That's pretty frustrating. I was glad to see PF jump on the thread back in February and try to make good on things, but that is kind of disappointing to pass the buck and say they fulfilled their obligation by getting the truck running. If Team208 was able to get it running right by just reprogramming your computer then why did PF say they need to spend dyno time with it to achieve the same thing (at additional cost)? Seems like they should have offered that dyno time for free considering you would have to make a second trip to them (2 hours each way I think you said), and this was supposed to be a stick it in and go set up.
To be fair, it sounds like you had a fuel filter issue from debris (clogged, slowing down flow), and it's possible the pump needed to be placed closer to the tank for optimal push/pull. But if all Team208 did was retune your computer and now it runs like new then somewhere along the way PF dropped the ball on the original configuration of this plug-and-play set up.
I tried to leave the explanation pretty vague. I am not going to run them down in a public conversation. But, as I said, I was informed during my last talk with them that I didn't read the fine print in my packet that it's only guaranteed to run and that actual dyno tuning should be expected to make it runable/driveable.
Yes, Josh fixed it. The only mechanical change that was made, per his recommendation, was to set the throttle blade adjustment a couple turns further open. That, combined with his tuning fixed the problem completely. My assumption is, that the IAC in the tuning was way off, as Josh was talking about a page or so back, and that PF put a 5.3 throttle body on when they switched me over to drive by cable from the original DBW setup. It would make sense to me that the throttle blade would be set differently between a 5.3L and 6L. More cubes breath more air across the RPM range, including idle.
Yes, my fuel filter was getting partially plugged. A new filter completely cured my full throttle popping/fuel starving issue. I have no intention to move my pump further back or go in tank, unless I have problems in the future.
All in all, I am very happy at this point. Runability/driveability is way up after getting Josh's tuning and making that slight adjustment to the throttle blade. Josh thinks I am at or at least near 400HP, and it feels like I gained 25HP over the original tune, and my K5 is twice as fast as it ever was with my old 406SBC.
On another note, I've got a question about tire clearance for you. I'm running a 3" body lift now, and I'm about to install 2.5" lift springs giving me a set up like you had talked about going down to at one time. If I can't fit mine in my garage after the 2.5" lift, I'll probably pull that 2.5" lift off and put a 6" lift on, giving me the 9" set up you have. I've been holding on to some new in the box 16x12 Mickey Thompson Classic Locks for 8 years waiting to go on this truck, but I wanted to run a 37" or 38" tire on them. You appear to have all kinds of clearance with your 12" wide wheels and 35x14.50 SSRs, but do you think another 2-3" diameter increase would still clear without much issue? My truck will probably be a pavement princess much like yours since I just repainted it, so I just want clearance to do some serious flexing going in and out of parking lots without having to slow to a crawl each time.
I'm pretty sure I could clear 38's if need be. I almost found out on 37's, I was going to buy a set of 37" Toyo M/T's mounted on 12" Welds a couple years ago, but fell through. I still wish or prefer to have a shorter lift and be back on 33's. Shorter, better handling, huge tires just feel so cumbersome to me. It feels like you're pulling a small trailer around all the time, but you're not.
