Diesel truck - tuner / program?

[fly boy]

If you are going to get a tuner, look into Custom tunes as well. They will design a tune based on your needs that fits best with your exact truck. Worth the extra money.

[blackford76]

Get with DFBrews, get a custom tune, and loose the muffler. 26mpg and more is possible, with loads more power.

[opie011]

Haven't been up to date on the latest and greatest so correct me if I'm wrong. My brother in Utah has some buddies converting their trucks to natural gas and getting close to 30mpg.

[brutal]

Return on investment for a chip/programmer is approximately eleventybillion years.

Do it for the powa.

[mtnrider]

Return on investment for a chip/programmer is approximately eleventybillion years.

Do it for the powa.

^ This.

Don't believe all the people saying they are getting 10000 mpg after a tuner and some small mods. Just isn't happening and they are victims of the common core math system.

I have a 06' 5.9 and I run a Smarty S06 and Edge CTS for gauges (gauges are a must with a tuner) And after playing with all the tunes and combinations of options the best I gained is around 1 mpg, maybe 2 on a good day and I drive very conservatively (all hand calculated not going by the "lie O meter").
Now power is a different story. It will really wake up your truck and give it some extra pep. With that said you need to be careful running the high hp tunes as you can start to do some damage on a stock motor.

Look around you can usually find used Smarty's for sale. Just make sure it is not locked to the previous truck. If your patient they can be found for around $300-$350.

[Jeffrey Lebowski]

Do you have 4.10 gears? That could explain the difference in mileage with your 2003 (assuming 3.73 rear end).

Yep, and I'm sure you're probably correct.

^ This.
Don't believe all the people saying they are getting 10000 mpg after a tuner and some small mods. Just isn't happening and they are victims of the common core math system.

Sort of what I'm learning more I read. I don't help my case on mileage at all, but I'm also just not looking for speed and power. I don't tow and I have a car.
I'll need to think on this more. I did a bunch of reading about this for my old truck, then haven't thought about it forever until now. Now I am again, but I think I'll have another expediture here soon that'll eat this "entertainment fundage."

[Lars]

I put the H&S Minni Max on my 6.7 cummins. I did a 5" flow pro turbo back, with the Sinister diesel erg delete and the Dpf delete as well. I then added the AFE Momentum intake. It is an entirely different machine. I went from 14 mpg to 18 in town and around 19 to 20 hwy. will the increase in milage ever save me the money that all that cost, probably not. But my Dpf was in need of service as well as my Egr system, and I figured if I was gonna be spending all the money anyway, I might as well get some bang for my buck.

[Planner]

CTD just turned over 100K yesterday, and with that the end of the engine (and all) warranty.
Should I get a tuner / program / computer? I'm not looking for speed, it would be probably mileage setting. If so, which one and how soon to pay for itself?
This is a 2007 with a 6 speed manual. I'm right now getting about 17 mpg (as opposed to the 22 my 2003 auto got). Only drive it in bad weather, camping, bicycle races, etc.


Do I want one with a digital read-out or go ahead and get a guage pod? I hate seeing that on the A-pillar, so I'd be looking for one to go between overhead console and RV mirror.

Do you have 4.10 gears? That could explain the difference in mileage with your 2003 (assuming 3.73 rear end).

On topic - I had an 04 w/ the HO Cummins (305hp/555tq). I ran it very successfully with a Predator Power Puck. It's a simple install with a two-mode switch you can run into the cabin. One is the tow-haul mode and added (on mine which was the 5.9L) 60hp/100tq. The other position was the performance tune. I don't remember the specs off the top of my head but I never used that setting because the fuel economy was better w/ the tow-haul setting. Won't overwork your injector pump either. I also had an AFE full cold air intake and flow through muffler (but this was before emissions equipment was added to the 2004.5 model year). That was enough to satisfy me, and with routine maintenance, kept my Cummins humming along well into 150k when I sold it.

[brutal]

FWIW, unless something has changed, I believe nearly any RAM 2500/3500SRW with a factory LS rear end setup is going to be 4.10.

[opie011]

FWIW, unless something has changed, I believe nearly any RAM 2500/3500SRW with a factory LS rear end setup is going to be 4.10.

My 03 had the LS and had 3.73 gears.