Lugnut
Member
If you’re like me and your vehicle is your baby you want the best for it. You spend hours each month washing and detailing it; you are always ahead of the maintenance schedule and you lavish it with accessories and spoils wherever you can. You look forward to getting in it for a late day; after-supper drive in the summer going nowhere in particular and you are in your glory. The world can unravel like a sweater around you and you’ve got your thing; it’s all worthwhile. When you have that kind of passion for your rig and you’re taking it to an automotive performance shop for the first time to get surgery done there can be a good deal of uncertainty and anxiety.
That’s how it was for me. Just before Thanksgiving of last year I ordered a 2021 Rebel from my local dealership. I was then very lucky in that I had the right vehicle at the right time and got it into two beta programs – one with ProCharger and one with BDS Suspension. Both manufacturers wanted precisely my vehicle configuration for beta testing for their new 2021 product lines. So I got a ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ privilege. Not only was the truck going to get some of the world’s best supercharger and 4” suspension kits in the world but it also was going to installed and fabricated by the engineers that create the kits and the factory headquarters. Talk about holding a winning lottery ticket.
So I arranged for car transport and off the truck went across the country to get this work done. Both projects were completed perfectly and flawlessly. The suspension kit looks like it grew there organically and the ride is beyond belief. The supercharger system is the same; it is engineering perfection down to every detail. It is quiet, sleeper-like and pulls like a freight train. We’re talking sex on wheels; jackpot.
But there was one snafu. Something wasn’t right with the tune and the truck was throwing error codes that lit up the dashboard like a Christmas tree. Because I was an early-adapter with new technology mixed with major aftermarket modifications I was in ‘no-man’s land’. I knew this was a very potential factor going into the project. I couldn’t complain. I signed up for this. I knew that the answers would come but it might take time. This arrangement is not for the faint of heart.
With the torque that the supercharger was making the truck computer got a bad attitude and became a little factory of stress and anxiety for me. The errors that the truck was throwing would not put you on the trail of the actual problem unless you were a ‘mad scientist tuner’. I’m not. I didn’t know what to think. ‘Emergency Brake Failure, Fuel Management Failure, Electronic Stabilization Failure, e-Torque Stop/Start Failure’, etc. Every time the truck threw one of these errors I would spot my shorts. Both vendors – ProCharger and BDS did everything that they could and both went FAR above and beyond to resolve the problem as quickly as they could. I cannot fault them in any way and am grateful for the support and upstanding integrity that they showed me.
Luckily I have a uniquely trustworthy service manager at my local dealership. He took the truck for a week, looked it over very carefully and confirmed that nothing mechanically was wrong. He worked with the aftermarket manufacturers to try and resolve the issues in the tune. The truck now had HP Tuners RTD (remote tuning device) with all available modules. But the problem lied beyond their understanding at that time. They could clear the error codes but they came back as I drove again.
My service manager made an appointment for me with a local performance shop. He said to me, “I’m telling you, you can trust these guys and they are among the best tuners in the country. I already called them, told them about the project and they are expecting you”.
I was grateful for the help and support but nervous. I had no idea who these guys were. This could go VERY BADLY from there…and so close to the finish line. I adjusted my attitude, got humble and fell in line. It turned out that my service manager was right and bringing the truck with its stubborn, next-level, uncharted-terrain problems to this shop was as smart of a move as was going to ProCharger and BDS Suspension in the first place.
That’s the backstory and the buildup. This is the post.
That’s how it was for me. Just before Thanksgiving of last year I ordered a 2021 Rebel from my local dealership. I was then very lucky in that I had the right vehicle at the right time and got it into two beta programs – one with ProCharger and one with BDS Suspension. Both manufacturers wanted precisely my vehicle configuration for beta testing for their new 2021 product lines. So I got a ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ privilege. Not only was the truck going to get some of the world’s best supercharger and 4” suspension kits in the world but it also was going to installed and fabricated by the engineers that create the kits and the factory headquarters. Talk about holding a winning lottery ticket.
So I arranged for car transport and off the truck went across the country to get this work done. Both projects were completed perfectly and flawlessly. The suspension kit looks like it grew there organically and the ride is beyond belief. The supercharger system is the same; it is engineering perfection down to every detail. It is quiet, sleeper-like and pulls like a freight train. We’re talking sex on wheels; jackpot.
But there was one snafu. Something wasn’t right with the tune and the truck was throwing error codes that lit up the dashboard like a Christmas tree. Because I was an early-adapter with new technology mixed with major aftermarket modifications I was in ‘no-man’s land’. I knew this was a very potential factor going into the project. I couldn’t complain. I signed up for this. I knew that the answers would come but it might take time. This arrangement is not for the faint of heart.
With the torque that the supercharger was making the truck computer got a bad attitude and became a little factory of stress and anxiety for me. The errors that the truck was throwing would not put you on the trail of the actual problem unless you were a ‘mad scientist tuner’. I’m not. I didn’t know what to think. ‘Emergency Brake Failure, Fuel Management Failure, Electronic Stabilization Failure, e-Torque Stop/Start Failure’, etc. Every time the truck threw one of these errors I would spot my shorts. Both vendors – ProCharger and BDS did everything that they could and both went FAR above and beyond to resolve the problem as quickly as they could. I cannot fault them in any way and am grateful for the support and upstanding integrity that they showed me.
Luckily I have a uniquely trustworthy service manager at my local dealership. He took the truck for a week, looked it over very carefully and confirmed that nothing mechanically was wrong. He worked with the aftermarket manufacturers to try and resolve the issues in the tune. The truck now had HP Tuners RTD (remote tuning device) with all available modules. But the problem lied beyond their understanding at that time. They could clear the error codes but they came back as I drove again.
My service manager made an appointment for me with a local performance shop. He said to me, “I’m telling you, you can trust these guys and they are among the best tuners in the country. I already called them, told them about the project and they are expecting you”.
I was grateful for the help and support but nervous. I had no idea who these guys were. This could go VERY BADLY from there…and so close to the finish line. I adjusted my attitude, got humble and fell in line. It turned out that my service manager was right and bringing the truck with its stubborn, next-level, uncharted-terrain problems to this shop was as smart of a move as was going to ProCharger and BDS Suspension in the first place.
That’s the backstory and the buildup. This is the post.
