jlmounce

As most of all of us know right now Chris Rose formerly of Tillman Speed has left Tillman and started working with American Muscle.

I unfortunately got caught up in the middle of this switch on a tune update for charge motion deletes and 4.10 gears that I purchased from Tillman.

Although it's not Chris' responsibility to cover the business promises of Tillman any longer, he without question honor the tune update that I needed to install those plates.

I got half way through the plate install and realized I wasn't sure if Chris had disabled the motor so that I could remove it, or if I needed to retain the motor and plug it in as some tunes require.

I called American Muscle with the extension listed for Chris and was told by an answering service he was on the phone. No generally, nobody likes to speak with a computer, but it was nice that the system told me why he wasn't available to take my call. I left a message for Chris and received a call back within 10 minutes.

This is what I call great customer service.

I cleaned my throttle body and MAF sensor while I waited.

I've now completed the install and MAN DO I LOVE THIS CAR AGAIN!

For anybody that has not done the charge motion deletes, DO IT! Irregardless of the noticeable top end increase, the smoothness of how the car drives now alone is worth the install time.

There's no more hesitation, no transitional surge in power. You stomp it in 1st gear at low revs and it just goes! If there's any loss in torque at low engine speed, I can't feel it. Above 3000rpm the car just screams now. With the addition of the 4.10's going in tomorrow, this car is going to need more tire than the stock 235's!

The install was straight forward as well. Anybody that knows how to turn a wrench can get this done. I installed it from hood up to hood closed in 3 hours. That included about half an hour of simply looking for all my tools, which are scattered throughout about 3 different boxes. In the end I did the entire install with a 1/2" and 1/4" drive ratchet as I could not find a 3/4" drive ratchet.

Sears, here I come!

Steeda's instructions want you to remove the fuel line from the rails. I didn't do this and it's absolutely not necessary. It's a soft line leading up to the rail and you can simply remove both rails and swing it over and out of the way. I recommend doing this, over removing the fuel line.

So, there you have it! New found power and a smoother ride.

I wouldn't hesitate to go through American Muscle for a tune at this point either. They've got solid tuners with Bama and now Chris R working for them. I know I'll be back when I do long tubes or anything else that requires a tune update.

IHVOCD

Glad to hear that. I just installed delete plates, off road prochamber , and a C&L racer. I could tell that I lost low end torque below 3000 rpm. But I emailed Justin at VMP to find out about doing some datalogging to fine tune it.

jlmounce

I'm at about 4500 feet above sea level in my town. The air is considerably thinner up here, so that may have something to do with not noticing any torque loss. Then again, it could be in the tune.

AMChrisRose

Thanks Jason! Glad you like those plates! It's crazy how a small restriction like that can completely change the power band!!!

cdynaco

That's one thing I've been curious about is being at higher altitude.

I remember reading that several with Brenspeed tunes have difficulty going over the Rockies at 8-9k+. Engine was all choked down from the thin air.
Although that is extremely high, I'm at 4200 and wonder if tweaks need to be done for altitude like Chris does for different fuels in different parts of the country.

cdynaco

I wonder if they suggest this in case the fuel line is still pressurized?

jlmounce

I had those problems with my Brenspeed tune. I spoke with Chris at length about this issue and he does adjust his calibrations for altitude. Although the MAF transfer functions should technically be able to overcome altitude changes, there are still items that Chris felt necessary to change in calibrations for high altitude, or where rapid altitude changes may occur.

I have not yet taken my car into the mountains since going with Chris' tune, but based on the way it drives I'd say there's likely not going to be an issue there.

IHVOCD

Haven't heard back from Justin yet! Maybe I should give him the altitude for my area. That might help some.

cdynaco

Tom Sauk is the highest in MO at 1700' and change. No highways up there...

Its not like out West. No worries.

AMChrisRose

Shouldn't have any problems at altitude. The short term corrections will apply as long term corrections, and timing is conservative. Let me know if you do see any problems, though!

Chris