I've done some homework on this and I'm loving what I read! Long time TunerPro user with my old OBD1 cars and recently bought a 2001 8.1/ZF6 truck to play with. (0411 ECM and DLAC code). Bought the truck to haul around my new bundle of joy which can make the researching tough... Babies are great at breaking your concentration! haha

So I was hoping someone can help me clear up a few things.

I've seen recommendations to flash the ECM with a bench harness out of the truck. But I've also seen a youtube video of a guy flashing his straight from the the OBD2 port while it's in the truck. Is the bench harness and removal really beneficial? It's stuff I'm capable of sourcing and building, but I'm finding my free time is much more scarce than it used to be.

I see the OBDLink LX MX and MX+ range $50-80, but the reviews for them are all over the place. Is the speed different on them and what really is the difference? I would assume the most expensive is the best, but Amazon reviews don't seem to agree with that.

And my biggest concern, looking at the XDF page, I see it's for the 0411 ECM, but must be 12202088 or 12208322 OS. That thread says 2001 "Full-size truck, SUV, and van (including 8.1L engines)" but the tag on my ECM says 12208511. Does that mean I'm out of luck?

Thanks for any help!