KDMax-Pro Tuning--NOW YotaWerx Tuning

@19TRDTac0 When you say top of Maine would you happen to be near the Fort Kent/ Madawaska area? Do you only do KD max tunes or are there others you do as well?

 

Presque Isle/Caribou area. Roughly 45mins away from FK/Madawaska.

I do KD Max only at this time. We have found that KD Max had the most proven track record so we went with them. We’ve ran our tune for nearly 3800 miles now and couldn’t imagine going back.

 

This truck in stock form runs like POOP, pure and simple. Anybody who’s driven one would know this, although there are many who may not want to admit it.

I’ve been on KDmax for 1k miles and in no way consider it to be a “performance” tune. The truck now drives like a normal vehicle should.

Some of the throttle tip-in’s are more aggressive, but I doubt that’s going to grenade a transmission. And I’m running the Wife-Cramp tune anyway, so all-in-all I’m sleeping pretty good these days.

 

KD group talked about this a good bit and you make valid points- ov 2.0 is great, but kd is definitely a huge improvement so some of us so refer to it as a performance tune when in reality this is how the truck should drive (and the reviews speak to that point)

Also 100% agree with the point above that in the long run I think KD will do nothing but improve longevity of all major components. Stock honestly sounded like my engine and tranny were extremely pissed off at me whenever I drive in the mountains here particularly. Even my GF was like dude what is wrong with your truck before it was tuned. Also, temps weren’t the only thing that 17+ of us tuners across the country monitored closely before KD released KDMax 6.0.

Kreg already jumped in but going to get you reflashed and clear values that should take care of the TC. You are on my priority list so just let me know when, and I can even come to you.

 

First off - I wanna keep this friendly.

You are intimately familiar with transmissions and you're actually satisfied with your Tacoma?

I can guarantee that the factory shortcomings are much worse than anything the KDMax or any other tune for these trucks will do to the transmission.
*The sharp CLUNK downshift from 2 to 1 while coming to a stop?
*The inarguably rough and uncomfortable shift patterns all over the gear range?
*The SEVERE highway gear hunting from 4-5-6-5-4 over, and over, and over ad naseum, on even the slightest incline? With even the slightest headwind? With even NO headwind?
*The low-speed gear hunting around town?
*The 199-205 temps (which I admit are no problem to begin with)? I rarely see them hit 195 now, even on days over 90f on long drives.

Thanks to 5000+ miles on the KDMax I have NONE of those anymore. And according to a friend of mine whom I just consulted, and whom is a very, very experienced tech, the KDMax and any other of the tunes out there pose little to no threat to the longevity of engine or transmission unless they cut out the port injection too much, and that's just applicable to engine longevity, not transmission.

SOURCE: My friend is the owner of Diesel Toys right here in San Antonio (go ahead, look it up). He is the premier diesel conversion specialist in the US for all Toyota models. He's been in and out of transmissions and transfer cases, as well as every other part of a number of vehicles (4Runners, Tacomas, FJ's, Land Cruisers, Sequioas, Tundras, etc) on many of which I have personally done a large percentage of the grunt work when I moonlighted for him, and ALL of which are either actually a Tacoma or VASTLY more comparable to a Tacoma than any Chevy transmission either 40 years old or brand new. He custom tunes the D-4D's he installs.

Lastly, I don't doubt your experience, I just don't think you have a leg to stand on if you haven't experienced or had opportunity to inspect a KD-tuned transmission or the parameters to which the transmission has been altered.

 

He's got facts son! They're all in his head, but he can spout them off at a moments notice.

 

Wait this can fix the super annoying and terrible feeling 2 -> 1 clunk/thud? My truck has done this for 5 and a half years now. Particularly noticeable in the winter when it’s cold. Still very much present on OVTune 2.0.

Man I can’t wait for that darn registration email and software for us flash manager folks. This is at the top of my list to flash.

I was always under the impression it was just a crappy transmission or hardware related. And here we are fixing it via software. I’ll certainly keep a lookout for it post flash when I have the chance.

 

Yes, clunk has been fixed for a while.
I had a tune about a year ago called the "clunkbuster", I made it specifically for Dave @TWTaco.

 

The freeway hunting is absolutely annoying. Smallest rise like an overpass or underpass causes down shifting. May be a byproduct of the 6th gear vs the seconds gens 5 speed auto.

the part that is annoying me more and more is the short shifting up from 3-4-5. Leave a stoplight at “x” throttle and you leave and move along with everyone else through 1-2-3 then, before you get to the speed limit, it short shifts to get to 5th and falls on its face. Suddenly now the same amount of throttle isn’t enough and you now can’t keep up. So you add a little throttle which causes a down shift.

I agree this has to cause more wear on the transmission than what the tunes can cause by holding gears better. I’m at 2600 miles and at 5k after 1st service I see tune in our future as it’s getting more annoying every day.

 

Big thanks to PapaRee. He tuned my 2021 OR yesterday evening. Like everyone else has said already, my truck now drives like it supposed to.

Geaux Tigers!

 

Glad you like it!
Nice to meet you and talk deer hunting!

 

KDMax fixes the issues you describe with the lower 4 and freeway hunting. @PapaRee will set the shift points/speed however you like it for “city” throttle and the OD gears. I asked him to set mine to upshift to 5 at 75 kph (45mph), light throttle. Problem solved. It never sees 6th gear unless it’s going faster than 57mph not to mention holding on to gears longer. No more down/up dance. He’s also pretty good at knowing what you’re wanting the tune to do for you, specifically.

 

Sure sounds like it is the fix.

 

To be honest I do still experience some short-shifts on KDmax, but it’s about 1% compared to stock.

At times I get a short-shift from 5th to 6th when casually accelerating onto the freeway. On city streets I don’t notice anymore short-shifts.

 

1k miles now on the reg LT tune and I gotta say it is miles apart from the stock tune. I do however still get the 6,5,4,5,6 dance on the highways doing 75 with cruise. It’s not as profound as before but it does still hunt with a slight head wind and/or hills. Any way that can be tweaked to hold the 5th or 6th gear better?

Mileage appears to be improved as well, getting 22-23 highways at 75 with no hills.

 

I’ve had this tune for about 6 weeks now and I still smile just driving around town. Who knew?

 

If you self-flashed it would be very easy to get that short-shifting eliminated. @PapaRee will work on it ‘till you’re happy. Doable, but not as convenient if you were flashed by one of the tuning group. Check it out.

 

I think at 75 it would hunt gears. You are pushing a brick thru the air.

 

how’s it going guys, thought I would share my experience for anyone in the Alabama/Georgia area that’s looking to fix the clunky shift points in their truck. After reading on here for a few days about different tunes and different folks to take the truck to, and all the reading led me to send a PM to Boltripper, who’s John with Overland Tailor Tuning. The first thing I noted was how quickly John got back with me to answer my questions, and after a quick explanatory call the next morning, I had been sent a questionnaireabout the specs and details of my truck. The setup process was simple and straightforward, and an appointment was availableimmediately, which I also liked. I choseSaturday morning and received a confirmation email and text, ready to go. I headed out this morning, and the truck was up to it’s normal downshifting and clunking around habits. Irritating. I was about 10 minutes early to my appointment (as a habit) and John wasalready setup and ready to go early. I pulled into a nice, well kept neighborhood on the good side of Bham. Note John’s sweet access cab build in the driveway. I’m just a few minutes, my battery’s been checked, the process has been explained in depth to me,and I’m told that I’ll be trying out 2 tune setswith some further personal customization available if I wanted, and the first tune is loaded up onto my truck. John asks you totake a test drive with him to really be sure you’re happy with the settings and really sure it’s what you want. First thing I note is thetremendous change in throttle response. A ton more punch than ever before, but nonetoo touchy to where it jerks the truck around in a normal neighborhood driving situation.The truck no longer jumps through first and second gear from a stop sign, and clean and smooth goes through the gears up to speed.A big thing I noted was that the #1 thing I’ve hated about this truck has been cured. Thetruck has always given up at the point on ahill where it loses momentum most, and goes into a jerky crappy shifting pattern where the motor revs high but has little power. Gone now. The truck took hills, locked out power at the right moments, and engine braking downhill was smoother than ever. Loved the tune. We get back, and John loads up thesecond tune setting and we take off again. I immediately note a huge huge gain in throttleresponse, to the point of being jerky. Thetruck seems to like third gear a whole lot withthe second tune, which I didn’t really like. The whole drive I give John feedback, and he’s noting it carefully. The second tune, with itssuper touchy throttle, just isn’t nearly as smooth and driveable as the first tune I tested. We get back, and I’m asked which tune I prefer to run with, and of course I pick the much smoother first tune. John grins and tells me the first tune is his custom settings, and the second is the standard KD tune setting. I picked his custom settings without knowing which one was which prior. That’s how much this guy knows his stuff, he has really taken this tune and perfected it himself. On my almost hour drive home, I chose to go over the mountain down a really hilly and curvy road to see if I could trick the new tune into gear hunting, and it handled the drive perfectly. Smooth up and downhill the whole time, smooth in stop and go traffic. When i get closer to home on the empty long rural roads the next county over, I stretched her legs out a little bit and there is a ton more power coming out of the hole. Great shifting all the way through the gearbox. I also noticed it seemed like the torque was being placed in a much better spot than before and the truck was grabbing the road in the back for a lot more power. Overall first reaction to Overland Tailor Tuning’s settings is that the truck is finally driveable with a whole new all around life to it. If you’re in the area and are on the hunt to get a tune, definitely go with Overland Tailor. For the smoothness the truckruns with now, it is well well worth the askingprice.