Is there any other way to reflash without a tuner? I'm gonna be doing the plenum fix and timing chain swap in a couple of weeks and would like to replace the death flash for, at the very least, the original off the lot programming. I don't really wanna cough up the $400 for the SCT tuner. Any ideas?

 

I'm pretty sure the answer is no. Superchips for 200-300?

 

What i meant was I didn't know if I could have the dealership or a custom shop do it. I did find an old thread on here about the topic from '09. Found it to be pretty informative. Do all tuners get VIN locked after using them? How do you unlock them? Finally, superchip or SCT or other suggestions? Pros and cons? I'm new to this whole tuner thing, sorry. If you want, just point me to some good reading. Thanks guys!

 

Dealership won't do it. I doubt any independent shops have the older tunes stashed anywhere. (or the newer ones for that matter.)

Most of the tuners do indeed become vin locked when used. Only way to unlock them is to put the vehicle it was used on back to stock, or, send it in, and pay money. (not sure how much)

SCT from Hemifever is generally accepted as the best tunes for our trucks. Flyin' Ryan is another tuner, but, I don't know what his prices are like...... He has a good rep with the Dakota folks it seems.

You could try and find a tuner on Ebay..... get an older, used one. But, you are taking a gamble there whether it is unlocked or not.... if it isn't, you could end up spending more money than had you simply purchased one new.