrated Power has been able to design one of the smoothest shifting 6-speed conversion kits there is. This kit will have your 15-year-old truck shifting like a 2018 model. It's also relatively simple to install and can easily be installed by someone who knows what they're doing in the shop or at home. Another option is to have Calibrated Power install it themselves in one of their upgraded transmissions (DT550, DT750, or DT1000), which is what you'll want if you're trying to make big power.
If you're looking for any of these qualities out of your transmission then a 6-speed conversion is for you:
- Better MPG's
- Quieter Exhaust Drone On The Highway
- Smoother Shifting Transmission
- Engine and Transmission Longevity
- Narrower Cruise Range to Meet Emissions Requirements
This article will cover how to easily and accurately diagnose whether your diesel exhaust fluid (DEF) injector is in proper working order. An improperly working DEF injector will cause your truck to display a check engine light or "Reductive Fluid Quality" message on your dash. This can often cause your truck to go into limp mode and give you engine codes. These codes can vary depending on the truck but codes related to the DEF injector will always have to do with the NOx sensors or selective catalytic reduction (SCR) inefficiency. These codes or messages are often a sign that the DEF injector is not functioning properly.
We would like to share our latest results on our EcoBoost Ford Raptor build. Three weeks ago, we started a project on our newest shop truck, a 2020 Ford Raptor, with the goal of putting together a basic package of parts to give a stock RAM TRX a run for its money. We started off by getting a base line for our truck on the dyno (394hp). Then we used our knowledge of we've seen the TRX put down for quarter mile times in independent tests along with an online quarter mile calculator to calculate how much more power we would need, in order to be a worthy competitor to the TRX. That figure ended up being around 610hp. 90hp less than the TRX due to the Raptors lighter weight!
With the L5P being the newest Duramax engine on the scene it's also one of the best performing right out of the box. Making 400hp and 850 ft-lbs of torque when tested on our dyno. This iteration of the Duramax engine has been redesigned in all the right ways. From a thicker crank shaft, to a more advanced turbo, and pistons that can handle more load and heat than we've ever seen come in a stock Duramax engine before. Not only do we get improved performance but we also get an engine that can handle way more power than it left the factory with. Which means with bolt on upgrades alone you can raise the horsepower way beyond stock without having to do any upgrades to the internals of the engine. We've seen L5P's pushing up to 900ph on the stock internals. Even trucks still equipped with emissions systems can gain about 300hp and 500ft-lbs of torque with just a few bolt on upgrades. Today we will show you what upgrades you want on your L5P to make the biggest difference for the least about of money. So if maximum performance is what you’re looking to get out of your L5P this article is for you.
Here are the top four L5P upgrades!
- Tune
- Transmission
- Turbo
- Intake
We left off with our last article on the Raptor upgrade story with putting a new set of upgraded turbos on our truck to get even more performance than the +140hp tune that we made was able to provide us with. Our raptor was sitting at 538hp the last time we talked about it. Now that we have the upgraded to 46mm turbos on the Raptor we need to tune the truck again and see if there are any other limiting factors when it comes to our goal of making the 610hp to beat the TRX. After a new tune was written for new turbos the truck was put back on the dyno and we were able to make the just over 550 horsepower before the engine was automatically throttled back by the ECM trying to combat the rising intake air temps. This tells us that the truck, while capable of more power, still needs improvements before it will be able to perform as well as the TRX for a sustained amount of time. Below is a graph showing the intake air temp during a road pull in the raptor. The Orange line represents Intake air temp and you can see it spike under sustained load up until the throttle is let off.
Here's what we had on the truck before we started testing:
- Upgraded 46mm turbos
- Fuel Injector Clinic 1000cc injectors.
- Custom Tune By Calibrated Power Solutions
From the outside, they look like fairly similarly performing trucks but the new Ram packs 250 more HP than Ford’s 3.5l EcoBoost Motor making it worlds apart in terms of stock performance. Calibrated Power’s latest goal has been to turn the Raptor into a TRX worthy competitor.
Meet Our Shop Truck:
- 2019 Ford F-150 Raptor
- 1000cc Fuel Injector Clinic injectors
- Calibrated Power EZ Lynk Custom Tuning