I'm almost speechless, there are so many different mods and so much to learn about my newtome truck,

I'm looking for better low end power and better MPG, I hear tale it goes hand in hand *** long as your driving normally,
I almost bought a programmer the other day but figured I would do some more research..... (there is a ton of opinions out there)

I was told doing a predator might best for better low end power and better mpg, I read others say smarty, some say just buy a bully dog

So I'm going to ask a question with what I am looking for but first about my truck
2006 ctd, 4d, 4wd, drw, auto trans , rebuilt by trans shop with shift kit and hd tc installed at time of overhaul, (4:10 axle ratio according to build sheet from dodge)
now the wants....

I'd like to be able to do the high idle
I'd like to get a few more mpg out of her
I'd like the get more hp at low rpm (2000 or less)
I might like to play with it one in a great while so a programmer that is tunable might be nice

I want to be able to recalibrate my speedo when I go with larger diameter tires, (I have 4:10 gears so I want to go larger and should be able to with no problems or adverse mpg at highway speeds, I do want to do the leveling kit)

so what about the predator, about the trinity?
later I'd like to make her a bit louder (all stock right now still)
and airflow may or may not help with mpg but what options should I look into, I see alot of CAI out there I also see some air inlets to the intake



where to start <grin> I'm ready to buy a programmer now, then I will do exhaust and other mods later, for now though, mpg low end power is key

thanks,
tom

 

Smarty POD

 

You can do high idle now: When idling in park, turn on cruise control, hit set. You can then adjust the idle speed with accel and decel.

All the other wants will be with a programmer. Smarty is known to run the best but you would also need gauges (should do that anyway) and you have to have it plugged in to change anything. I went with the Quadzilla Adrenaline w/ V2 becuase it gave me adjustability on the fly and my gauges. I went with this over Edge or BD due to the amount of fine tuning you can do and the amazing customer service.

HTH! Welcome to the sickness...

 

Efi live.... It'll be here soon

 

Thanks, I looked around a bit more, I see the Trinity as well, I think you can adjust it on the fly too,
Having to have that plugged in all the time would be a pain, what about others I could mount to the dash someplace?

Thanks!

 

Adrenaline with Pulse, Edge CS or CTS, Trinity, Bully Dog GT all include Digital Monitors that are shift on the fly.

 

I tried that last night, but it did not work, did a bit more looking around the forums and it seems it's a feature you have to have enabled by the dealer

another thing I might look into but not sure just how important it really is, is the shut down timer, heck wouldn't that be installed from the factory if it is really needed?

 

Maybe I'm just an old codger who doesn't understand all the new fangled programmer features, but I don't know why you would need to adjust your engine management or fueling curves "on the fly." My philosophy is decide on the program setting that works best for 90% of my driving requirements, set it and forget it. Ideally, that will be the max setting available from the particular device, assuming the rest of the engine and drive line has all the necessary supporting mods to handle it, matched to the fuel supply (injectors, turbos, tranny upgrades, what-have-you).

After all, your right foot on the skinny pedal is the most effective, easily controlled fueling device, bar none.

 

you have a good point for sure, I have run my truck at a few different rpms for several hundred mile runs down the interstate, heck I bought it and drove it 600 miles all interstate the first night, it does pretty well at 2000 rpm, at 2200rpm it is down to 13mpg, the mpg seems very erractic on it, from 12.4 and running 1800 rpm hit 15 for a 200 mile stretch, all the talk and everyone tells me I can do much better at highway speeds and around town I'm sucking it down even never hitting over 2200 rpm during acceleration with a light throttle.

I'm an a old hotrodder and was a tech for many years, the shift points on the tranny would be my main reason I want it on the fly,
I would probably leave the truck in a mode that got the best economy the majority of the time (ok I might play with it a few times just to "feel" some power <g>)and I would keep her in a mode for economy that worked well for pulling a trailer, so I guess changing shift points is where it would be handy to be able to do so on the fly, (maybe not while driving but not having to load a program everytime I change a load (from empty to light to a heavy load)

the other upside to a model programmer such as the trinity is you can mount it and monitor gauges, still being a old guy, I know mechanical gauges are best, however this is a cost effective way to gain multiple things at one time

most of the other features like changing your speedo and abs for larger tire size is something that would be fine to do with a flash type of program,

I'm still not sure about my decision and did not purchase yesterday because of it, at 300 bucks for say a diablo predator or equil, it is very easy to justify if you can gain 3 mpg, but $600, say for a trinity or $900 for the cst edge makes that a more difficult decision. Even at about 3.90 a gl now, it would take far longer to help pay for such a gadget, besides everyone has told me that I have talked to in person, change my exhaust 1st and at least open the tube from the factory air filter housing to the turbo as it is very restricted.

---AutoMerged DoublePost---

let me ask you a question if ya don't mind, I see you sig has '07 5.9 48RE (Well Modded) and '91.5 12V G360 (Excessively Modded)

well I have a '06 3500 4wd drw with the 48re and 4:10s so they are probably pretty similar (if yours is a 3500 4wd) you say it is well modded, so what mods have you done to this truck? and what benefits have you seen?

thanks for your time!

 

My '07 (2500) runs a Smarty Jr. with 35" tires, 3" lift, 3.73 gear, Water/Meth with a CMGS controller, PSM intake mod and an Aeoturbine muffler for exhaust. Those are the things that might affect fuel consumption. I run the Smarty on the middle or towing 70hp setting for now, until I get the trans upgraded. It averages 18mpg in mixed driving running around unloaded or just passengers, which is what I use it for almost exclusively except for the occasional load of whatever from Home Depot.

I figure the mods are basically a wash as far as MPG is concerned. All else being equal, bigger tires with that gear and a little lift will result in poorer fuel mileage. What I've done just maintained it near a stock mileage level with that tire/gear/lift combo. It gets up to 21mpg straight highway unloaded in this trim. With a shift kit and the water/meth I expect it to be EGT/tranny safe on the max Smarty Jr. setting.