Black Bear Performance Tuning-Reviews?

[matad311]

Hey everyone, so im looking to start putting some more performance into my truck motor with just bolt ons and such right now then continue on to the inside. Now I am about to build a custom exhaust and add on an intake manifold spacer. I've heard about blackbear and wondering how many people got a tune done by them and what package they went with? Also what kind of performance did you pick up from it and is it worth it! Let me know thanks! My motor is a 5.7 vortec btw.

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[kwslvdo96]

I like picture at silver lake my parents have a cabin there, I did a pcm for less tune on mine and It was a night and day difference. I did the 93 octane tune with moderate shift points and I do a good amount of towing during the summer so he bumped my rpm shift points up a little bit. I also seen 1.5mpg better in fuel economy but im running stock tire size and my truck only has 61K miles on it. I would say blackbear or pcm for less are going to be your best 2 options. The biggest gain is going to be having your bigger tire size tuned in that alone will help you out. And if your like me and you want more bolt on power try and find a nice used whipple supercharger kit and slap that on for another 80 to 100hp. Skys the limit just depends on the budget.

 

[df2x4]

Black Bear is great. Free re-tunes for life. They tuned my V6 truck. As far as what package to get, they only offer standard mail order tunes for our trucks. They can't do in person or data cable tunes unless you're 0411 swapped. I think they may be able to tune some specific versions of the 98+ black box PCMs in person, not sure though.

According to Justin at Black Bear, anything over 89 octane is a waste for these trucks. You can tune for higher, and I did for a minute, but it's not going to make any difference except costing you more in gas. I actually had them re-tune me to 87 octane and I can't tell the difference from the 93 tune.

Also, torque management. My opinion is DO NOT mess with it unless your transmission is heavily built. Or at all really. I removed 100% of the factory TM initially from my tune and my stock 4L60E blew up about a month later. Had it rebuilt much stronger and then it shifted too hard, to the point that I got another re-tune and added all the torque management back in. It still breaks traction between first and second gear every time at WOT. It's actually faster in the quarter mile with the TM intact anyway.

As far as performance increases, it really is an amazing difference. Best thing I've done to that truck by far. No difference in fuel economy that I've noticed, but the truck is so much more fun to drive. Holds gears better over hills and just generally feels a lot stronger.

 

[superdave]

Just wanted to say thanks to Black Bear. They did my computer about 3 years ago and I sent it back for an update. They turned it around quickly and the results are great.

 

[Amorris85]

Before and after Blackbear tune on stock truck. It’s 20° colder now. Spun alittle on launch but still improved. Probably can get alittle better when it warms up and I don’t spin. It’s still a slow old truck but the drivability and shifting are great and very noticeable. Black Bear Performance

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[Sean Buick 76]

I have had 3 trucks tuned using blackbear auto cal and I’ve been happy! I get the downstream o2 sensors deleted, torque management deleted, firmest shifts possible, corrected for my tire size, and they have been great. I use long tube headers and otherwise stock 5.3 or 6.0 engines. No issues… and if my 4L60e gets slippy then I have it rebuilt with better parts. The 6 speed auto in my 2012 shift way better with the tune, the 60e is better as well.